r9etb wrote:Not really. Not if we assume that the press conference is a legitimate event where reporters ask the questions independently (meaning the question is being heard for the first time at the press conference). If the question isn't known in advance, the 3x5 note card can't have the exact words of a prepared answer.
Then again, 3x5 notecards could just as easily be abused.
Obama doesn't do well when he goes 'off the script' in the teleprompter. When asked questions, he often gives more honest answers, which reveal his true position, well to the left of what polls well. The whole "spread the wealth around" comment to Joe the plumber is a famous example. Nobody preparing his remarks in the teleprompter would ever have written the phrase "spread the wealth around" into his script.
Now, if we had a team of writers preparing the 3x5 cards in the next room after they hear the question, and handing them to him to read, that would be the same as a teleprompter.
r9etb wrote:No, my assumption is that the teleprompter isn't just about telling him what he should say. It's also about avoiding saying things that he really wants to say, but his advisors and focus groups think he should hide.
Your underlying assumption here is that Obama has no words, knowledge, or opinion other than what would appear on his teleprompter
He wants it for two reasons. First, he doesn't always want to show his real opinions and plans. That's what all the "uh, umm, " is about. It's him filtering out the things his advisors tell him he shouldn't say. And the other reason he wants the teleprompter is because all those "ummmm, err," and the stuttering are his "tell" (to use poker terminology). When he's stuttering and "ummmm, err," you know you aren't getting the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The teleprompter help him conceal things that he wants to conceal.
This includes the visuals of him actually referring to his notes. He wants the video to show that he is "thinking on his feet" and "being sincere and in control" and all sorts of narcissistic-ally and politically motivated deception.
He could bring out a simple notebook like any other president or spokesman, but that is not super human enough for The One now, is it?