Obama's Air Force One Press Chats

Presidential cabin aboard Air Force One

Swamp: The former president, as often as he flew, was not known to show up in that press cabin very often - and only infrequently invited reporters up front to his, far more sumptuous, quarters. But the new president has "come back'' to the press cabin on every trip so far - all three of his ventures aboard Air Force One: Last week en route to the Democratic retreat in Williamsburg, Va., and this week, twice, en route to his campaign-styled appearances in Indiana and Florida to campaign for an economic stimulus.

This is a welcome change.

Why? The more exposure that reporters have to the president in informal settings - away from the staged and scripted speeches and occasional news conferences where no direct communication takes place - the more we come to understand the person and what he stands for. The more our readers learn about the president, in the process.

Obama has quickly shown that he's not afraid of the pool.

President George W. Bush, who basically is a lot of fun to talk with, was shielded from the press by a tightly controlling White House. Toward the end of his failing presidency, he sat for several "off-the-record'' sessions with reporters at the White House, offering the press a chance to get to know better who he is and what he thinks. The shame of it was that it was still off the record, and the public gained nothing from the encounters.