Bernie Goldberg on 'Enchantment' Obama Press Conference | 04/30/2009 1:00 pm
Bernie Goldberg Weighs in on NYTimes 'Enchanted' Question at Obama Press Conference (Video)

Bernie Goldberg, Fox commentator and HBO’s "Real Sports" correspondent, got a real kick out of one of the "enchanted" questions posed to President Barack Obama during last night’s press conference. Goldberg, who wrote about the media’s one-sided coverage of Obama in A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (and Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media, seemed to think the question asked by New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny — "What enchanted you the most as president?" — not only showed how the media is in love with our president but also that men in journalism are much "softer" these days.
"They’re what a friend of mine calls NPR men," Goldberg said. "They want to know about your feelings, whether you’re enchanted."
Watch the video below to watch what else he said:
Transcript from the press conference:
Q: Thank you, Mr. President. During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving this in office, humbled you the most and troubled you the most?
PRESIDENT: All right. OK. (Laughter) Surprised. I am surprised compared to where I started, when we first announced for this race, by the number of critical issues that appear to be coming to a head all at the same time. You know, when I first started this race, Iraq was a central issue, but the economy appeared on the surface to still be relatively strong. There were underlying problems that I was seeing with health care for families and our education system and college affordability and so forth, but obviously I didn’t anticipate the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
And so the typical president I think has two or three big problems; we’ve got seven or eight big problems. And so we’ve had to move very quickly, and I’m very proud of my team for the fact that we’ve been able to keep our commitments to the American people to bring about change while, at the same time, managing a whole host of issues that had come up that weren’t necessarily envisioned a year and a half ago.
Troubled? I’d say less troubled, but sobered by the fact that change in Washington comes slow; that there is still a certain quotient of political posturing and bickering that takes place even when we’re in the middle of really big crises. I would like to think that everybody would say, you know what, let’s take a timeout on some of the political games, focus our attention for at least this year and then we can start running for something next year. And that hasn’t happened as much as I would have liked.
Enchanted? (Laughter) Enchanted. I will tell you that when I meet our servicemen and women — “enchanted” is probably not the word I would use. (Laughter) But I am so profoundly impressed and grateful to them for what they do. They’re really good at their job. They are willing to make extraordinary sacrifices on our behalf. They do so without complaint. They are fiercely loyal to this country. And the more I interact with our servicemen and women, from the top brass down to the lowliest private, I’m just — I’m grateful to them.























104 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment
Kay
You took the words right out of my mouth. Can you believed he asked "Enchanted"? What? I get ready to write the Disney sequel? Does he have little cartoon characters dancing around in his head with the President? I don’t think the president would appreciate that.
crux: …he called on pre-arranged reporters, with pre-arranged questions.
One of the very reasons I did not bother to watch the so-called conference. These staged events are just the left’s version of continual campaigning.
I didn’t watch it either. Because of the teleprompter, I feel like I’m at a tennis match and am exhausted by the time it is over. Having prearranged questions from selected people takes away the spontaniety and one’s ability to think quickly and clearly on the spot. A true measure of a great politician is his/her ability to to react from a standpoint of knowledge.
When will the campaign be over? Well, at least now "The Honeymoon" is over.
deber: please read this…
Good to see that the Republicans are taking steps to get their message out to the voters. They will have to work double-time at this because the Dems are there to counter every suggestion.
When it comes to economic matters, Romney knows his stuff. This is what a voter from MA recently had to say about Romney’s term as Governor of this state: well to go back just 2.5 years ago under a republican governor he eliminated a 3 billion dollar deficit, created a 2 billion dollar surplus, and built up rainy day funds to the highest levels in our states history. I could add to that the initiation of a universal health care system for MA residents, which if not perfect, is at least up and running.
I also read some of the comments at the bottom of the article, mostly Dems or left-leaning Indies, because this was an ABC News site, and they just cannot stand the sound of the name Bush — whether it be JEB or GWB. Don’t know how the Republicans intend to confront that problem… Of course, I think time and taxes will heal all things, and by the year 2010 and certainly 2012, voters will see things differently. At the end of the day, it’s the pocketbook, stupid.
deber: Obama’s viewer rating was down by 29% last night.
It is not surprising the viewership is dropping. Whoever is handling Obama’s publicity needs to catch on that they are overdoing it. This is overexposure, big time. Folks would resent the intrusion no matter who the president was, especially since there is no real crisis going on. It has become silly. I, for one, am very tired of seeing his face and photo on everything.
I’ve heard from a couple of folks there who don’t like Romney. They are also not happy with the health care he shoved at them. Costing a mint! But I don’t know much about this fellow and will have to look into him!
canuck: I’ve heard from a couple of folks there who don’t like Romney.
If you mean as governor of Massachusetts, well it must be remembered that MA is an intensely Democratic state. He ran a no-nonsense adminstration. His Lt. Governor, Kerry Healy, was on the same page… matter of fact she ran the state government much of the time in the last year because Romney was very busy getting ready to run for president. A lot good can be said of Romney, and a lot of complaints can be registered against him. We could do worse as president.
As for the health care being costly… a national health care program will be just as costly. That’s the problem with universal health care. Right now, the sales tax in MA is 5% (reasonably low), and the state income tax is 5.5% (again, not wonderful, but there are worse). Taxes were never raised while Romney was Governor (4 years). Of course, they were never lowered, either.
Romney and his family are now living in CA, I believe. Would not surprise me if he did not run for governor.