Tuesday, September 22, 2009

President Obama on Letterman

Video excerpts from the president's extended sit-down with late-night talk show king David Letterman last night. Obama did a good job mixing humor and seriousness. And Letterman continues to impress with his ability to conduct a good interview. I used to think he was quite weak on political stuff -- witness his bad attempts to take on Bill O'Reilly; I mean, if you can't hit the broadside of a barn, just don't try, right? But he did try again, and he hit it out of the ballpark (I'll just mix metaphors left and right, okay?) during the 2008 presidential campaign.

I also think there was a ridiculous amount of media chatter about the president "over-exposing" himself with his marathon Sunday talk-show appearances and then the Letterman program. The U.S. president's main power is the ability to rally people for or against something, and it makes no sense to be attempting a historic change such as health care while keeping your gunpowder dry (metaphors, similes, whatever -- they're just rampant today).

He's the president. He's good on camera. He connects well over the airwaves. He's coherent, and he makes good cases for his policies. Now, just who might it be that would not want him to make a good case for his policies??


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