The Presser: What You Couldn't See on TV

The Teleprompter. As has been duly noted by other reporters on the scene last night, Obama ditched his usual teleprompter—the two screens at either side of his podium. Instead, Obama did what John McCain used to do during the campaign and read his text from a massive flat screen TV positioned directly below the straight-on camera. Still, a teleprompter at a press conference? It shows how worried Obama is about getting his words exactly right. But we still think it's strange, especially for a statement so short.
 
The Staff. A few minutes before Obama took the podium, more than a dozen of his staffers came into the room to watch, including several press aides, speechwriter Jon Favreau; chief of staff Rahm Emanuel; press secretary Robert Gibbs and senior advisers David Axelrod and Valerie Jarrett. From the get-go, Axelrod and Gibbs reminded your Gaggler of baseball coaches in the dugout: Both were chewing gum, frantically at times, and watching Obama intently. Several times, during questioning, your Gaggler spied Axelrod nudge Gibbs and offer commentary, and Gibbs, chewing gum, would nod, rarely taking his eyes off Obama.

The Front Row. The Obama White House has made it clear they will be deviating from the way the Bushies organized the media for their events. While wire reporters and TV correspondents are mostly still on front row just as they were in the old administration, there were again new faces on row one last night—not that they got questions.  They included the New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza, Mike Memoli of Real Clear Politics and reporters from El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico’s largest daily newspaper, and the Afro-American Newspaper. Liberal radio show host Ed Schultz again scored a front row seat, but this time to Obama’s right instead of head-on.

It was HOT. Just like last month, the news conference was held in the East Room of the White House. But unlike last time, it was super hot in there. A TV reporter seated near your Gaggler worried about sweating his make-up off. It was hard to tell if it was the heat from the all the lights or if it was a thermostat thing. We do know that Obama likes it warm.