Pete Seat.com

Obama started out with issue #1 on everyone’s mind:  swine flu.  He even joined the re-branding campaign and called it H1N1.  After his opening statement, Obama’s underlying theme was focused on reminding the American people how much he has to deal with as president – he mentioned it numerous times – while the press was more interested in finding conflict between Obama and the previous administration on interrogation techniques and state’s secrets.  There were three questions on the subjects.

The other ten inquiries from questioners, carefully chosen as always, ran the gamut from H1N1 to autos to Iraq to immigration to abortion and even a touchy-feely question from the New York Times on what has surprised, troubled, enchanted and humbled Obama during these first 100 days in office.  All of them used to portray Obama not as just a president focused on an ever troubling economy – but a man with a lot on his plate.

In his answer to the New York Times, Obama explained that when he first announced his candidacy for president Iraq was the dominant issue and the economy was in relatively good shape.  Now, as he said, he has not just Iraq, but also Afghanistan, the economy, North Korea, H1N1 and a host of issues on his desk every day.  He has been surprised by “the number of issues coming to a head at one time.”

It’s an interesting strategy.  Every president must focus on multiple sets of problems every day – some that we see and some that we don’t.  So it’s very intriguing that he is making a conscience effort to highlight just how hard he is working as if someone out there is claiming he isn’t.

Main Points to take away:

1)      Is there a doctor in the house? Yes! Dr. Obama! – President Obama says wash your hands, cover your coughs and stay home if you’re sick.  Kids around the Nation woke up this morning with the sniffles and and invoked their own presidential privledge saying, “But mom, the president told me to stay home!”

2)      Obama works very, very, very, very, very hard – and had no idea he would. (That’s almost a direct quote)

3)      Obama does not want to be a banker nor a shareholder, but it’s the card he’s dealt.

4)      Admonishes GOP for not working with him – “opposing us on every front is not a good political strategy”

5)      Repeats that waterboarding is torture, in his view, and believes that releasing the memos took away a valuable recruitment tool from terrorists

By the numbers:

Questions – 13

Wires – 2 (Associated Press & Reuters)

TV – 4 (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN – Fox News did not get a question, but seated in front row)

Radio – 1 (CBS – only the 2^nd radio outlet to be called on in primetime)

Print – 3 (NYT, Time mag, WSJ – only one – Wash Times, was called on last time)

Regional/Niche – 3 (Detroit News, Telemundo, BET – allowed Obama to discuss autos, immigration and African American issues.)

Pretty low on the questions side, although average if you consider that the New York Times got a 4-for-1 deal with their question.  The Obama communications team yet again relied on regional/niche outlets to help drive their agenda for at least part of the press conference.  With the second question, just after swine flu, the Detroit News’ Deb Price inquired about the auto industry.  Obama also called on Telemundo and BET to discuss immigration reform (says it will begin this calendar year) and how the economy is effecting the African-American community.

Most interesting though is that Obama dissed Fox News Channel, which was the only network not to get a question during the press conference.  It’s no secret at the Obama team is not a fan of Fox, but this is a pretty bold move on their part.  Most will surely view it as a response to the fact that the parent broadcast network chose to run their normal original programming instead of Obama’s press conference, leaving that to the cable channel.