Obama's Numerous TV Appearances Offer Another Kind Of "Change"

As this years mid-term elections near, party candidates are out in full force campaigning for votes. We see this everywhere from speeches at  local colleges to political ads every other commercial on television. The President is no exception, also vigorously campaigning to keep the Democrats in Congress this year. One of these appearances this past week was on Jon Stewart's "Daily Show" on Comedy Central, where the President was interviewed by the satire comedian in front of a live audience.

While there was a lot of hype about his appearance, it was far from his first television show appearance. Arguments made by critics claim that going on popular shows for self promoting and interviews is a use of "irresponsible media.," and that it lowers the dignity and prestige of the Presidency. Karl Rove responded to Obama's five Sunday morning talk show appearances last year by saying that, "Mr. Obama doesn't need more TV time. He needs a new health-care plan...He needs his facts to align with reality." I however think the contrary; that President Obama is reaching different audiences that wouldn't tune into him or current politics otherwise. We see this when looking at the number of viewers tuning in to his TV guest spots.
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The President's August 2010 appearance on The View gave the show its best ratings ever, drawing in 6.6 million viewers. Let's remember that The View is mainly aimed towards the female audience. The male viewers (18-34) tend to watch shows such as The Daily Show. His most recent interview on The Daily Show drew in just under 3 million viewers, which was less than his 2008 appearance where he drew in 3.58 million viewers.

When looking at a complete list of Obama's TV appearances, you see that he has been on almost every time slot in television. He has reached everyone from the early morning news crowd (Today Show), to the mid-day talk show crowd (think Oprah & Ellen), to the late night folks (Jay Leno/Letterman). So while everyone is talking about Obama's failed promises of "change," they themselves are failing to see a whole new kind of change, which is the way in which our President is accessible to us. It is important that we keep our society's political interest and involvement up, especially in rough and changing times such as these. When looking back a hundred years from now, I believe that we will see Obama helped "change" the role of the President as much outside of the White House as he intends to inside the White House.