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Over the past week, there's been a lot of talk about Barack Obama's exposure to the public and the media. He's appeared on Leno, he's appeared on 60 Minutes, and after last night's snoozefest of a prime-time press conference, some are left wondering if this kind of marathon charm offensive is going to wear thin. Yesterday on The View, Elisabeth Hasselbeck cautioned that it feels like the "he's on the campaign again." We've heard similar warnings of overexposure from the Daily News' Mike Lupica, CBS' Chris Wragge, and Meghan McCain, of all people.
According to Chuck Todd and friends, Obama's continued high job-approval polls can be taken (and certainly are by the White House) as a sign that these public appearances go over well with the public. Instead of staying quiet in a week when critics were calling the AIG-bonuses snafu his "Hurricane Katrina" moment (seriously? People died), Obama was plainly trying to have his voice — and side — heard. And so far, people are still listening.
There are a few other obvious net positives for staying on-camera and part of the dialogue. Last night on MSNBC, Rachel Maddow (who, after watching a satellite chat between the president and crew members of the Discovery space station, called it "an international media blitz") theorized that these direct appeals were efforts to earn him enough political capital to affect the change he wants. Opening himself to questions and handling them adeptly (and even wonkishly) restores public confidence that we have a president who knows what he is talking about and doing. And the Times observed last night that Obama seems to be simply taking the chance to urge America to resilience and calm by appearing continually, well, resilient and calm himself. Source.
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