AP Asks If Obama Is "Obnoxiously Articulate"

Political reporters have now toggled from worrying that Obama gets "too much" media coverage to asking whether he is "too" good at communicating through the media. Maybe even obnoxiously good. Maybe even -- here comes that loaded word from the primaries -- too articulate.

The AP's Liz Sidoti is on the case. And this is from a news article:

Obama has been a constant presence in the mass media as he expands the bureaucracy's reach into the private sector.... In doing so, he has created a quandary. Put aside for a moment the question of whether government is actually intruding into people's lives more than before. The point is that many people feel like it is -- in part because Obama doesn't stop talking about his goals. If President George W. Bush got slapped around for being inarticulate, is Obama obnoxiously articulate?

What a quandary!

Once you "put aside" the actual facts and policy debate, there's that President talking on the TV about "his goals" -- and talking so articulately -- it just makes you wonder if the government is going to tell you how to mow your lawn. Or something. The article doesn't really try to support its own premise, as blogger Brendan Nyhan explains:

Sidoti is forced to admit later in the piece that she has no empirical support for her claim:

"While Obama has been criticized for being too visible, AP-GfK surveys in the spring and summer found that most people say he is on TV about the right amount."

So if the "political" hook was that all this might matter because voters want different prime time programming, it turns out that's wrong. We only "know" this information, of course, because pollsters are actually spending money to ask whether The President is on TV too much. (On the list of frivolous things that get too much airtime, the federal government and leader of the free world are near the bottom.) And then, just to round out the media madness, one of Nyhan's commenters did a little research and found the same A.P. reporter wrote an article last month about Obama failing to "articulate his vision" to the public. How obnoxious!

[N]o one seems to know what the president seeks [on health care]..."I don't know what he wants to do," says Phil Axworthy, a Pittsburgh software developer. A failure of leadership? Or simply a failure to communicate? Are those things the same when a complicated issue is so important to so many? And if a president can't articulate his vision on something so sprawling and all-encompassing, how can he lead?

It is surreal.

I've debated the "overexposure" concern troll question myself, in meta-television segments, naturally, and the whole thing feels like the the media is eating its own tail and jumping the shark all at once. Sorry that wasn't more, you know, articulate.

From The Nation.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

 

 

Follow Ari Melber on Twitter: www.twitter.com/AriMelber

Comments

[SizeMatters]

It doesn't matter how articulate you are if you have no content.

[Shelby596]

So, you want an inarticulate idiot? This makes NO sense.

[pissdoffinohio]

my IQ has just slipped by 10pts reedng this. and i had a W flashbak. AAAAAK!

[BartRoberts]

Let me see? Do these people want to go back to the eight years of enduring a commander in chief who didn't know how to construct a simple declarative English sentence???

(Good Lord, wasn't speech therapy included in the medical portion of Bush's presidential benefits' package?)

Frankly, after Duh-byah, I'm glad to have a man back in the White House who speaks as if he's gone past the third grade.

[twofish]

The standing order on the right is: pick, pick, pick away at Obama. Unless and until they can find something major to pin on him, go for the death by 1000 cuts. This is one of the cuts. Absolute blather.

As for the actual charge, it is meaningless to call a leader "too articulate." It's like accusing an athlete of being "too coordinated." There is no downside to articulateness. It's not a synonym for "wordy" or "obscure." It means "effectively communicating." In other words, it's a 100% BS accusation.

[Judyisacutie]

The AP is complaining about Obama being too articulate? Oh. That explains all the typos, grammatical errors and opinions in their articles.

[violin]

During the campaign Obama was criticized for being too elegant in his speech. Now we have criticism that he is too articulate. Only in the United States where the racial divide plagued for so many generations could a man who has risen above it all to succeed be criticized for beeing accomplished, literate, articulate. Get real. He speaks plainly, with correct grammar, to the point, and extensively. I only wish we had others who could do the same.

[Judyisacutie]

It reminds me of the country song. "Too much fun? What's that mean? It's like too much money. No such thing. Like a girl who's too pretty with too much class. Being too lucky or far too fast. No matter what they say I've done, well I ain't never had too much fun."

[larry278]

This media criticism of Pres Obama getting too much attention from the media is bargain debasment.
Try talking about what Pres Obama promised but hasn't delivered yet. Then, there is Afghanistan. Obama bought it from W. He isn't going to get 1 cent or any troops. Pres Obama has to swallow the loss. Right, no reimbursment for Obama. BTW bring the troops back home, right now.

[littledogs1]

The ap reporter is just out to grab attention, he is an idiot. President Obama is our elected leader, we elected him to lead, if he is not out there pushing the platform he was elected on, than he is failing the people who elected him. Give me a break, Amanda, if he was like Bush who lead the country to economic ruin and then hid out for two months while the global economy was on the brink, you would be saying, "where is the president" why isn't he talking to the press. I for one am glad that the man i went to Vote for in November is out there talking, hell, he would have to be on tv 24/7 just to balance the republican run network faux news, so if he is out there more than you are used to, try to think why, it is because he has a lot of liars and mud slingers out there 24/7 talking about death panels and killin Granny.

[merrill1]

The issue hidden underneath "too articulate" is that it requires a base level of comprehension from the listener that many in the media and public do not possess. Our president speaks clearly, concisely and provides comprehensive information, as one might have a right to expect from a well educated, intelligent human. That said, our media pundits, mouthpieces, and much of the audience do not have matching skills. So they get frustrated by the facts, embarrassed to have no rebuttal argument, and so complain he talks too much, too little, blah blah.

It reminds me of a line from Amadeus. The archduke complains to Mozart that there are too many notes for the royal ear. Mozart asks which ones would he like left out.

[CatTheGadfly]

Brilliant. Particularly considering the complexity of the issues he is explaining, our President does a remarkable job. He is able to communicate effectively and parsimoniously, without insulting anyone's intelligence.

A woman remarked in my hearing that she considered it a point of pride that she had not read a book since she finished school.

Clearly a reflection of a problem in our society. Literacy, perhaps?

No. It's worse than that:

She was referring to graduate school, not sixth grade.

Even those who should have the skills, who do have the education, often do not care to make the effort any more, and that's what is truly sickening. We can remedy ignorance, illiteracy, and lack of education.

[Schoolgirl666]

Refreshing to know that President Obama made the most of his college years whereas our former president set the record for the most beer cans crushed on his forehead.

[Truth Wins]

Now that is the most obvious one ever: obnoxiously articulate!

Main thing there has to be something to complain against President Obama and if NOTHING is there to rant at, just fabricate something.

Msm, sad state of affairs.

[doriath22]

I'll take an articulate, thinking, goal-oriented leader over a slogan-spouting ventriloquist dummy any day

[wildedge]

Like Fox, the AP is all opinion, all the time.

[rbrown5518]

***Ronald Reagan: The 'Great Communicator' Former actor launched a modern-day Republican revolution and he was dubbed ?The 'Great Communicator" Good thing?
G.W. Bush malaprops will be chiseled in marble walls (good thing... not so much)

And AP's Liz Sidoti quandary is that our Pres is obnoxiously articulate- as appose to who or what? Liz please find something real to write about next time

[BartRoberts]

"G.W. Bush malaprops will be chiseled in marble walls (good thing... not so much)"


Well, only on ones that are designed to provide privacy between comodes.