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President Obama's 'Contentious' Fox News Interview: Media Reacts

by Susan Marie Kovalinsky | March 18, 2010 at 07:08 am

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President Obama on Fox News' "Special Report with Brett Baier" gets mixed reviews from media

President Obama's interview last night which was broadcast at 6 pm on Fox News' "Special Report with Bret Baier" is causing a media stir.

Aimed at explaining his healthcare reform bill to more conservative leaning Americans, many liberals were angered that Obama made the appearance - believing he should receive high marks simply for doing so, given the long-standing feud between the administration and Fox network - while right leaning pundits viewed Obama as defensive and combative.

Conservatives believe the President did a poor job of justifying the "Slaughter Rule" of "deem and pass" which would allow the bill to pass under revisions.

The House was to vote on the Senate bill, and some are bothered by the idea that instead Obama will have his own bill which has not been reviewed by either wing of Congress.

Too much political rhetoric, not enough substance

On the left, some believe that Baier did not ask substansive questions, and that someone such as the late Tim Russert, moderator of "Meet the Press", would have been both firm and respectful.

Obama attempted to stress the benefits which would be available to Americans immediately upon the bill's passage, but on both sides viewers were left with the feeling that the interview had too much political posturing and rhetoric, and too little of real substantial discussion of the details of the healthcare reform bill.

The fact remains that the healthcare crisis in America is far from fixed.

Obama stuck to his game plan as much as possible. Over and over again he came back to his people-first talking points that highlight the immediate benefits people would receive upon passage. In the end, that's what the American people want to know and understand. No one will be talking about the ugly process six months from now if the substance of the bill gives people the health security they desperately need. The sooner the House releases the legislation so we can eyeball it, the better.

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t k kidwai

at 08:27 on March 18th, 2010

Obama,as I said in one of my earlier post,is terribly confused so much so that he doesn't know on which side of the fence he is on.Men who lack convictions,are bereft of an ideology behave same way;either minions or presidents.Fox news,an unofficial mouthpiece of neo-cons,with no respectibility at all,interviewed Obama to bring him same discredit which this news channel has enjoyed all these years.

YankeeJim

at 08:42 on March 18th, 2010

I didn't hear anything confusing in this exchange. The interviewer asked a question that Obama used to express his message. The interviewer attempted to get into details, and Obama took the high ground. In this short snippet and time span of the interview, I wouldn't expect much more than what we got.

I think that Democrats have stonewalled publishing the details in the process, and they don't want to admit it. We are all flying blind on the trust of those we elected. Their political future is based on providing progress in law and affordable healthcare.

We must grade the results when we get them.

neclimdul

at 12:35 on March 18th, 2010

Interestingly at some point we have to accept the fact we do have to trust our elected officials. We'll be able to review what they've done afterwards and speak with our vote but until then the United States is a democratic republic and so we have to accept that and wait.

I agree though, Obama stuck to his message a little more than maybe he should have. He could have owned the interview more by addressing the questions more directly and and focusing less on repeating what he wanted to get across. But the fact is, his goal in the interview was to speak to people that wheren't hearing his message and Fox wasn't helping him much with that either.

t k kidwai

at 21:16 on March 18th, 2010

We always make the mistake of trusting those whom we elect and to our utter dismay we feel cheated.The choice is never between devil and deep sea,as we have never tried deep sea,but between devil Sr.,and devil Jr.,and as we have been told to beleive that a known devil is better than an unknown one,we elect a known devil for as many terms as constitutional provisions allow.But if contestants are unknown devils,we are in a quandry and our judgement in all likelyhood goes awry.

Karl Gotthardt - albertacowpoke

at 09:09 on March 18th, 2010

The President tried to repeat the same talking points that he has used over the last 15 months. It was interesting to see that Obama made one GAF, at least I think it was one, where he said once the legislation is posted everyone, including him will know what;s in the bill.

The President was obviously uncomfortable with answering the questions Bret Baier asked. It is interesting that he has now decided to postpone his trip to Indonesia and Australia. I'm sure PM Rudd of Australia is impressed.

MicronSend (not verified)

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