Posted by
Andrews on Saturday, November 07, 2009 11:46:56 AM
Many months ago, I wrote about the untimely demise of an essential member of the Obama team, his closest advisor Tel. E Prompter ("
Breaking News!"). It now seems that the administration is feeling that loss.
A recent NBC article on Obama's televised statements following the Ft. Hood shooting makes much of his choice to make light comments about the Tribal Nations Conference and other topics before adopting a mock somber tone for comments about Ft. Hood.
Best of the Web followed up with the biting comment that "the president's vaunted "cool" under pressure reflects
indifference, not mastery." Combined with the election losses, the faltering health care reform initiatives, and many other recent failures, it is clear that things are not going well on the PR front.
What no one has noticed is how much of this is the fault of Mr. Prompter's replacement. While clearly an adequate substitute, it seems Mr. Prompter's replacement does not have the ear of his predecessor. We all have seen Mr. Obama talk without prepared text, so we know that without a proper prepared speech he would simply emit a stream of "uhs" and "ers", meaning whatever he says is all attributable to his onstage aide. And, while Mr. Prompter could handle changed situations, his replacement cannot. And so, faced with a sudden tragedy, Mr. Obama instead continued with lightweight banter, as his aide was unable to shift tone on short notice.
It is ironic. When the results come in on election night 2010, and then on 2012, Mr. Obama will take the blame, but, in reality, the elections were all decided on July 13, 2009, the moment Tel E. Prompter died.