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Obama "Dude" Gets Serious on The Daily Show

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 01:23:05 AM EST
Tags: Obama, Jon Stewart (all tags)
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President Obama appeared on Jon Stewart's Daily Show Wednesday night. The show's website says video will be up shortly. But HuffPo already has it, in three parts, here.

WaPo's Dana Milbank has all the details and lots of quotes. Stewart actually called Obama "Dude."

The Daily Show host was giving Obama a tough time about hiring the conventional and Clintonian Larry Summers as his top economic advisor. "In fairness," the president replied defensively, "Larry Summers did a heckuva job."

"You don't want to use that phrase, dude," Stewart recommended with a laugh.

Milbank says Obama was "serious and defensive", even pointing his finger at Stewart when he said something he disagreed with. The LA Times report on the interview is here.

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    Obama "Dude" Gets Serious on The Daily Show | 25 comments (25 topical)

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    President Obama did not seem (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by KeysDan on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 03:45:54 AM EST
    to get the difference between the Daily Show and others.  After an entry of all smiles, he seemed to have left his sense of humor as well as his wit back at the White House.
    He took on Jon Stewart, placing him, essentially, in the "professional left" category of pundits who did not recognize how hard everything is and are not willing to accept anything other than 100 percent, when he obtained 90 percent. Moreover, when Jon Stewart through back, in a Groucho Marx kinda way, that he did not want to put Mr. Obama into the category of "all other presidents" I thought stage hands would need to apply wet towels to his forehead to cool him down.

    Same with Jon's use of an example to make a point, as Mr. Obama did in defending his health reform with a story of a NH women, once again, dead air.  While the audience seemed torn, between adulation of the president and the gutsy questioning of Stewart, my overall view was that he was too defensive, upset that we do not appreciate all his accomplishments, and, worst of all, for this show, a  humorless defense of his record.

    Your (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by Ga6thDem on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 04:53:20 AM EST
    synopsis makes him sound like W. and his whining it's "hard work".

    Parent
    Yes, he identified the enemy (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by KeysDan on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 07:39:22 AM EST
    and it is us--his supporters.   It seems many of us are simply not smart enough to recognize how smart he and his Larry Summers team are.

    Parent
    He may get what he really wants then (none / 0) (#20)
    by jbindc on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:48:04 AM EST
    At least according to today's CNN/Time poll:

    Shows Bennett and Buck in a statistical dead heat in Colorado, Paul pulling away from Conrad in Kentucky, Angle pulling away from Reid, Toomey slightly beating Sestak in Pennsylvania, and PRop 19 in California looking to go down in defeat.

    Parent

    I really hope (5.00 / 2) (#4)
    by Left of the Left on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 04:12:07 AM EST
    when he says we got 90% on Healthcare that theres some secret stuff we havent heard about because no one has finished reading the bill. Otherwise I'd hate to see what he considers compromising.

    Unfortunately I think we're about to find out.

    I'm watching it right now (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 07:55:33 AM EST
    I'm looking for the lies anymore because I'm so tired of the bull from this administration.  Obama brought up that there are new rules about how lobbyists can interact with the White House and that all meetings are disclosed now.  What a fool as far as I'm concerned.  We all know about Caribou Coffee across the street from the White House and we all know that the White House conducts lobbyist business via the coffee shop in order to avoid any records being kept on their lobbyist dealings.  I am so tired of this man treating me like I'm his pet.  Stop lying to me all the time!

    ummm, i sure hope he's taking better care (none / 0) (#12)
    by nycstray on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:15:02 AM EST
    of Bo than he is us . . . . .

    Parent
    The one part I saw this morning (none / 0) (#16)
    by jbindc on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:25:20 AM EST
    Where was Obama told Stewart that "30 million more people are going to be covered under the health care plan " (my paraphrase).  To those who watched the whole interview:  Did Stewart point out that 30 million more will be covered because they are going to be forced to buy health insurance?

    Parent
    His comment on states controlling (5.00 / 1) (#23)
    by Inspector Gadget on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 02:13:50 PM EST
    price hikes was ....well, priceless.

    Our premiums went up 50% last year, another 20% this year, and expect that trend to continue from now until the end of time.

