This Article is From Jul 30, 2010

Obama's daytime diplomacy

Obama's daytime diplomacy
New York: "We shouldn't be campaigning all the time," President Obama said on "The View," during an interview that looked and sounded a lot like a campaign appearance.

Mr. Obama answered questions about Afghanistan and unemployment and also talked about vacationing in Maine with his children and his wife, Michelle. He addressed the economy and joked about pop culture, making entertainment news headlines by confessing he didn't know who Snooki is. ("Jersey Shore.")

In short, he stepped out of the political vortex to score a political point. The president's good-humored appearance on "The View," taped on Wednesday and broadcast on Thursday, wasn't just another step in the blurring of news and entertainment. It was also another example of how politicians increasingly co-opt entertainment shows to make news.

It was his third visit with the all-female panel of hosts, but Mr. Obama is the first sitting president to appear on a daytime talk show -- a momentous enough occasion to lure Barbara Walters, on leave to recover from heart surgery, back to the couch. Judging from her guest's smooth performance -- and enthusiastic welcome -- Mr. Obama will almost certainly not be the last president to appear on a daytime talk show.

"The View" labeled the get as a historic precedent, but if so, it's a footnote at best. Television doesn't go back very far in American history, but since its earliest days politicians have sought to capitalize on it -- all the while loosening the etiquette rules and expanding the definition of what is appropriate. Richard M. Nixon was a candidate in the 1968 presidential election when he made a cameo on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." Former Senator John Edwards announced his candidacy for the 2004 election on "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." While still in office in 2008 George W. Bush took a star turn on -- via a taped message -- the game show "Deal or No Deal." Last year President Obama broke new ground -- CBS called it historic -- by appearing on "Late Show With David Letterman."

Talk shows and game shows provide politicians with a free platform to reintroduce themselves to those viewers who only glance at the news and change the channel when a presidential speech begins. And for months now Mr. Obama has been all but buried under a mass of complicated policy issues and steamy political conflict. Some critics even denounced his family vacation in Maine as too highfalutin.

By smiling and joking alongside the likes of Whoopi Goldberg and Ms. Walters, by listing his accomplishments without contradiction or interruption, Mr. Obama got a chance to remind viewers who voted for him why they did so in the first place. A lot of goodwill can be reaped with an appearance on "The View" or ESPN or even "WWE Raw." (In 2008 Mr. Obama and two other presidential candidates provided taped greetings to fans of that wrestling show.)

Mr. Obama isn't shy about putting his charisma to use. This week he also posted a Web video, a kind of health care infomercial for Healthcare.gov, a new government Web site. On "The View" on Thursday, Mr. Obama said that he still had a BlackBerry, but that he didn't personally send out the White House's Twitter messages; they are delegated to a 20-something aide. He complained that his aides worry that even text messages are bound for presidential archives and therefore never send him any "juicy" information.

Shows like "The View" are a way to slip past what Mr. Obama called the "media cycle," the 24-hour cable news programs that zoom in on gaffes and inflate issues like the sliming of Shirley Sherrod. Mr. Obama tried to set the record straight, describing the firing of Ms. Sherrod on bogus accusations of racism as a "phony controversy," and admitting that some in his administration were among the many who "overreacted."

Mr. Obama told his hosts that "the media culture right now loves conflict." But right then the media culture on "The View" mostly loved Mr. Obama. Joy Behar, who is the show's designated liberal, asked the president why he didn't have better attack dogs to combat right-wing smears. "Joy, that's your job," Mr. Obama said with a smile.

Even Elisabeth Hasselbeck, a conservative, was admiring and deferential. She tried to challenge him on unemployment, saying that the administrations figures about "saved jobs" wasn't the same as creating new ones. Mr. Obama pushed her back handily and politely, noting, "It makes a difference if your job was one of the ones that were saved."

Mr. Obama may be the first sitting president to appear on a daytime talk show, but he would undoubtedly do more of it were it not for the risk of wearing out his welcome. The law of diminishing returns applies to talk-show appearances as well -- more is less.
.