I remember this same group of reporters did not ask tough questions to Bush before going into Iraq. Those questions were more importatnt then asking Obama why he did not show his anger about AIG bonuses earlier. Do they think that a president getting angry is good for the country. I would rather have a calm and collective president who will make decisions based on facts than emotions.
Posted by suresh at March 25, 2009 07:52 AMEd Henry - isn't he the guy that played Peter Pettigrew in Harry Potter? I was waiting for his nose to twitch, but he just whined about the bonuses, thinking he had a gotcha moment. Funny to see Obama swat him on the snout.
Of course, the big story from last night is that Obama didn't call on the major "news" outlets, so whatever message he wanted to impart is lost in their sniffle-fest. Which is just as well, IMO. Supposedly, Obama was trying to reach out to the people without the media filter last night. Now, maybe my cold made my head muzzy, but dang if he didn't seem incoherent most of the time. Sure, it's nice to be talked to like an adult, but frankly, not many citizens are able to listen like adults. He needs to simplify his explanations - and I don't mean dumb down, either. He didn't need 5 minutes to tell Todd "the people are already sacrificing, what's your fucking point" did he? Sure, they want to know there's a smart guy in the room, but they want to at least feel like they know what the smart guy's telling them. And I wish he'd not mimic Bush with his "it's hard" stuff. Sure it is, but isn't there a better way to say it than that? Why connect himself with Bush's incompetence like that if you don't have to?
Posted by Twinky P* at March 25, 2009 09:08 AMIt's sort of hard to compare Bush's press conference performance to Obama's. Bush was fed questions pre-written by his own staff and read answers pre-written by his own staff or Dick Cheney. Any non-scripted answer Bush was trapped into giving was either a snide condescending put down of the "journalist", or an incomprehensible assemblage of half-memorized talking points. Obama answers the questions. You may not like the answers, but they are understandable and presented in a professional, adult manner. Politics aside, I find that kind of response much more informative.
Posted by T2 at March 25, 2009 09:31 AMIt's sort of hard to compare Bush's press conference performance to Obama's.
Are you talking to me? If so, I wasn't comparing performances, I just said his reiteration of "it's hard" several times last night was reminiscent of Bush's "it's hard work" refrain; after 8 years of Bush using that as an excuse for not getting things done, it was jarring to me to see Obama use the same excuse.
You may not like the answers, but they are understandable and presented in a professional, adult manner.
Again, if you're talking to me, I didn't say I didn't like the answers, I said it'd be better if he tried to simplify them rather than meander around so much that the answer gets lost and the audience misses whatever core message he's trying to impart. In other words, the answers weren't readily understandable by every day people who don't spend hours a day reading blogs - maybe you knew what he was eventually saying, because you already had an idea what his answer would be, but even Obama seemed to realize he was being too wonky at points, when he started giving examples for what he was trying to say.
Politics aside, I find that kind of response much more informative.
That's my point. Last night wasn't for you really, it was for the uninformed or marginally informed. I'm just saying Obama needs to work on his messaging and delivery, because by the time he arrived at some sort of finish, I'd mostly forgotten the questions! Really, why give the tele-prompter-tubbies more ammo, eh?
Posted by Twinky P* at March 25, 2009 11:02 AMI choked on the "its hard" line also....but realized Obama was talking about something being "difficult to accomplish". Bush meant "hard work" as in "not fun for me to do"... two different takes.
And no, the You was mean as a universal you, not a specific twinky person. Sorry it took me so long to put you at rest.