Barack Obama is running scared of tough questions

[bijou]

...I would have more insights on the mood and appearance of the president, but like the other DC based correspondents I was deemed surplus to requirements by the White House, who clearly had no intention of letting British and American journalists question the pair, as is customary, for 40 minutes or more. I'm not even sure the whole of the travelling lobby pack got in.

It is insulting and counter-productive to leave out the very people who cover him day to day. The White House contingent was also a small pool, rather than the full court press you would expect.

The always excellent Alex Massie sums it up thus: "Obama to World: Drop Dead!"
My old boss Benedict Brogan, soon returning to Telegraph towers, aptly describes it all as a "shambles".

It will doubtless be seen as self-indulgent bleating by the media but there is much about this incident that is revealing about the way President Obama does business.

A Washington Post colleague just called me and said that the White House press corps cannot think of a single previous occasion when a British Prime Minister was treated in this way.

British Embassy staff, irritated themselves, had to twist Robert Gibbs' arm to get even two questions per side in a quick oval office doorstep. The press availability was initially going to be a 'pool spray' with softballs lobbed by the agencies. No10 and the embassy have managed to get this changed. But they were caught spinning that a Rose Garden presser had been cancelled because of the weather. The White House denies a presser was ever planned. In the old days we had cold weather pressers in the Old Executive Office Building, across from the White House.

Why does this matter? Three reasons:

- Major British hack involvement in a full blown press conference has always been regarded as useful by the White House press corps. We ask different questions from them, usually more aggressively and get answers they could not. There were several spiky and revealing moments between President Bush and the BBC political editor Nick Robinson. It is bizarre that Mr Obama is less willing to answer questions than Mr Bush. It reflects very poorly on his tendency towards control freakery, which has been in evidence since his campaign.

...

- Obama has been running scared of the international media and the British press in particular since the start of his campaign. He didn't give a single interview to a British outlet even when he was in the UK. This is very unusual, particularly from a man who so desperately wants to be loved on the world stage. We know we're not special, given Obama's general contempt for beat reporters (as opposed to his schmoozing with editors), but it is still peculiar.

...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/tim_shipman/blog/2009/03/03/barack_obama_is_running_scared_of_tough_questions

[RightCoast]

As the tide turns...

[Chris]

[youtube=425,350]NjIiPjRGksw[/youtube]

Poor Barry, the little baby must have been exhausted from all that work.

[formerlurker]

The press in GB is going to eat him alive.   

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

If he had just talked to them they probably would have just asked him fluff questions but now he's making conspicuous insults towards them.

It's a bad idea for a fabrication of the media to insult the media that fabricated him.

[NHSparky]

IOW, he knows that he can't bullshit them, and can't bully them either.

[Lord Undies]

There is nothing more volatile than a Hollow Saviour who realizes, two months in, he is a one-term wonder.  What's to lose?

[Tess]

[youtube=425,350]NjIiPjRGksw[/youtube]

Poor Barry, the little baby must have been exhausted from all that work.

The amazing thing is...that was on ABC!   

[djones520]

The gift that keeps on giving.

What truly amazes me is how much of a trainwreck he is already proving to be, yet he STILL HAS 60% APPROVAL RATINGS!

[thundley4]

I would say that over half of the 60% are moonbats that will support him no matter what. Then there are some that pay no attention to reality and know only what the MSM tells them. Lastly , there are some that support him purely out of racial prejudice. IMO

[Tess]

The gift that keeps on giving.

What truly amazes me is how much of a trainwreck he is already proving to be, yet he STILL HAS 60% APPROVAL RATINGS!

I would venture to guess that the numbers are among the right demographics to get the right kind of outcome.   

[Lord Undies]

I would venture to guess that the numbers are among the right demographics to get the right kind of outcome.   

Of course it is.  They take these polls during the day, calling in the Boston area when only the housekeeper is home to answer the phone.

It is my experience that the rabid ObamaClown supporters around me have gone silent and those who always opposed his election are steamed to the max.

I'm not convinced ObamaClown will finish out his term.

[Tess]

The interesting thing is, he actually thinks that it is okay for him to run his presidency and the relation to the press like he ran his campaign.  There are SOME that will play along and love it.  But those who truly consider themselves journalists will not buy into it and will not easily go away.  Especially in the world media.  They still have this issue with the US as a whole so it isn't going to matter WHO the president is, if he doesn't give them time to ask questions or answer them, they will fry him.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

The interesting thing is, he actually thinks that it is okay for him to run his presidency and the relation to the press like he ran his campaign.  There are SOME that will play along and love it.  But those who truly consider themselves journalists will not buy into it and will not easily go away.  Especially in the world media.  They still have this issue with the US as a whole so it isn't going to matter WHO the president is, if he doesn't give them time to ask questions or answer them, they will fry him.

The leg thrill may be beginning to wear-off: http://hotair.com/archives/2009/03/04/uh-oh-matthews-sounding-fed-up-with-obamas-earmark-hypocrisy/