President Obama's recent media push Sunday, September 20th, led up to Tuesday's meeting between Senate Financial Committee members initial voting on their version of the health care reform bill. Obama states that the compromise health care proposal contains many of the provisions he is seeking in a final bill. Since the US health care system now rests in the hands of a divided Senate, Obama used his five interviews on major networks to attack this and other prominent issues currently faced. It was Washington's hope that the Commander in Chief cornered every platform of the media and message market through his interviews with ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Univision.
"Pulling a Ginsburg" or "A Full Ginsburg"
Baucus' blog of New York Times states: "Newsmakers in the past have managed to pull off the unlikely feat of hitting the big three Sunday interview shows on CBS, NBC, and ABC. But this is a presidential first." The term "A Full Ginsberg" has been coined in reference to Monica Lewinsky’s lawyer William Ginsburg, who achieved the first quintuplet of Sunday talk on Feb. 1, 1999. Although this could overexpose Obama to the public eye, multiple interviews provide great opportunity to reach a diverse audience. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was quoted as saying: “I think it is important that the president continue to speak to a host of different audiences to reach as many people as possible to talk about the benefits of health care reform.” Although the networks unwillingly permit "Full Ginsburgs," even to the president, Schieffer (CBS) says "the president is a newsmaker and it's our jobs to show up and ask questions."
Interviewing Obama
The stringently choreographed interviews were pre-taped Friday, September 18th, and were held beside the fireplace in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. Each interviewer was allotted 15 minutes to ask what they considered to be the important and pressing questions. There were five minutes between each interview and they all used the same camera set-up , operated by NBC. While the interviews were conducted, the subsequent network interviewers were held in the briefing room , unable to hear what the other interviewers were asking the president.
Main Topic: Health Care Reform
A variety of topics, such as what is going to occur in Afghanistan, were discussed but the big ticket item was health care reform. The Warp's Josef Adalian calls this set of interviews "President Obama's health care world tour." Here are some main points concerning health care reform during the set of interviews:
· Taxes will not be raised to pay for health care overhaul.
· Obama is targeting middle class families with a few "core principles."
· Drive down costs by having insurance exchange, where people can negotiate as a big pool.
· Obama hopes the reform will ensure coverage despite pre-existing conditions.
· Deficit neutral both now and in the future so that it will help with long-term deficits.
· Illegal workers will not be granted benefits.
· Affordable health care to those who do not currently have health insurance.
· More security for those who already have health insurance.
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