Speech Tests Obama's Ability To Set Agenda
| January 27, 2010With interest in the new president still high, more than 50 million Americans watched Barack Obama deliver his first speech to a joint session of Congress last February. That audience will likely slip some as he makes his first official State of the Union address tonight, but it still represents his best opportunity in some time to speak directly to a wide audience. The question is: for how long will Americans be listening?
According to CBS News’ Mark Knoller, President Obama delivered remarks of some length 411 times in his first 365 days in office, including not one but two speeches to joint sessions of Congress. He also was made available for 158 interviews, far more than his recent predecessors, and held four prime-time news conferences. It’s part of a communication strategy based in the belief that Obama is the administration’s best advocate, and that the press and the public would pay attention.
The risk now is that as Americans grow more skeptical of the administration and its policies, they may start to tune out that messenger. A CNN poll released Tuesday found that six in 10 Americans believe Obama to be a strong leader, but only 45 percent say he has the right priorities. The State of the Union address is seen as an opportunity for the president to better communicate those priorities, something Obama has conceded recently he has failed to do.
