President Barack Obama's March 24th press conference was basically an ad for his economic policies - especially his upcoming budget in which he has emphasized energy, education, health care as priorities on top of the other matters the federal budget covers.
The two dodges of the evening were the questions of whether Obama would vote for the budget if it didn't include several of his priorities such as cap and trade - and also how he planned to pay for his budget with the implicit suggestion that he would be leaving evena bigger fiscal burden than he was left by President Bush.
The stupidest question came from NBC's Chuck Todd on asking Americans for sacrifice - which Obama answered well in stating that Americans are already sacrificing enough with the recession as it is. He gave a modicum of empathy with that answer - but strangely had little for the people living in the tent cities that have sprung up as people are evicted from their homes. Ann Compton also asked a question about race which Obama answered well saying he was being judged as he should be - on his achievements.
Obama once again gave long winded answers which allowed him to talk on about his points and avoid too many questions. There were no huge surprises - Obama got a little snippy once or twice but otherwise it was a fairly cautious performance.
Post press conference Keith Olbermann had an extended interview with Obama senior adviser David Axelrod to continue to massage the message and Rahm Emanuel appeared on CNN to do likewise. Fox News with Bill O'Reilly had independent analysis from Karl Rove, Bob Beckel and Dick Morris.
POTUS and TOTUS meet the press: Defensive about AIG, blame-card on debt, blows off charities
"Obama: Budget, recovery inseparable" from Politico
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