President Obama got a little overheated in his global warming rhetoric at today’s G20 closing press conference. Responding to a question from an Indian journalist about his meeting with her country’s prime minister, our president said the two men discussed, among other things, energy issues and the need to develop less carbony sources of fuel. […]
Politico‘s Carol E. Lee, who evidently spends more time listening to and analyzing President Obama’s speeches than any other human, wrote today about the president’s habit of injecting personal anecdotes into his speeches: Listen carefully to Obama’s speeches, and there is almost always something personal. It might be a reference to a family member — […]
March 30, 2009 – 11:30 am
President Obama delivered solid remarks on the auto industry this morning, informing us that neither GM’s nor Chrysler’s government-mandated restructuring plan “goes far enough to warrant the substantial new [taxpayer] investments that these companies are requesting” and laying the groundwork for a gut-wrenching period of concessions ahead. I thought he was particularly effective on a couple of […]
March 25, 2009 – 11:03 am
Not an especially scintillating presidential press conference last night, but few are. Hopefully, some teenagers planning to tune in to American Idol were unwittingly served up a lesson in American democracy instead. Two quick thoughts on a couple of hobby horses. ABC’s George Stephanopoulos reported on his blog (“George’s Bottom Line”): “The president had a […]
Politico‘s Jonathan Martin writes today about President Obama’s efforts to communicate his message via non-WH press corps messengers: The highest-profile moments in the new approach have been well-noted, such as the president giving an interview to progressive radio host Ed Schultz and Obama calling on a reporter from the liberal-leaning Huffington Post at his first […]
Team Obama hit a much-needed home run today with its plan for Public-Private Investment Partnerships to buy up troubled bank loans and inject liquidity into the securitization market. As of this moment, the Dow is up about 5.5%, and most of the talking heads on TV seem to be (a) breathing more comfortably and (b) […]
You know things are getting dicey in Obamaland when the highly regarded Politico runs a full page Friday story titled, “Lesson: Communications Is More Than Eloquence — Obama’s campaign messaging skills not translating to office.” Politico says the problem has many sources. Messages go from gloomy talk to happy talk and back to gloomy in […]
Special Olympics competitor Kolan McConiughey has offered President Obama a perfect public relations opportunity: He’s challenged the president to a bowling match. According to celebrity news site TMZ, McConiughey has bowled three perfect games (scoring 300) and averages 266, compared with Obama’s 129 (and my own high score of 11 — I can only imagine […]
March 19, 2009 – 11:03 pm
President Obama rolled an ugly gutter ball during his Tonight Show appearance. ABC’s Jake Tapper explains: The first appearance by a sitting president on “The Tonight Show” may well end up being the last. President Obama, in his taping with Jay Leno Thursday afternoon, attempted to yuk it up with the funnyman, and ended up insulting the […]
Nice bit of rhetoric from President Obama in Costa Mesa last night, as reported in today’s Mike Allen Playbook. On the AIG situation (sorry, “outrage”), Obama said: Listen, I’ll take responsibility. I’m the president. So — we didn’t draft these contracts. And we’ve got a lot on our plate. But it is appropriate when you’re […]
Former president George W. Bush (still gets me choked up) gave his first post-White House speech yesterday, regaling invited guests in Alberta (the Texas of Canada) with stories about being president, about not being president, and about all the big topics you would expect in a GWB speech (Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, oil). Protestors, of course, made an […]
March 16, 2009 – 11:29 am
ABC News is out today with some pretty striking results from its survey of Iraqis’ opinions about life in their country: While deep difficulties remain, the advances are remarkable. Eighty-four percent of Iraqis now rate security in their own area positively, nearly double its August 2007 level. Seventy-eight percent say their protection from crime is […]
March 14, 2009 – 11:57 am
The Washington Post reports on President Obama’s “inherited” tic in an article today. It begins: In his inaugural address, President Obama proclaimed “an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.” It hasn’t taken long for the recriminations to return — or for […]
March 13, 2009 – 11:09 am
President Obama had a good appearance yesterday before the Business Roundtable, a collection of CEOs from top companies. In his remarks, and particularly in the Q and A, the president sounded like the pragmatic, facts-first leader that drew many non-traditional Democratic supporters to him. His remarks on cap-and-trade were especially encouraging. While his insistence that […]
March 11, 2009 – 10:38 am
President Obama delivered a solid speech on education yesterday, trying to create a bit of space between him and the teachers’ unions, challenging students not to be slackers and drop-outs, and talking up parental responsibility. He introduced a new phrase to the Obama lexicon: “cradle to career,” to describe his vision of pre-school through post-secondary education. […]
