Heeere's...Barack!
So what do you say to the Leader of the Free World when he sits down on your talk show set?
"Good to see ya!"
Yeah -- why not?
Jay Leno hosted President Barack Obama last night on The Tonight Show. And it started out like any other guest appearance. Obama might as well have been Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts, pumping a new movie.
Obama, for his part, launched into a funny story about landing in California the day before. Like he was a stand-up comic.
Obama was charming, dashing, inspiring, and relaxed. As usual. If he hadn't made the occasional reference that he was the president, you'd have thought you stepped into a time machine and were taken back to the campaign trail.
Memo to Barack: you got the job. You can quit campaigning for it now.
That's not a criticism, just an observation. I love hearing Obama speak. He's the first president, in my lifetime, who I'll stop what I'm doing when I hear his voice. And I was the biggest Bill Clinton fan in the world, at one time.
And to those who think that Obama somehow soiled the office by appearing on Leno's show: lighten up.
Arizona Senator John Kyl (R) put on a sour puss and spoke to the press Thursday.
"He's flying out to Los Angeles to be on Jay Leno. I suggest that he come back here and gather his people and figure out what we're going to do [about the AIG mess]," Kyl said -- with a straight face.
First of all, Obama didn't fly out to California expressly to be on Tonight. He held a couple of town hall meetings and toured an automotive plant. Of course, Kyl conveniently left that part out.
Obama responded to his critics. He always responds to his critics.
"There are those who say that I shouldn't go on Leno," the president said at one of the town halls. The crowd laughed and cheered. Mainly they laughed. "Like I can't do that and handle the economy at the same time."
I suppose you can't blame folks like Kyl, however. After all, he and his Republican colleagues proved that they can't walk and chew gum at the same time, so of course they don't think anyone else can, either.
Oh, and Obama made his NCAA basketball picks, which I'm sure took all of ten minutes. Yet that, too, was derided.
"The only 'March Madness' the president should be concerned about is what's going on in Washington," GOP strategist Brad Blakeman blared on MSNBC yesterday.
Whatever.
Candidate Obama, on Leno last year
I see what's happening here. The president's critics want to portray him as some sort of celebrity, college fraternity type who's been given the reins in the White House.
Well, the first part is probably right. Obama is, indeed, a celebrity. Nothing wrong with that, if he can get the job done. And he knows that if he doesn't produce, he'll become like so many other celebs -- his star power will fall and there'll be no shortage of folks who'll tear him down.
"I'm your employee," he told a questioner at one of the California town halls, who wanted to know if he planned on running again in 2012. "You'll determine, really, whether I choose to run again."
Obama really was plugging something, when you think about it, on Leno's show. He was plugging his policies as president. Frankly, I'm surprised that no president previous to Obama had the brightness or the boldness to figure out that an occasional guest shot on the late night talk show circuit -- while in office, not just on the campaign trail -- can be a powerful way to spike his numbers and reiterate his message.
After all, the late night viewers are a different breed than any other TV viewer. They're typically younger, and maybe not as engaged in the political process. Not that they don't care -- just that they don't have time to care. It's been a mostly untapped audience for any sitting president.
Leno did a good job, mixing the issues of the day with the personal. There was a joke about Obama's bowling skills (which led to an unfortunate Special Olympics reference that the prez wished he had back, and that I caught immediately), and talk about the new First Dog. And there was a lot of that famous Obama smile, so bright that it makes Jimmy Carter's famous one look like a dim bulb.
I told my wife that Obama's appearance would be even more awesome if he would have stayed and moved down a seat on the couch when the next guest sat down. But I suppose that's asking too much. If Bob Hope or Frank Sinatra wouldn't stay for the whole show when Johnny Carson hosted it, then you can hardly expect the president to tough it out with Jay Leno.
Oh, and here's to Garth Brooks -- who had the guts to be the guest to appear after Obama. Takes a secure entertainer to go on, knowing TV sets will be switching off all over the country before you even sing your first bar.
