Obama Giving Press Conference Without His Teleprompter?
According to CNN’s Bill Schneider, Obama’s press conference tonight was delivered without a teleprompter:
(CNN) – The president appears very comfortable discussing complex issues and often performs well in these press conferences. It is no doubt reassuring to many Americans.
And take note: He is responding without a teleprompter.
A more accurate statement would be that he’s responding without a visible teleprompter. But he may well still be using one. According to reports dating from just after first prime time press conference flop, the White House staff was going to be installing a teleprompter in Obama’s podium for press conferences at the White House.
One wouldn’t know it from reading the Washington Post or New York Times, but some inside the White House don’t think that President Barack Obama hit a home run with his first national press conference last week.
“It looked scripted beyond the scripted part, the speech,” says one former communications adviser, who has been feeding notes and suggestions to the White House team and worked with them on the inauguration. “Every president has gone into one of these things knowing that there were some pre-arranged questions or journalists to be called on, but this one was pretty ham-handed.”
To that end, he says, the White House is looking to install a small video or computer screen into the podium used by the president for press conferences and events in the White House. “It would make it easier for the comms guys to pass along information without being obvious about it,” says the adviser.
The screen would indicate whom to call on, seat placement for journalists, pass along notes or points to hit, and so forth, says the adviser.
So, did that teleprompter get installed in time for this press conference where the President is allegedly operating without one? Perhaps Schneider can ask that question for us.