    My favorite, though, was his boast on the credit card companies not being able to raise our interest rates. He quickly clarified that with, "without notice"! So, they can, they just need to give us 30 days to prepare for a 30% rate.

    I am sorry to see how otherwise good democrats are having to fight for their political lives because of this administration. We lose.

    Parent

    Yup (none / 0) (#17)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:27:59 AM EST
    And just because you have bought insurance does not mean you will get the care you need and the insurance companies are very busy trying to rip the guts out of any accountability they have at this time.

    Parent
    Yes (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by jbindc on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:49:49 AM EST
    I have insurance (COBRA), and have put off doing things like going to the dentist because it's still too expensive.  I can't imagine someone who doesn't have insurance now, and having to pay for a family and then trying to go to the doctor (where you will still have to pay to meet deductibles and co-pays and such).

    Parent
    I'm not usually much of a fan of Dan Milbank... (none / 0) (#1)
    by Romberry on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 02:03:52 AM EST
    ...but his take on Obama's appearance seems to be on the money to me. And Jon Stewart? It may be kinda lame to say this about a "fake news" comedian, but Jon Stewart is for me something of a hero. He is not intimidated in the least, and he makes his points with humour gently, yet...pointedly. I didn't feel as if the President much liked some of those points. It's as if someone reached through the bubble and poked him, and being poked by reality is an irritant. (In comments posted in the blogger meeting transcript thread at AmericaBlog, John Avarosis indicates Joe Sudbay -- also of AmericaBlog -- felt a bit of that same Obama irritation in the blogger meeting at the White House.)

    For what it's worth.... (none / 0) (#2)
    by EL seattle on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 02:26:14 AM EST
    ...the LA Times story mentions that -

     Earlier Wednesday, Obama taped an interview with conservative talk radio host Michael Smerconish.

    The Smerconish interview (approx 15 min.) has been posted you YouTube:

    Part 1
    Part 2

    It will be interesting to see whether or not Obama's same-day treatment of similar topics might be a little different for Smerconish's presumably conservative audience than for Stewart's presumably hip cable TV audience.
     

    pretty good interview, actually. (none / 0) (#7)
    by cpinva on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 05:48:07 AM EST
    normally, i have little to no use for mr. smerconish, but i must give credit where it's due. he asked good questions, addressing legitimate issues affecting everyone, not simply his, as you point out, normally conservative audience. to his credit also, he asked the question, and then allowed pres. obama to respond, without further interruption. of course, that used to be the norm.

    as with the jon stewart interview, pres. obama gave cogent, thoughtful answers. again, you might not wholly agree with them, but that's a different issue.

    both were good interviews, in my opinion. heck, smerconish better watch out, after this, he might find himself called a "socialist"! :)

    Parent

    i seem to have watched a (none / 0) (#6)
    by cpinva on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 05:33:43 AM EST
    completely different interview than everyone else. perhaps it was the "evil twin, "skippy" obama" interview, not the real one?

    overall, i was impressed, with both pres. obama and mr. stewart. legitimate questions asked, and intelligent responses given. you may not like the responses, but that's a different issue. i didn't get the impression pres. obama was on the defensive, so much as he was explaining realpolitik, "we're getting things done, just not as quickly as we might have hoped, or as perfectly as you might have hoped. we don't operate in a vacuum."

    if that's defensive, it's also reality, in any democracy.

    when stewart asked if perhaps part of the problem, regarding people's frustration, was that the obama campaign created unrealistically high expectations, followed by seemingly far lower actual accomplishments, the pres. didn't flinch. he agreed that may be part of it, and that even he and his staff had no clue that the republicans would work so diligently against his administration, and a majority democratic congress, to stifle any attempted progressive legislation. fair enough.

    of course, this sort of goes back to my primary reason for wanting obama to wait at least one more term, before running, in the first place: lack of sufficient experience with how washington works, that i believe clinton possessed.

    overall, i'd give both stewart and obama a B+.

    I've only heard a little of the interview (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by ruffian on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:22:06 AM EST
    and from what you say think I will mostly agree with you, but this part gets me:

    he agreed that may be part of it, and that even he and his staff had no clue that the republicans would work so diligently against his administration, and a majority democratic congress, to stifle any attempted progressive legislation.

    There is simply no excuse for not having a clue about that. None.

