Obama Looooves the Times

Admits he neglected the marketing of his policies

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama is proud of his many legislative accomplishments, but lately he’s been dwelling on the mistakes of his first two years, and spending “a lot of time talking about Obama 2.0,” one aide tells the New York Times in a sweeping profile today. Obama tells reporter Peter Baker that he’s learned “tactical lessons,” saying he didn’t spend enough time thinking about politics, and let himself be portrayed as “the same old tax-and-spend liberal.” More»

Sun Valley conference a pessimistic affair

(NEWSER) - The Sun Valley summit of media titans last week was a dour affair, with the CEOs lamenting the poor state of the economy—and how little faith they have in the Obama administration to fix it. In on- and off-the-record conversations with the moguls, Peter Lauria of the Daily Beast reports, they expressed “serious concerns about the administration’s motives” and worried that its policies would do long-term damage to the economy. More»

At least around reporters suddenly quoting official profanity

(NEWSER) - Lately, the White House has had quite the potty mouth. Barack Obama called Kanye West a “jackass,” Joe Biden told a senator to “gimme a fucking break!” and one top economic adviser said that America hadn’t had its “holy shit” moment. That’s an unusually high naughty word count, rhetoric experts tell Politico, but the difference probably isn’t the administration: it’s the media. More»

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama maintained his trademark cool at last night's press conference, but he seemed back in campaign mode as he offered "well-honed arguments and sound bites" in favor of health care reform, writes Jane Sasseen of BusinessWeek. The president did a good job selling his plan, but he steadfastly avoided any specifics on the most contentious questions. The result: a press conference "devoid of much insight" that allowed the president to frame the debate, Sasseen concludes. More»

(NEWSER) - The White House is watching the old media paradigm disintegrate with just a touch of opportunistic glee, reports Jon Ward of the Washington Times. “There are so many places that are driving the news that, in the end, nothing gets driven,” says press secretary Robert Gibbs. That makes it harder for Obama to form a “central narrative,” but easy for the White House to contain damaging stories. More»