Exposing the "Obama is Overexposed" Ploy

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Meet The Press-President Obama

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Before the U.S. presidential election on November 4, 2008, it had been suggested candidate Barack Obama may have been overexposed. Ever since President Barack Obama took office, there has been talk among media correspondents and commentators that the President is doing too much; he has too much on his plate; he's too much in the media.

Citing a belief that it may have been the President's lack of involvement and articulation, during the summer months, that may have allowed the administration's message on health care to fall behind during the media blitz coverage of the vocal and boisterous townhall meetings across the nation, The Nation's Leslie Savan writes:

* We can argue over whether Obama is doing too much TV and not enough social media, or whether it's dumb to skip Fox News this weekend. And we can, and should, argue about what he actually says on these shows. But the handwringing over the sheer frequency of his media appearances is worse than disingenuous.

For the political right and the corporate media--especially those three- or four-hour-a-day radio and cable TV hosts--whining that Obama hits the screens too much, or is in general "doing too much," is their way of telling him to be more like a Republican president than a Democratic one: To do nothing on health care, economic justice, student loans, or whatever the issue may be. Oh, they tell the president, make the occasional speech that we can hype as do-or-die, but then obey the status quo lobby's instructions: Shut up and don't annoy the scaaarrry Republicans. (Hey, Max Baucus--BOO!)

But wasn't it just last week that Obama was criticized, and rightly so, for underexposing himself during that crucial month of August when, as Frank Rich wrote the crazies were "poisoning the national discourse while the president bided his time"? And in fairness, some talking heads aren't buying the "overexposed" canard. "We live in 24-hour news cycles now," former McCain media consultant Mark McKinnon told ABC, "and if the president isn't filling the vacuum, his opponents will be."

Too much of the MSM, however, plays dumb, as if they've never heard of such a McLuhanesque notion. Similarly, they act as if this were the first time they'd ever warned Obama about the danger of being seen in public too often--when in fact they were tooting the same horn not only every other month since Inaugural Day but throughout the final months of the 2008 campaign. Remember how Obama's Berlin speech was deemed overattended? How McCain tried to equate Obama with Paris Hilton as overpopular? 

* Please note I am not highlighting due to technical problems.    

Click here to read, Media Overexposes 'Obama is Overexposed' Complaint.