Posted on 01/25/2011 11:05:19 AM PST by presidio9
After President Obama delivers his State of the Union address Tuesday tonight, don't be surprised if he does some selective dialing back on his TV appearances.
That could be a smart move, even though no President since Ronald Reagan has loved television more than Obama - and TV has loved him right back.
Obama comes across on "Oprah" as articulate and relaxed.
You see him and you want to friend him on Facebook.
So once he got to the White House, he naturally wasn't going to get off the horse that helped bring him there.
In his first year as President, he did 90 television interviews.
He's done all the news shows, "60 Minutes," David Letterman and "Tonight." He's done Bill O'Reilly, and he'll do a new interview with him on Feb. 6, just before Fox's pregame coverage of the Super Bowl.
Obama's also done "The View," "The Daily Show," baseball and basketball telecasts.
In early 2011, however, fresh and chillier winds are swirling.
Obama has half a Republican Congress and a strong message from voters that they want things to be different.
Amid widespread speculation we will be seeing Obama 2.0 this year, then, one of the things that could change is his TV strategy.
It's not that he's about to ignore television, which remains the most popular and pervasive medium in the country. Gearing up for history's first billion-dollar re-election campaign, Obama isn't likely to forsake many chances to be seen in a place where he looks good.
What he may forsake, though, are some of the schmooze stops, like Letterman or "The View," simply because it may be time to be somebody else on television for a while.
Like the President.
As we will be reminded Tuesday night, there's real power to the formal trappings of an official presidential presentation, that single image in the middle of the TV screen.
That doesn't mean everyone will buy what Obama will be selling. It does put his words at the center of the conversation, giving them weight and importance that he will need in the year ahead.
Talking with Oprah, he's a likable guy. Delivering the State of the Union, he's a leader with leverage. He alone gets to put his vision forth while everyone else listens.
This truth was dramatically underscored two weeks ago with his address at the Tucson memorial.
He got rave notices both for what he said and for sounding presidential in saying it. He hit the right tone, it was widely agreed, because he came across on TV as someone who could provide comfort in a time of crisis.
Barack the Facebook friend isn't going to disappear. Come next year, he'll be everywhere. But at least for a while, we may be seeing more of his statesmanlike alter ego: President Obama.
dhinckley@nydailynews.com
Meanwhile, our heroes continue to die in Obama's Wars, China was given the key to our place, the dollar is going the way of the German Reichmark, unemployment is about 20%, and every hard-core Stalinist in America is now a Federal employee.
Me too. Fed up with his constant yelling and not letting anyone else finish a sentence. I don’t understand why any one goes on his show when they don’t get a chance to finish a thought let alone speak.
My T.V. has a note: taped to the screen for those moments when the so called free T.V. stations decide to broadcast Obama—
It is found in Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin,or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.
I call a BIG BS on this.
The man is uberly narcissistic. No way will he be willing to show his face less in public.
And all this “change” rhetoric? When was the last time you saw a tiger change his spots (joke)?
He’s still a Marxist. He still wants to rule the USA forever. ETC.
Sorry, presidio9, I'm gonna have to report this thread. Not only is it not the truth, it also makes me nauseous. :-)
I rarely watch regular TV, but when visiting my parents a few months after the election, I noticed it was all obama all the time. Saw 2 different public service commercials with him also. Even my dad exclaimed “Jesus Christ, must he be on everything?”
My wife, a big Mythbuster fan said they jumped the shark with that one and one one after promoting the new Green Hornet movie.
That’s exactly what Bush said, but W said it in the first week or so of his administration. At this rate, zer0bama will be learning exactly what America needs right when he leaves office, much like Jimmah Carter.
You're being exceedingly kind to Jimmeh. I don't think he ever figured it out. Not even now.
To compare:
I don't have the stopwatch on either speech, but the transcript to Obama's political pep rally in Tucson was 45 paragraphs, interrupted for applause roughly 30 times. Reagan's Challenger speech was seven paragraphs, delivered somberly from the Oval Office. The line you quoted seems to concede Reagan as the benchmark for presidents who love being on TV. You tell me who loved TV more.
Incidentally, Reagan's speech, which certainly lasted less than 15 minutes, contained a poignant line which should continue to be quoted throughout the remaining history of this Republic. Obama's speech, which several liberal have already judged the best of his presidency, will be completely forgotten three months from now.
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