Obama in an earlier role
Posted on 03/27/2009 12:37:02 PM PDT by presidio9
It's obvious the camera loves President Barack Obama. But are American audiences growing tired of his seemingly ubiquitous TV appearances?
This week alone, the president has been on "60 Minutes," held a press conference during primetime (networks reluctantly bumped "American Idol" and "Biggest Loser" to make room for it) and answered viewer questions at his first-ever online town hall meeting. And all this is in addition to ESPN’s sporadic updates on how his NCAA bracket is doing.
New York Times columnist Gail Collins put it this way:
"…there appear to be only two constants in our ever-changing world. One is that Barack Obama is going to be on television every day forever. No venue is too strange. Soon, he’ll be on 'Dancing With the Stars' ('And now, doing the Health Care, Energy and Education tango ...’) or delivering the weather report. ('Here we see a wave of systemic change, moving across the nation ...’)"
Others criticize President Obama, who is known for his fiery orations, for "being boring" and "dull". LA Times blogger Andrew Malcolm likened Obama's Tuesday night primetime presser to a lackluster college lecture:
"Professor Barack Obama showed up. And if you remember one of those required college lecture courses in the large auditorium at 8:10 a.m., listening to a droning don, and how it felt, slumped in the cushy seats having skipped breakfast for an extra 13 minutes of ZZZZs."
The TV ratings seem to echo the feelings of those less-than-enthused critics. According to Nielsen, Obama’s much hyped primetime appearance attracted 40 million viewers, down 18% from his February 9 press conference and down 23% from his February 24 address to Congress.
But there are those who defend the president's pervasive media strategy, saying his constant presence is reassuring to the American public.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
CHANGE the channel, and HOPE that he’s not pre-empting something worth watching.
LOL!
“But there are those who defend the president’s pervasive media strategy, saying his constant presence is reassuring to the American public.”
Dow down 171 points today.
Nickelodeon almost NEVER pre-empts Spongebob Squarepants for a mere presdential lecture/speech.
And the dialogue is more intelligent, too.
Very good. Let ‘em have it!!
And I used to think Bill Clinton was ‘bad’ in the sense that he could insinuate himself into just about everthing. Obama has him beat by a mile.
“Surprisingly profound for a narrative about a sponge”
I don't know about you, but I'm certainly reassured. Every time 0bambi speaks, I'm more and more reassured of my conviction we're going to hell in a handbasket.
Yes. I’m even going to follow him on his spring tour.
What? He’s a... what? A cartoon character? ...and characters don’t TOUR?
Well what the heck am I going to now! I just quit my job!
He still has not done Sesame Street yet. That will probably be one of the next appearances.
He’s President.
The mania went beyond its limit.
I expect we will all see something like this one REAL SOON.....
Seriously, most Americans get tired of any “celebrity” after a short while. I can only hope the same happens here as this particular “celebrity” is systematically ruining the country I love. I can not stand to even hear him now and turn the channel quickly when he is on.
..............
I think you have to force yourself to watch the speeches, no matter how uncomfortable it makes you. I just had a conversation with a liberal in my office who said that she never watched Bush's speeches because he was too annoying. How do you know he's annoying if you never actually watch him in action? "I get it from from Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman." That doesn't work. You're going to sound lame the next time some liberal questions you about Obama and you say that you get all your information second hand from Hannity.
His constant presence is reassuring?????
Like he is going to evaporate if he is not constantly being seen? The only person reassured by all this is o himself. The rest of us are very quick with the remote if we even have the tv on.
Totally annoying over-saturation. I’d rather be doing hangnails than hear that man’s voice EVER again. And the kids I teach are furious that he takes Prime Time slots, even the ones who were gung-ho for him in November.
Here I am in my tenth year by this screen name FR. And I was banned with other handles before this one. This thread was the 6,687 that I've posted here. Even still there's always some nosey neighbor with a year or so of experience on FR offering free advice about what to post and what not to post.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.