Obama TV Has Become a Snore

Say what you want about President Nixon, but at least his press conferences were entertaining. “It was the Colosseum, and everybody’s thumb was down,” recalls staffer Pat Buchanan. “It was something worth watching.” The same can’t be said of President Obama’s all-too-frequent appearances. Last week’s health-care presser was “arguably the most listless televised hour” he’s delivered yet, writes Felix Gillette in the New York Observer. Obama’s become “nearly unwatchable.”

Viewers agree: 49.4 million tuned into his first press conference; last week’s drew 24.6 million. One Republican blames it on Obama’s policies, adding that his reliance on the teleprompter makes for “very boring, unemotional TV.” A Democrat says Obama’s just overexposing himself: “Even the best communicators, if they go too often, wear out their welcome.” (More Barack Obama stories.)