    Parent

    No Escuse at all (5.00 / 2) (#18)
    by MO Blue on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:32:39 AM EST
    especially since the Republicans at every opportunity told him and the country that they were not going to compromise with the Democratic majority.

    Parent
    Intelligent responses? (none / 0) (#24)
    by Inspector Gadget on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 02:22:41 PM EST
    The responses seemed well-delivered, but not particularly intelligent to me.

    He very carefully opened his arguments with a list of job loss numbers that happened post-election, but before the stimulus. The excuses for what he inherited are over. We know the timeline.

    I thought Jon Stewart did an incredible job of asking questions that actually mean something to the people...not too many media folk have the courage to do that.


    Parent

    one other point, (none / 0) (#8)
    by cpinva on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 05:54:45 AM EST
    regarding both interviews:

    in both cases, the interviewer and the interviewed came across as intelligent, but not condescending, to each other, or their respective audiences, in my opinion. unlike his predecessor, pres. obama spoke in complete, intelligible sentences that, regardless of whether or not you agreed with him, made sense.

    that's what i expect out of my president (and all my elected public officials, for that matter), a person who at least appears to be smarter than me. i also expect, from those who would seek to interview him, at least the appearance of being a little smarter than me.

    maybe my expectations are too high.

    Shut down banks? (none / 0) (#11)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 07:58:26 AM EST
    Nobody said shut down banks!

    I'll have to see the interview to get context (none / 0) (#13)
    by ruffian on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:19:57 AM EST
    but at least a few people were advocating shutting down more banks, rather than do TARP.

    Parent
    The "shutting down banks" (5.00 / 1) (#19)
    by Militarytracy on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:34:14 AM EST
    Is fear mongering speak.  I lived in Gillette WY when the main bank was "shut down".  The Feds road into town Friday afternoon quietly.  As the bank was about to close for the day they came through the door in a huge mass and took it over.  On Saturday businesses were afraid to take checks from Stockman's and people who were customers there were upset, but the Feds issued statements all over the region that it was still business as usual for the depositors and no reason to panic or not take your regular checks you take in.  Everyone was fine by Sunday.  Depositors went to the bank on Monday to discover that an account not exceeding 250,000 was completely covered and fine, but an insolvent bank had been forced back into solvency and new management.

    Parent
    yes, that was an option: (none / 0) (#15)
    by cpinva on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 09:22:55 AM EST
    Nobody said shut down banks!

    with the catastrophic effects of the financial meltdown. some bank's balance sheets were so devestated, by the drop in value of their investments in mortgage-backed derivatives, it became a question of which was cheaper: bailing them out, or shutting them down. this analysis also included the potential effects, on other institutions, of shutting down banks.

    how much of this actually happened on obama's watch, i have no idea, but it was part of the overall bailout issue.

    Obama brought up that there are new rules about how lobbyists can interact with the White House and that all meetings are disclosed now.  What a fool as far as I'm concerned.  We all know about Caribou Coffee across the street from the White House and we all know that the White House conducts lobbyist business via the coffee shop in order to avoid any records being kept on their lobbyist dealings.  I am so tired of this man treating me like I'm his pet.  Stop lying to me all the time!

    as i said, you may not agree with the responses..............

    i'd forgotten all about the "caribou coffee" thing, and had to go look it up, to figure out what the heck you were talking about.

    A sitting President on a comedy show (none / 0) (#22)
    by beefeater on Thu Oct 28, 2010 at 02:12:18 PM EST
    haven't really seen that since Richard (sock it to me?) Nixon tried it on Laugh-In.

    How did that little connection with the people work out for ya Dick?

    Can't wait until Barrack is seen waving from the top steps of Marine One on his way home to Kenya as they're swearing in President Biden. (It's another Nixon reference, calm down)

    Looking Backward (none / 0) (#25)
    by Xclusionary Rule 4ever on Fri Oct 29, 2010 at 12:31:51 PM EST
    I'm all for focusing on the future and creating jobs, but you have to look backward long enough to do the right thing.  Torture is illegal.  There was no self-defense basis for the war in Iraq and no UN security council resolution approving it.  BP is still in business and banks are still too big to fail. My 2 cents here.

    Obama "Dude" Gets Serious on The Daily Show | 25 comments (25 topical)

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