Obama Overexposure Could Spread His Telegenic Message Thin
Obama overexposure could dull his telegenic message
Look at the TV screen: It's President Obama conducting two town meetings in California. It's Obama trading jokes with late-night comedian Jay Leno. It's Obama making his picks for winners in the NCAA basketball tournament on ESPN. It's Obama on CBS's popular program 60 Minutes. It's Obama at a prime-time press conference.
There is such a thing as too much Obama and this series of events is in less than one week.
The risk of overexposure can be real for any president, even a young, energetic and articulate Obama. Surely his aides are aware of it or they should be, given the nation's economic stress and the public's genuine worry about the future.
Even given this president's extraordinary communication skills, a steady diet of him can dull his words. He can look like a fixture if his face appears every time a viewer surfs the channels.
Marlin Fitzwater, a highly respected press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H. W. Bush ( also known as Bush 41) cautioned Bush to beware of the Sitcom Syndrome. He explained that even a dominant figure on a popular TV series could eventually wear out his welcome.
"There is such a thing as too much of a good thing," said Fitzwater. "It can look like you are still campaigning full time."
A veteran White House correspondent, speaking anonymously, said that while he thinks Obama exceeds even Reagan and Bill Clinton for his TV skills, he could be on the cusp of being out in public too often.
The potential for a gaffe goes along with the frequency on the tube. In his appearance with Leno, Obama tied his low bowling score to the Special Olympics for the impaired. He was forced to apologize later for treating it as a joke. That unfortunate segment got more attention than Obama's sensible explanation of why the giant AIG scandal erupted.
And some non-sports lovers may wonder why their president is taking valuable time to make out his March Madness picks, especially if they are jobless, or worse. Not everyone is glued to their picks in the office pool.
The flip side of this situation is that Obama may be doing on TV what President Roosevelt did on radio during the Depression of the 1930s. FDR's fireside chats were designed to calm the fears of the public and assure listeners that help was on the way with his New Deal programs.
Similarly, Obama may be using his proven ability on TV to assure voters that his stimulus plan and budget will bring the economy back to life. There is an army of young volunteers out there who have been with Obama since early in his campaign last year and are ready to spread that message.
For his sake, Obama should hope the shadow of FDR is looking out for him.
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Opinion re: comments
How well I remember when the family negotiator (J Baker) was brought in to get the Supreme Court to steal for lil Bush the election he could not win on his own,even with manipulations by his bro the gov and all who denied so many Gore votes. Much as I believed that lil Bush had manipulated the U.S. democratic system in the most egregious and damaging way to highjack the presidency for his own purposes, and found him ill suited for the job, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, refrained from cheap shots, and hoped he'd prove me wrong.Sadly he repeatedly validated my original opinion far beyond what even the most dire prognosticators could ever imagine. He and Cheney gave us nothing short of a house of sociopathic horrors.
The measures President Obama is taking so early in office are essential to prevent a full economic collapse unlike any ever seen. They were made necessary by the incompetence,neglect,and likely corruption of the Bush/Cheney admin, lax oversight & accountability, and the mania of deregulation by the GOP juggernaut that dominated Congress. Most would prefer to spend on ANYTHING productive rather than remedial bailouts,but B/C took away that option when they lied to get us into a very expensive, unwinnable war and sanctioned gross financial abuses. How many billion has gone to pay for Bush's Iraq war every week? How many billion did Bush insist had to go to AIG etal RIGHT AWAY last Fall-with NO accountability and NO restrictions? The money going out now isn't for socialism; it's to clean up what 8 years of B/C did so the USA can survive.Few Presidents have started in office with such a heavy load of problems this complicated. Obama is working hard to solve them.
All the nitpicking about Obama after a mere 9 l/2 weeks in office tells me only that: there are some very poor sports out there who do not want our president to succeed; there are many who want to rewrite history & shift the blame for all the Bush/ Cheney disasters to Obama as a scapegoat; some want to divert attention from the B/C debacles and legacy of lies; there are many who are still in denial about what all B/C did or do not want to own up to their own role in supporting such a regime and the costs to Americans for generations to come; they have nothing constructive to offer-cheap shots are all they've got.
Socialism? That's just more fear mongering! While B/C kept America focused on fear they ran away with the bank AND our civil rights. Are you going to fall for their over wrought emotionalism AGAIN, this time wrapped in 'fear of socialism? They get what they want when they use fear, and we get the bills! Hello! Unbridled capitalism is already bringing us just about the worst,but they'd rather cover that fact up with 'fear of socialism'!
If President Obama were not out front there'd be complaints that he is hiding like a coward! Maybe some would like that- that's what their man Cheney always did best. I'll take greater transparency to secrecy any day
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