Obama Finally Leans into the Gulf Oil Spill

President Obama listens to Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen with Carol Browner, the president's energy and climate change adviser, aboard Marine One while traveling to Port Fourchon, La., May 28, 2010.

/ White House/Pete Souza

President Obama took time from his much needed vacation in Chicago to visit the Gulf Coast for a few hours on Friday. It was his second visit to the site of an unprecedented disaster in 39 days. Over the last month, he has been criticized for failing to take ownership of the problem and show his face in the disaster zone.

He told the crowd gathered at a barrier island south of New Orleans that they "are not alone," "will not be abandoned," and "will not be left behind." He added, "The media may get tired of the story, but we will not. We will be on your side and we will see this through."

Comforting words from the president, who comprehends the gravity and complexity of the situation environmentally, economically and politically but a little late in their delivery, which makes them less impactful to those directly affected by the spill.

As CBS News Chief White House Correspondent Chip Reid wrote following Mr. Obama's Thursday press conference :

... while his performance was a good start on the road to recovery, what's still missing is Presidential presence. Democrats from James Carville to Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu say he has taken a serious hit due to his lack of visibility. In a disaster, people need to SEE that the president is involved, and it's a mystery to many friends and critics alike why Mr. Obama - a man with razor sharp political sensibilities - would be so out of public view on a disaster that has a huge impact on so many lives.

During the press conference, Mr. Obama asserted that his administration has been on top of the situation. "Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts. This has been our highest priority since this crisis occurred," he said.

He admitted some mistakes, such as failing to get BP to provide more accurate measurements of the spill, and pointed to a lack of anticipating worst-case scenarios and to an Interior Department agency -- the Minerals Management Service that oversees oil drilling -- with a history of corruption.

But as Chip Reid noted, Mr. Obama appears as more of the commander in chief than the consoler in chief, and he needs to be perceived as both by the American people.

The president has been accused of being Spockian in his problem solving, but that is an asset. You want a president with a high IQ who can unravel complex problems.

As commander in chief he has to juggle dozens of urgent problems -- Afghanistan, Supreme Court nominees, financial reform, health care legislation, deficits, terrorist threats, North Korea, Iran -- and a host of other duties, including fund raising and glad-handing basketball teams and soccer players.

With everything on his plate, Mr. Obama logically commands his team of hand-picked, skilled Cabinet members, with direct responsibility for the oil spill, to handle the ongoing disaster with every resource they can muster and keep him in the loop.

A president has to "manage" like the CEO of General Electric manages multiple divisions of a company but times billions in terms of the stakes and complexity -- shareholders and boards of directors are less contentious than Congress or the threat of world war.

You can't fault Mr. Obama for trying to keep all the balls in the air -- that's the job. But he also needs to sense when his physical and emotional presence is required to solve his growing problem of having credibility and trust with the American people.

More Oil Spill Coverage

Scope of Oil Spill Seen through Infrared Camera

BP Stopped "Top Kill" Overnight Again

Obama Forced to Become Defender-in-Chief Over Oil Spill

Palin, GOP say Obama's Oil Spill Response Comes up Short

Obama Vows to Help Stop Oil Spill's "Assault"

BP: "Top Kill" Working but More Time Needed

Online Resources to Drill into the BP Oil Disaster

Can BP Be Trusted in Light of its Past?

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Daniel Farber is editor-in-chief of CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here. You can also follow him on Twitter.

[jmusk54]

BP is making money using its own dispersant-corexit-on the spill. Another dispersant-dispersit-has already been shown to be half as toxic, twice as effective, and half as expensive. I would have expected a question on the show about this, but, alas, corporations dont ask corporations potentially embarassing questions.

