How the White House Preps for 100-Day Mark

White House strategists are pooh-poohing the idea of evaluating President Obama at the 100-day mark, which comes next Wednesday. They say that time frame has become arbitrary and artificial since it was used in 1933 to evaluate Franklin Roosevelt's first three months in office.

But they also recognize that the news media will be giving extensive coverage to the "first 100 days," and the White House is planning to shape perceptions in an aggressive way. "We are not in denial about that," says an insider.

Obama will, for example, hold a town-hall meeting in suburban St. Louis on Wednesday to "discuss the first 100 days and take questions from Missourians about the administration's agenda looking forward," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told U.S. News this morning.

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