Alter on Obama Take Two

Jonathan Alter said Obama wasn't a good communicator in his first year. He says Obama had trouble finding the right vocabulary in the healthcare "debate" (which took up much of the first year). It's conventional wisdom to say that Obama didn't communicate well during the healthcare debate, but Obama was communicating all over the place. I've never seen a president do so many town halls. Healthcare was a complex topic with big enemies. Obama was proposing big change.

But the media was in love with the tea party and the tea party was in love with itself, so during the healthcare "debate" all we got was madness.

Alter also criticizes Obama for not doing more press conferences. He says Obama doesn't like the superficiality of the press. Is there anyone that likes the job that the press has done when it comes to important things like healthcare or invading Iraq? I like that Obama is trying to hold the White House press to a higher standard. It would be appreciated by all if they did raise the bar a bit.

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