Chatty Obama
by Graham Davies

I have said many times that Obama is an Olympic-level Autocue Athlete. He is now trying to broaden his presentational appeal by being more spontaneous in front of the cameras. He is now so confident about his charisma that he is happy to cause the delay of this week's broadcast of American Idol so that he can make a Presidential Broadcast.

His newly-found chattiness reached its peak on the Tonight show. Let's face it, Jay Leno is no Jeremy Paxman. The unscripted "humour"about his bowling ability "being like something out of the Special Olympics" was not squeezed out by brilliant cross-examination.

He came out with that piece of crassness simply because he forgot one of the cardinal rules of presentation: never relax in front of any audience. You should always stay sharp, focused and calculating....especially when you are trying to look spontaneous.

Here's an idea Mr President: spend a bit less time on fluffy television, and a bit more time with your Treasury team. Create a comprehensive and innovative way of rescuing your economy that doesn't just sound like Spend Spend Spend.

Now that would be special.