"Good to see ya!"
Yeah -- why not?
Jay Leno hosted President Barack Obama last night on The Tonight Show. And it started out like any other guest appearance. Obama might as well have been Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts, pumping a new movie.
Obama, for his part, launched into a funny story about landing in California the day before. Like he was a stand-up comic.
Obama was charming, dashing, inspiring, and relaxed. As usual. If he hadn't made the occasional reference that he was the president, you'd have thought you stepped into a time machine and were taken back to the campaign trail.
Memo to Barack: you got the job. You can quit campaigning for it now.
That's not a criticism, just an observation. I love hearing Obama speak. He's the first president, in my lifetime, who I'll stop what I'm doing when I hear his voice. And I was the biggest Bill Clinton fan in the world, at one time.
And to those who think that Obama somehow soiled the office by appearing on Leno's show: lighten up.
Arizona Senator John Kyl (R) put on a sour puss and spoke to the press Thursday.
"He's flying out to Los Angeles to be on Jay Leno. I suggest that he come back here and gather his people and figure out what we're going to do [about the AIG mess]," Kyl said -- with a straight face.
First of all, Obama didn't fly out to California expressly to be on Tonight. He held a couple of town hall meetings and toured an automotive plant. Of course, Kyl conveniently left that part out.
Obama responded to his critics. He always responds to his critics.
"There are those who say that I shouldn't go on Leno," the president said at one of the town halls. The crowd laughed and cheered. Mainly they laughed. "Like I can't do that and handle the economy at the same time."
I suppose you can't blame folks like Kyl, however. After all, he and his Republican colleagues proved that they can't walk and chew gum at the same time, so of course they don't think anyone else can, either.
Oh, and Obama made his NCAA basketball picks, which I'm sure took all of ten minutes. Yet that, too, was derided.
"The only 'March Madness' the president should be concerned about is what's going on in Washington," GOP strategist Brad Blakeman blared on MSNBC yesterday.
Whatever.
Candidate Obama, on Leno last year
I see what's happening here. The president's critics want to portray him as some sort of celebrity, college fraternity type who's been given the reins in the White House.
Well, the first part is probably right. Obama is, indeed, a celebrity. Nothing wrong with that, if he can get the job done. And he knows that if he doesn't produce, he'll become like so many other celebs -- his star power will fall and there'll be no shortage of folks who'll tear him down.
"I'm your employee," he told a questioner at one of the California town halls, who wanted to know if he planned on running again in 2012. "You'll determine, really, whether I choose to run again."
Obama really was plugging something, when you think about it, on Leno's show. He was plugging his policies as president. Frankly, I'm surprised that no president previous to Obama had the brightness or the boldness to figure out that an occasional guest shot on the late night talk show circuit -- while in office, not just on the campaign trail -- can be a powerful way to spike his numbers and reiterate his message.
After all, the late night viewers are a different breed than any other TV viewer. They're typically younger, and maybe not as engaged in the political process. Not that they don't care -- just that they don't have time to care. It's been a mostly untapped audience for any sitting president.
Leno did a good job, mixing the issues of the day with the personal. There was a joke about Obama's bowling skills (which led to an unfortunate Special Olympics reference that the prez wished he had back, and that I caught immediately), and talk about the new First Dog. And there was a lot of that famous Obama smile, so bright that it makes Jimmy Carter's famous one look like a dim bulb.
I told my wife that Obama's appearance would be even more awesome if he would have stayed and moved down a seat on the couch when the next guest sat down. But I suppose that's asking too much. If Bob Hope or Frank Sinatra wouldn't stay for the whole show when Johnny Carson hosted it, then you can hardly expect the president to tough it out with Jay Leno.
Oh, and here's to Garth Brooks -- who had the guts to be the guest to appear after Obama. Takes a secure entertainer to go on, knowing TV sets will be switching off all over the country before you even sing your first bar.
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