Is Obama Getting Overexposed?

President Barack Obama's latest prime time press conference drew his smallest audience yet.

Is President Barack Obama getting overexposed? As talented a communicator as he is, it seems he's in danger of just that.

In part because he is such a talented speaker. He's the big gun that Team Obama keeps firing when it's in harm's way. Which it almost always is, having inherited the biggest economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression, a growing environmental crisis, and geopolitical crises around the globe. Not to mention a hyper-partisan political environment and a semi-functional media culture.

The question takes on some urgency for Obama with his "hurry up offense" coming up short on universal health care.

With Obama having dipped in the polls, though still very healthy in the mid-50s in job approval despite multiple crises, it's a good moment to rethink one's drink, so to speak.

There's no question that, in this fragmented media culture marked by an acute attention deficit disorder, Obama is the prime driver of news. But that doesn't mean he has to do it himself.

Obama didn't use surrogates very well in his Democratic primary campaign last year, even though he had some good ones. Too often, it was him against the world of his opponents and critical media. Things have improved since then, but not that markedly.

Last Wednesday night, we witnessed yet another prime time Obama press conference, this one apparently his least watched. Obama has already done more prime time press conferences than George W. Bush did during eight years of his presidency.

Without any real news to announce and discuss, the event turned into a health care policy wonkfest and, notably, an excursion into racial politics when Obama gave a politically inartful reply to a question about one of the latest media crazes, the arrest of a black Harvard professor trying to get into his own home. It was the sort of mistake -- I'm calling it a political mistake, not arguing Obama was wrong on the merits -- you wouldn't expect the usually carefully spoken president to make

Is Obama fatigued? That would certainly account for it.

The fact is that he seemed tired at his big Moscow and G-8 summits earlier this month. His major address in Moscow was one of his less compelling performances. Of course, that may have had something to do with the fact that Vladimir Putin made him late by keeping him long at their meeting at Putin's dacha outside Moscow. It may also have have something to do with the fact that Obamamania -- which according to polling, not to mention crowd reactions, stretches around the globe -- doesn't really exist in Russia. But Obama looked tired in the footage and according to attendees, and made a few unusual errors in pronunciation.

Fatigue could certainly account for his political mistake at the prime time presser with regard to the Gates controversy. It might also account for the wonkish cast to Obama's performance, which was quite "down in the weeds," as the saying goes, with respect to health care policy. The tireder he gets, the more professorial he seems.

Obama talked about health care again in his latest weekend video/radio address.

In many respects, health care is inherently a MEGO issue. By which I mean, once one delves into the particulars of the policy, "my eyes glaze over." Which doesn't reduce the importance of the issue. But does detract from its drama. There is a very dramatic proposal on health care that people can readily understand. Nationalize it. But nationalizing health care isn't politically viable in this system, as we are seeing with the struggle for Senate Democratic support for the so-called public option.

While Obama has used major surrogates to good effect on foreign policy -- on which he gets high ratings -- they've been pretty lacking on domestic policy.

In the campaign days, all the way back in, you know, 2008, Obama was frequently standing alone being pummeled by the Clintons and their allies and elements of the media. When all the while, Obama actually had more impressive endorsers.

Senator Ted Kennedy was a very effective surrogate for Obama in last year's campaign until illness struck.

For a time, Senator Ted Kennedy was a highly effective counterweight, notably to former President Bill Clinton. But then Kennedy disappeared from the campaign trail, for reasons we now understand all too well.

This went on even in the general election, when Obama had all the Democratic Party, including the Clintons, at his disposal.

One problem for Obama is a lack of strong major surrogates on domestic policy.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is not a very effective spokesman. White House Economic Policy Council head Larry Summers is not a very appealing spokesman. Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius is still very low-profile, despite having been an impressive governor of Kansas. Joe Biden is the vice president, frequently an effective surrogate on foreign policy, but cast in the master media narrative as a gaffe-machine on domestic affairs.

Obama's "hurry up offense" is coming up short on universal health care.

Now Obama's "hurry up offense" approach is coming up short on universal health care. He won't get a bill before the August congressional recess, which raises the question of how best for him to proceed.

Especially at a time when most Americans are still most concerned with the economy. Now, the economy appears to be coming around in a number of ways. Intel, the leading maker of microprocessors, has sharply increasing sales. Apple sales of its higher-end personal computers, smartphones, and music players reported increasing sales and profits, defying recessionary predictions about the company.

The stock market has gone up, taking away the wingnut trope about "the Obama market." Of course, the financial sector should be in better shape, for the vast sums of public money thrown at it.

Kansas Governor-turned-US Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has had a very low profile.

Unemployment continues to be a lagging indicator of any economic recovery. However, it has usually been a lagging indicator of recovery. Which reminds that the big economic stimulus package probably should have been more front-loaded, with more infrastructure spending.

Which in turn points up the problem of deferring to congressional barons in the development of programs, as legislators by definition have more parochial concerns than executives.

That's been a problem with health care, as well, as congressional Democrats have been wrangling with one another various iterations of universal health care, a situation which allows the lobbyists to work their dark arts in the relative shade free from much publicity.

Obama has a lot to think about as he regroups his forces for a renewed push on health care, and on the rest of his agenda.

You can check things during the day on my site, New West Notes ... www.newwestnotes.com.

Comments

[yankees]

YES!!!
You know what we do with our heros. It's only a matter of time before we get on his case as we do with all our heros.

