Obama '60 Minutes' Interview Nothing Like the Jay Leno Disaster
By Mary Kate Cary, Thomas Jefferson Street blog
All of the problems with President Obama's appearance on Jay Leno disappeared last night on 60 Minutes. There were no attempts at humor that backfired or needed an apology afterward. A serious reporter, Steve Kroft, was controlling the agenda, not a professional comedian. Most of all, the interview did nothing to diminish of the office of the presidency—if anything, having the interview take place at the White House added to the President's credibility and enhanced his stature.
Smart move from a communications point of view. The president addressed substantive questions well and seemed relaxed, according to some of the critics this morning—or a little too smiley and laughing, say others. But I thought he came across as confident and in control. Ending the interview by showing viewers his girls' new swing set, while politically shrewd, came across as charming.
Appearing on 60 Minutes was a win for the president. He should do more of these types of news interviews and stay away from the late-night scene.
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Tags: CBS | television | Barack Obama | Jay Leno
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Reader Comments
PUNCH DRUNK PRESIDENT
Your spin on the equally disastrous 60 Minutes interview is lacking an unbiased perspective.
I've watched the youtube clips: There's a reason that Steve Kroft looked so befuddled at Obama's incessant chortling over pertinent matters of national interest.
There's a reason that Steve Kroft finally interrupts the addlepated Obama laugh track and asks: "What's so funny? Are you PUNCH DRUNK??!?"
Combine that with all of Obama's teleprompter gaffes-namely thanking himself at a St. Patrick's Day speech-and you start to recognize the disintegration of the myth that Obama is "The Greatest Communicator Of All Time."
Obama complished more in 40 days than Bush in 8 years!
He went to the late night show to speak to people. Why cannot the obama haters see the obvious?
Looks can be deceiving...
Who cares what the guy looked like.. For gosh sakes, is that what we are judging this man on? He's far better looking than the last president for certain but is it truly how he "looks" [or even acts] that will determine what goes in our children's history books? I think Bush did a swell job of making us American's all look like a bunch of asses - and i don't for a second think that Obama is making it worse, even if his behavior is less than perfect. Seriously people, when we resort to caring about a persons presentation too much what we end up with is the common talk banter of Fox News Corp on Hannity and Combs or something similar to the Rush Limbaugh BS played all over the radio. If you're a subscriber to that stuff, great for you. But you may as well be a damn robot. This article should have been written about the policies discussed in Obama's future agenda. Instead we are reviewing him as if he were a celebrity. First black president or not - the guy deserves credit but I don't think for a second that its necessary to analyze his every move. Is this really what we care about in this country??
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