Reactions Differ To Obama Press Conference
Last night, President Obama went before the national press again to answer questions about the economy, sell his budget and deal with furor over AIG. As some media watchers have noted, the president passed over many major newspapers, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, instead choosing to answer questions from smaller publications like Univision and Stars and Stripes.
The fourth estate is today offering divergent views about Mr. Obama's style, substance and how convincing he was.
The New York Times and Associated Press saw an academic president who described his plans with competence and intellectual distance. AP used the line "Calm. Cool. Careful," while the Times said that Mr. Obama "showed his usual comfort with a wide array of subjects" but acted "placid and unsmiling," like a university lecturer.
David Ignatius of the Washington Post wrote that Mr. Obama acted as a "war president" based on the number of threats he made about what would happen if the budget doesn't get passed. Ignatius continued that "the president's words were, frankly, scary. Obama needed them to be."
BBC News reported the pundit reactions to the president's "combative mood" and pointed out the disproportionate media attention to Mr. Obama's comeback to CNN's Ed Henry. (When Henry asked why White House outrage over AIG was so delayed, the president said, "It took a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak.")
According to Politico, the president answered questions at length but he didn't say much. Politico used the word "whatever" to describe Mr. Obama's insistence that he would stick to his budget and not allow Republicans or moderate Democrats to dissuade the legislature from passing it.
The Washington Times called to attention Obama's method of getting his message across – bypassing traditional media and appealing directly to the voters through talk shows, commandeering TV stations and Internet addresses.
Opinions differ on whether Mr. Obama was successful in getting his message across. The New Republic ran the headline "Obama Back In Control" while the NY Daily News said that the president "failed to sell his budget to the American people."
In addition, we have looked through comments to our main story on the news conference, "Obama Seeks To Tamp Down AIG Outrage," and wanted to highlight a few below:
"Under your budget, the debt will increase $7 trillion over the next 10 years, CBS News White House Correspondent Chip Reid said."
So? it doubled from 5 trillion to over 10 trillion under former king bush in just 7 years and few seemed to notice or care, the repubes were rubber stamping everything, including the $750 B wall st giveaway.
- Newster1
The TARP legislation specifically requires the Treasury to "set appropriate standards" for executive compensation. The Bush administration did not, and the Obama administration has not. When I hear President Obama express his outrage over these bonuses, he not only calls into question his own competence as our Chief Executive, he comes very close to the line of repeating what George W. Bush did which caused me, and many other Republicans to desert him: he lied to the American people.
We cannot afford another failed Presidency. It is only with the utmost difficulty that I withhold final judgment on President Obama for his actions so far.
- cosmotopper777
thought obama and geithner created the AIG bonus scandal, specifically geithner and senator dodd. so why is the outrage against AIG when they were given billions without any accountability? the public outrage should be directed at obama, he is the boss, geithner, senator dodd and probably others in the administration who have not been named to date. if anyone is given free money without restrictions, oversight, they are going to spend it anyway they choose and we would all do the same thing! direct outrage at obama, geithner, dodd not AIG personnel.
- longtree-2009
I see Obama entertained questions from Ebony, BET, Cnn, etc., but wouldn't call on the Wall Street reporter, the New York Times reporter, etc. Hmmm......could it be fear?
- jogger5079
Well, if you ever thought that anybody could just walk up and take an oath and turn our economy around in their first 64 days in office, then you're divorced from reality. If the economy was a easy fix Bush would have done it...
- chitown639
I was totally amazed at some of the questions that were asked of this President. One was about spending the grandchildren's future. If this persons grand kids had been on that bridge that collapsed in Minnesota they would have been screaming for infrastructure repair.
- rightaboutit
Full Coverage Of Obama's Press Conference:
- By Topic: Budget | AIG Outrage | Tax Increases | Race | Mexican Drug Cartels | Israel | Funding For Veterans | Sacrifice
- Full Transcript
- Fact Check: Obama Having It Both Ways?
- Analysis: Press Conference Strategy | Philosophy Of Persistence | Grades From Marc Ambinder | Instant Reaction | Focus Group Weighs In | Reaction Around The Web, Readers
- Video: | | | |