100 Days for Obama

How has he done? [Link]

Last week, the Politico offered a handy list of seven things the White House wants reporters to write about Pres. Obama’s first 100 days in office. The piece makes a nice enough frame for evaluating whether the Obama’s hoped-for spin matches reality.

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The press narratives selected by the Politico are… selective. Other storylines abound. For example, the media will likely not address Obama’s failure at basic executive tasks, like staffing his administration. Obama is heading into its first medical outbreak without a secretary of Health and Human Services or appointees in any of the department’s 19 key posts. There were difficulties planning the G20 summit because every senior post in the US Treasury Department was vacant, with the exception of Secretary Timmy Geithner. Speaking of whom, Geithner reminds us of the large number of scandal-plagued nominees that emerged from Obama’s apparently flawed vetting operation. Again, these are stories that get glossed over during a president’s honeymoon, but will be remembered if future events are not to Obama’s favor.

After 100 days of unprecedented, saturation media coverage, Pres. Obama finds himself with an average level of public approval that masks how deeply polarized that public opinion is. Rest assured, that is not on any list of what the White House wants reporters to write about Pres. Obama’s first 100 days in office.