In photos provided by the White House, President Obama spoke with, clockwise from center left, Bob Schieffer of CBS, George Stephanopoulos of ABC, Jorge Ramos of Univision, David Gregory of NBC and John King of CNN.
President Obama appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," as well as NBC's "Meet the Press," Univision's "Al Punto Con Jorge Ramos," CNN's "State of the Union" and ABC's "This Week."
President Obama discusses the economy and other topics with CNN's John King.
The White House doesn't buy the notion that President Obama, who appeared on five talk shows Sunday and is heading next for David Letterman's couch, could be wearing out his welcome on the tube.
President Obama gave five back-to-back television interviews broadcast on Sunday that were as tightly choreographed — and eerily similar — as the multiple Magritte bowler-hatted men milling in the remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair.”
No other president has been a guest on so many Sunday talk shows at once, which signaled how much Mr. Obama wanted to reclaim the health care debate and persuade skeptics that his plans would not increase taxes on the middle class. But for so well-spoken and confident a president, the lack of spontaneity on Sunday was striking. So was the homogeneity: Mr. Obama appeared on Univision, but he drew the line at Fox.
Viewers have grown accustomed to the drama of live politics. Sunday looked more like a string of TNT reruns, an Obama health care overhaul marathon.
In each conversation, Mr. Obama proved what most people already know: he is a deft and appealing speaker who can stay on message. But there was nothing in those stagy interviews that shed light on whether his message would take hold. When asked by ABC if a health insurance mandate was the same as a tax increase, the president replied: “What I’ve said is that if you can’t afford health insurance, you certainly shouldn’t be punished for that.”
He added: “For us to say that you’ve got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. What it’s saying is that we’re not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you anymore.”
Mr. Obama did not openly convey any animosity in his Sunday interviews. He was poised, thoughtful and, most of all, consistent, assuring each interviewer, in almost identical phrasing, that he had no immediate plans to send more troops to Afghanistan and that an economic recovery is at hand.
He was just as steady when his five interviewers asked if racism was responsible for some of the fiercer attacks on his presidency. Nipping the hands that he was feeding, Mr. Obama suggested that the news media were fueling the furor.
“I do think part of what’s different today is that the 24-hour news cycle and cable television and blogs and all this, they focus on the most extreme elements on both sides,” he told Mr. Schieffer. “They can’t get enough of conflict. It’s catnip to the media right now.”
He said the same to David Gregory, the host of “Meet The Press” on NBC. “The media loves to have a conversation about race,” Mr. Obama said, adding, “This is catnip to, to the media because it is a running thread in American history that’s very powerful.”
Mostly, however, Mr. Obama demonstrated that the news media are catnip to presidents.
Enough already, but the international agenda is both packed and important. Some -- emphasis on some -- highlights:
• Tuesday: Obama meets with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders separately and then jointly.
• Obama also meets Tuesday with Chinese President Hu Jintao, and speaks to the Clinton Global Initiative meeting.
• Wednesday: The president meets Japan's new prime minister, and addresses the U.N. General Assembly. Later, a sitdown with Russian President Medvedev -- their first face-to-face sine Mr. Obama's decision to scale back U.S. missile defense plans.
• Thursday: More meetings at the U.N., then Mr. Obama heads to Pittsburgh for the G-20 summit.
• Friday: two G-20 plenary sessions are on tap, with the focus on the global economy. Mr Obama plans to meet with reporters after the session, before heading back to Washington.
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The Jay Leno Show is an American prime time television variety show created by and starring Jay Leno, which premiered Monday, September 14, 2009 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's tenure as host of The Tonight Show.
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