6 ms·

> "Not surprisingly, every answer he’s offered up so far has been studiously on-message." This part was a bit disappointing. Part of the fun of an AMA is findi

> "Not surprisingly, every answer he’s offered up so far has been studiously on-message." This part was a bit disappointing. Part of the fun of an AMA is finding out the unexpected. His one-liners about the Bulls or "NOT BAD" were my favorite parts.

shorttime 14y ago
I'm not bashing anyone but there must be some observations made obvious. He's lived in Chicago, the Bulls comment makes sense. Appealing to his home town. "NOT BAD" - do you REALLY think he knew to say that or do you think someone prompted him? There are very smart people that control his speeches, people behind the curtains, to get the maximum appeal from the audience in which he is speaking to. Everything is scripted ever so carefully. Always keep this in mind. He's trying to win you over, for your vote.
- lukevdp 14y ago
  I don't think you're giving him enough credit. He speaks in public forums all the time. He speaks for himself just fine there, why would an internet forum be any different?
  - corin_ 14y ago
    While he obviously has to be and is good on his feat, do you realise that for much of his public speaking he has speechwriters working for him?
    - lukevdp 14y ago
      By public forums I meant Q and A with public audiences.
      - corin_ 14y ago
        Speechwriters will still work on the answers for him to use in Q&A sessions, obviously it's not quite the same as a speech where he can give an exact word for word, but generally he'll still know big chunks before hand on a range of anticipated topics, then the skill to doing it live is being able to pivot slightly from the way the question was asked to the answer he wants to give. Also just realised I spelled "feet" wrong in my previous comment and feel terrible about that.
Clotho 14y ago
It was like finding a paint by number in an art museum.
derleth 14y ago
What do you expect? When you're in an office, and I mean a high office, you represent that office and all that office represents. Right or wrong, the office of the President of the United States represents America on the international scene. And people are unfair. People take things out of context. Occasionally, people just make shit up and shove it into your mouth. You can't stop them, but you can avoid helping them to the extent it's physically possible. There's always going to be a noise floor in politics: The rampant idiocy, blatant lying, and absolute unreasoning psychotic hatred honestly felt by certain groups. Going off-message can either raise or lower that floor, and the sad fact is a single bad statement raises it a lot higher than a large number of good statements can lower it. Look at Muskie: He lost the nomination in part because he possibly cried on stage. Possibly. It could have been snow, but the implication was there. Nixon's lies hurt him, but it was likely the 'tears' that broke him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie#Presidential_candidate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie#Presidential_cand...
- lhnn 14y ago
  I absolutely agree that it's tough to be honest and off-the-cuff in politics, much less modern politics. However, as someone else said, no one should look at Obama and think about how 'hip' he is for using Reddit as a phone-in for stances he's already talked about. It's called "Ask Me Anything". I would have even been a little impressed if he were honest and said "AMAA".
- waterlesscloud 14y ago
  Then frankly he shouldn't be going on a forum known for its impertinent (to say the least) questions and saying "Ask Me Anything". The abuse of Reddit AMA for boring, dull, traditional PR purposes takes one of its more interesting contributions to the internet and makes it just another venue for the Same Old Thing. If a politician wants to be careful, let them go to the old careful outlets.
- mikeash 14y ago
  It's precisely what I'd expect, but that doesn't mean I can't be disappointed by it. I expect the worst from our politicians and my expectations are usually met, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like more.

shorttime 14y ago

I'm not bashing anyone but there must be some observations made obvious. He's lived in Chicago, the Bulls comment makes sense. Appealing to his home town. "NOT BAD" - do you REALLY think he knew to say that or do you think someone prompted him? There are very smart people that control his speeches, people behind the curtains, to get the maximum appeal from the audience in which he is speaking to. Everything is scripted ever so carefully. Always keep this in mind. He's trying to win you over, for your vote.

lukevdp 14y ago
I don't think you're giving him enough credit. He speaks in public forums all the time. He speaks for himself just fine there, why would an internet forum be any different?
- corin_ 14y ago
  While he obviously has to be and is good on his feat, do you realise that for much of his public speaking he has speechwriters working for him?
  - lukevdp 14y ago
    By public forums I meant Q and A with public audiences.
    - corin_ 14y ago
      Speechwriters will still work on the answers for him to use in Q&A sessions, obviously it's not quite the same as a speech where he can give an exact word for word, but generally he'll still know big chunks before hand on a range of anticipated topics, then the skill to doing it live is being able to pivot slightly from the way the question was asked to the answer he wants to give. Also just realised I spelled "feet" wrong in my previous comment and feel terrible about that.

Clotho 14y ago

It was like finding a paint by number in an art museum.

derleth 14y ago

What do you expect? When you're in an office, and I mean a high office, you represent that office and all that office represents. Right or wrong, the office of the President of the United States represents America on the international scene. And people are unfair. People take things out of context. Occasionally, people just make shit up and shove it into your mouth. You can't stop them, but you can avoid helping them to the extent it's physically possible. There's always going to be a noise floor in politics: The rampant idiocy, blatant lying, and absolute unreasoning psychotic hatred honestly felt by certain groups. Going off-message can either raise or lower that floor, and the sad fact is a single bad statement raises it a lot higher than a large number of good statements can lower it. Look at Muskie: He lost the nomination in part because he possibly cried on stage. Possibly. It could have been snow, but the implication was there. Nixon's lies hurt him, but it was likely the 'tears' that broke him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie#Presidential_candidate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Muskie#Presidential_cand...

lhnn 14y ago
I absolutely agree that it's tough to be honest and off-the-cuff in politics, much less modern politics. However, as someone else said, no one should look at Obama and think about how 'hip' he is for using Reddit as a phone-in for stances he's already talked about. It's called "Ask Me Anything". I would have even been a little impressed if he were honest and said "AMAA".
waterlesscloud 14y ago
Then frankly he shouldn't be going on a forum known for its impertinent (to say the least) questions and saying "Ask Me Anything". The abuse of Reddit AMA for boring, dull, traditional PR purposes takes one of its more interesting contributions to the internet and makes it just another venue for the Same Old Thing. If a politician wants to be careful, let them go to the old careful outlets.
mikeash 14y ago
It's precisely what I'd expect, but that doesn't mean I can't be disappointed by it. I expect the worst from our politicians and my expectations are usually met, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like more.