President Obama Appears on 'The Tonight Show' (Watch It)
By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
Posted on March 20, 2009, Printed on May 27, 2012
http://www.alternet.org/story/132628/president_obama_appears_on_%27the_tonight_show%27_%28watch_it%29
Apparently, no sitting president has ever appeared on one of the late-night talk shows, so President Obama's visit to "The Tonight Show" generated a little more attention than most presidential interviews.
If you missed it, here's the unedited appearance. (If you can't watch clips online, there's a full transcript available.)
Two quick thoughts. First, I've seen some suggest it's un-presidential for Obama to join Jay Leno for a chat. I find this largely unpersuasive. For one thing, the president spoke primarily about economic policy issues, which presumably is what the public wants to hear more of. For another, there is some precedent for these kinds of appearances: "After all, President Eisenhower was on The Colgate Comedy Hour and President Reagan did birthday specials for Bob Hope and George Burns, and yet democracy survived. And when it comes down to it, is appearing on America's top-rated, longest-running late-night show really any less dignified than throwing out a pitch at a baseball game or calling the winner of the Super Bowl?"
Second, if blog posts are any indication, the "important" take-away from the interview wasn't Obama's comments on the economy, AIG, the banks, or Tim Geithner, but rather, a joke gone awry.
Steve Benen is "blogger in chief" of the popular Washington Monthly online blog, Political Animal. His background includes publishing The Carpetbagger Report, and writing for a variety of publications, including Talking Points Memo, The American Prospect, the Huffington Post, and The Guardian. He has also appeared on NPR's "Talk of the Nation," MSNBC's "Rachel Maddow Show," Air America Radio's "Sam Seder Show," and XM Radio's "POTUS '08."