[Passenger57]

You said the same thing about Pres. Obama's last press conference that the media did. It kinda makes me feel bad that I COULD UNDERSTAND IT.
I'm tired of being "talked down" to...I enjoyed a press conference that you could learn a lot from if you just LISTENED to what Obama was saying.
Good points were made here - but the only danger to Obama's frequent appearances is the GOP trying to spread the false idea that Obama's too busy being on TV instead of "working on fixing (insert nationwide problem here)"...

[cdub1991]

It would be great if the president didn't have to be out in front on everything. If he isn't tired now, he's going to burn out eventually, and his agenda is so broad and deep that it's going to take the full 8 years to pursue it. The problem is that this congress has demonstrated it's inability to stay focused enough to finish a deal without his direct and public intervention to refocus them. To President Obama's credit, I think he does intervene at the right moment. Most accuse him of not being involved enough, but he seems to jump into the process at the moment when negotiations are starting to drift and an extra dose of energy is required to drive to the finish. So the bill wasn't complete before the August break. When the final history is written, it will probably be the case that the entire process only ran a few weeks longer than originally planned. Considering the difficulty of the US legislative process in the current politically polarized environment, that ain't bad.

[hjfreelib]

After eight years of a presidency shrouded in secrecy, the answer is, 'No,' Obama is not overexposed.

[Winning09]

That's kind of a, whatcha call it, non sequitur... lol

[JustinAddison]

Great point. Maybe he's inviting too much armchair quarterback scrutiny by putting himself out there so much, and needs to delegate some of the speaking responsibilities as most presidents have. Maybe Obama needs to dive into his less public work for a while.

[mediamarv]

This is a phony argument. Lower ratings for a news conference is the norm, not a surprise. The reverse argument would be that he only have pressers when something dramatic has happened or is about to happen.
You can see the foolishness of that position.

So, he can have all the press conferences he wants... too much is always better than non-existent, as in the Bush fiasco.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

That's a straw man argument.

[seajayh]

I love to listen to Barack Obama.

[Winning09]

He's cool, no question about that.

[mmonarch]

I am sick of seeing his face on TV every day. He WON already. Stop campaigning. He cannot make everyone LOVE him. So shut him up.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

You're going too far in the other direction.

[Passenger57]

Yeah! I want MY president to come out on his birthday, shrouded in fog,wearing a fur cape and 24K gold suit ,carrying a scepter, and having the Vice President and Secretary Of State strapped to his feet for shoes!!

[Milash]

I'm sorry, is he forcing the media to follow his every move? If the "news" is saturated with Obama references, talk to the "reporters" and not who they report. Its a vicious cycle of building people up just to knock them down again.

[Charmed]

I wish Obama would stop filming himself and writing articles about himself so he won't be over exposed. He really needs to stop doing interviews in the mirror and then broadcasting them on tv.

[Passenger57]

LOL! How does he get the camera to not show up in the mirror?

[Barack On Blast]

"More than four years ago, with George W. Bush near the height of his power, we published this article about how the Right had achieved a political ascendancy that had little correlation to the merits of its actions or its ideas.
Though the political situation has changed since then – in part because of Bush’s undeniable blunders, from Hurricane Katrina to open-ended wars – the Right continues to wield power beyond all reason in large part because of its media clout, a situation that the Left contributed to with its “media miscalculation”:
To understand how the United States got into today’s political predicament – where even fundamental principles like the separation of church and state are under attack – one has to look back at strategic choices made by the Right and the Left three decades ago."

The Left's Media Miscalculation

By Robert Parry
July 29, 2009 (Originally Posted April 29, 2005)

[olamide90]

Amen, you my friend, nailed it.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks.

[mergina]

Yeah, he has his nose in too much crap a president should rise above and let others handle.

[oscarp]

Soon, he will start writing poetry, talking about economics, religion, music, fashion, etc, like the old communist dictators ( ex Castro in Cuba, Ceaucescu in Romania, and so many others) who were constantly on TV, in the newspapers, in the magazines, everywhere.... He has the need to be on TV to satisfy his own ego, perhaps he really has low self-esteem? Most of the times, you try to impress others by apparently having a huge ego, when in reality all you have is a very low self-esteem.
We all knew that he would become this kind of president. Unfortunately, I cannot say that he is better than Bush, presidents keep coming in worse quality every four years. When are we going to get a POTUS that does what he/she needs to do for the country?

[Charmed]

oscarp.....maybe you should run and become President and do it the way it needs to be done according to you.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Sheer rubbish.

[Winning09]

Back to Limbaugh Land ...

[Passenger57]

Ah, yes...since President get worse every four years-according to you,anyway- Bush must have really, REALLY stunk! Also, by your logic,since the presidents keep getting worse, we'll NEVER get a "good" (in your mind) president.
Many times, people try to impress others and pump themselves up by writing PSEUDO-PSYCHOLOGICAL GOBBLEDEKOOK...

[AbstractImp]

Apparently not, since most "Americans" remain quite stupid.

[hegdehog]

Yeah, Obama is overexposed. I mean, who does he think he is--the leader of the free world? Paris Hilton, fine. Michael Jackson, Lindsay Lohan, great. Put 'em on television 24 hours a day. But the President of the United States? That's just pushing it a little too far. We would want anything of any real substance invading our infotainment space. I mean, this politics stuff is just so... MEGO.

[William Bradley - Huffpost Blogger]

Sorry you don't get it. Many people get overexposed, especially in politics.

There are other ways to get the message out, and they need to be employed.