Politics with Marc Ambinder

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Jun 24 2009, 6:00 am by Staff

Obama The Pickup Artist

President Obama expresses undisguised contempt for the habits of the American media. And they luuuuv it. Do his low-grade insults make him irresistible? Who taught him this pop seduction technique?

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Comments (3)

Nathan Cook

It's not him, it's the media. They lap it up because they agree with him. No decent journalist would like asking the president how many cigs he smokes a day, but you can't express that dissatisfaction and stay employed. He's just telling them what they can't say for themselves.

jpeckjr

He learned it from watching Jed Bartlet and CJ Cregg. I'm serious about this. Go watch. Any number of Obama moments have reminded me of "West Wing" scripts. He's clearly communicating that he's smarter than they are, sharper than they are, wittier than they are, and knows more than they do, and it's going to stay that way. The public loves it more than they do. Contempt for the media is rather high these days.

ottovbvs

He does bat them away like flies. Firstly there's the nature of most of the questions which are truly 11th grade. I've not seen a really sophisticated question asked for years. But no matter even if the question is dumb Obama responds in a nuanced way which demonstrates his intelligence and mastery of the subject. Then there are the real dumb questions or addendums sometimes with a pejorative overtone. He just flattens em and I'm sure the public love it. One has to wonder why an obviously intelligent and thoughtful guy like Chuck Todd insists in playing this role.