Day Thirty-four, April 28

Obama graces Fox News with his presence? Stranger things have happened, I suppose, but yesterday, that's just what the Illinois Senator did, providing an interview with Chris Wallace, host of Fox News Sunday. But the mere fact that the words 'Obama' and 'FOX News' are in the same sentence isn't the most interesting part. Wallace has actually had a little bit of a sordid history with the Senator. For instance, on March 21, Wallace phoned into that delightfully tacky 'Fox and Friends' show to ask the hosts to lighten up on Obama in the aftermath of his 'typical white person' comment last month (and man, just look at those cross-eyed hosts, folks). However, this pardon came at the same time Wallace started a new feature on his show, the so-called 'Obama Watch', a countdown clock tallying the days since Obama promised Chris he would make an appearance on his show. The Daily Show gives a fair and balanced glimpse of the phenomenon here. 'Put up or shut up,' Wallace's timer seemed to beckon to the Senator.

And put up Obama did, for almost forty minutes, even. Answering straightforward questions on issues as pressing as his loss in the Pennsylvania primary to the remergence of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, Wallace pulled no punches, and Obama dealt with them swiftly. Maintaining a surprisingly relaxed tone, Obama answered the questions handily, (and, frankly) in an intimate setting that is more becoming than a stadium backdrop for right now. Obama was willing to walk into the lion's den of FOX News, and he came out without a scratch. Perhaps best of all, Chris Wallace had his field day, and can retire his countdown for good. Now we can finally stash that stupid counter and start counting the days until its honoree is the official nominee of his party.

Thanks for sticking to your word and keeping to the straight talk, Barack. You can read a transcript of the interview here, or watch a four-part video capture compliments of Youtube user yd2008:

Interview Part One
Interview Part Two
Interview Part Three
Interview Part Four

Day Twenty-nine, April 23

In case anybody missed it (I did--we don't have Comedy Central), Obama made his third appearance on The Daily Show With John Stewart on Monday. Here's a capture of the appearance, courtesy of The Daily Show's Indecision 2008 website:

Part uno!



Part dos!



It's appearances like this (note: McCain and Hillary have also showed up on the show) that make me think about how much the American political process, campaigning in particular, has changed in the last 50 years. Just imagine the novelty of being able to watch Kennedy and Nixon's debate on TV, and how Nixon's ugly mug was enough of a chip against him to see him narrowly lose the election. Now compare that to how politicians are not only out there campaigning in ways never thought possible as recent as ten or fifteen years ago. The media's eyes are always on the candidates now, it feels like they have no choice but to be 'on' every hour of every day during this race. That's why it's assuring to see Barack in such a composed but warm and laid-back state on an appearance like this. We all love to watch the man speak, but sometimes, it's just as nice to see him do it from behind a desk instead of a podium. Plus, just look at him talk with those hands!