[perrylawson]

I don't understand why these oil company engineers can't get this leak stopped, I really hate to say it but I (along with I'm sure the rest of America) knew from the beginning that the "Top Kill" procedure wasn't going to work. I think the solution should be pretty simple, I would think that if you cover the leak with a pipe 4 times the diameter of the leak with 4 pipes the size of the leak with valves on them coming out the sides of the main pipe, you could lower that down over the leak and with the valves of the individual pipes open, cap the main pipe then you could hook up pipes to actually pump the oil to the surface, close the valves and cap the leak entirely, or pump cement into these individual pipes destroying the leak / well head. This wouldn't have a chance of failure because it works off common sense and would distribute the pressure of the leak making it more manageable, perhaps some small things would need to be changed like the diameter of the main pipe or the diameter of the pipes coming out of it or maybe the number of pipes. The point IS this sounds a hell of a lot smarter than pumping mud into the leak, which is gushing like a pressure washer. At least get the pressure down to something that is manageable, that will make the leak more manageable. Engineers, (Highly paid oil company engineers to be exact) should know this!

[lagunagal]

Too little too late Mr. Obama on this issue and a myriad of others. You and my party sold me a bill of goods. Talk is cheap so most including me will do their talking in November and beyond. You have deferred your promised chief executive responsibilities. You have hi-jacked my party and now is the time to show the remaining 23% majority and the rest of the world that there is no majority at all. I?m just waiting for you to adopt the twisted Bushie talking point ?This is hard work?.

Oh and guys one more thing regarding the Sestak-Obama-Clinton reach around. Thanks for making sure Hillary has no chance in 2012. Nice work?.friggen idiots.

[maxboll]

The wise men and press of the hole world, blames oil spil the real resbonsible who?s BP company; The motiveted men and press such CNN, FOXNEWS, ABCNEWS, and CBSNEWS blemes The US administration. That?s absolutly irrisbonsible and wrong. Our administration is victin non colpa sua.

[pasmalltown]

by either1or May 29, 2010 7:37 AM EDT -
"No offense there bucko. But have you ever heard of spell check?"
------------------
No offense buckaroo, but is "bucko" in your spell check????

[dontknowitall]

fiddlestickawshucks...your statement is so on the money I can't believe anyone would critize it. But wait a moron did....republicansrdumbasses is so off the chart. Must be 2nd or 3rd generation welfare.

[pasmalltown]

by dontknowitall May 29, 2010 7:12 AM EDT
"so on the money..."
-----------------
Don't know it all either, but it sure smells like fiddle's on the BP payroll..............

[jlh51]

Who in the Obama Administration wrote this ariticle? They need to go to Louisianna and tell them what a wonderful job he has done to date with the oil spill. Here are some facts.
It was MMS personnel from the Obama administration who gave the permit for this well to be drilled
It was MMS personnel from the Obama administration that did not require BP to have an accident plan on file
It was MMS personnel from the Obama administration that took bribes and gifts from BP during the drilling of this well
When BP was told by the Obama administration to stop using an untested oil dispersant BP continued and the Obama administration did nothing
So again, who in the Obama administration wrote this article?

[UndercoverJ7]

this might sound like a very stupid question, but for the oil on the water, and even some near land, how come they can't just set it on fire and reduce it to a carbon sulphanate dust that can be more easily handled by the natural processes of the environment? Oil and carbon base fermentation takes place all the time, and so do fires in wildlife, can't they just light some patches on fire and start their reduction while their efforts for close to shore patches, or closer to people patches are dealt with?

[jdelassus]

It seems the media loves the presumed power it has to determine the President's agenda. Because they broadcast some accounts and write some stories about what 'they' think the president should be doing then the president reacts. Something is not right about this. Instead of commander-in-chief the president must now be the responder to manipulated public opinion.

[Quiet_Voice]

Yes, what is wrong is a complete lack of leadership by Obama. The Media is analyses and reports what they see. What everyone is seeing is the incompetence of the Obama team.

[ncmanley]

I can just see Dan Farber staring doe-eyed at his life-sized Obama cut-out while he wrote this story.

"took time out." How gracious. Thank you, your highness.

[Ryan_T521]

I guess some people can't stop ******** for five minutes. Obama has his faults, like all politicians, but for the most part the mess is not his, and all he can do is be engaged and try to address the challenges we're faced with. Even if I don't agree with every policy, I wish him luck, because God knows what idiots people will vote into office if they get any more frustrated and any less informed.