Some Quick Thoughts On The President's News Conference

On his 100th day in office, President Obama held a prime-time news conference to tout his accomplishments and remind the American people that there is still much work still to be done. There wasn't much news, but here are some quick observations.

First of all, it should be reported that all the networks carried the news conference except for Fox, which instead showed an episode of its Lie to Me drama series. Just sayin', but for as long as there have been presidential press conferences, people have complained that the choice between said news conferences and Lie to Me would not have been much of a choice at all. But that's for another day.

In his opening statement, the president focused on the government's response to the swine flu situation and the news of Congress' passage of the budget resolution earlier today. Obama said matter-of-factly that the administration is off to a good start, adding, however, that while he may be "proud," he's not "content," and while he may be "pleased" with some things, he is not "satisfied." He said, "We have a lot of work left to do," which I guess makes sense, since he's only been in office 100 days.

The first question: In light of the news about the flu becoming grimmer, should the U.S. close its border with Mexico? The president's answer was that there was no such recommendation by those monitoring the situation, and that such a move would be akin to closing the barn door after the horses had already escaped. So, no, for now.

What about the situation with Chrysler and General Motors? Obama seemed more encouraged about what's going on with Chrysler than GM. He said he was "very hopeful" and feeling "more optimistic" that Chrysler would be a viable auto company, and he acknowledged that the unions have made major sacrifices to that end.

Jake Tapper of ABC News reminded the president that he has said, more than once, that waterboarding is torture. Jake asked if he thought the previous administration had sanctioned torture. Obama said yes, waterboarding is torture and yes, his administration was right to end the practice. There's no guarantee, he said, that whatever information was gotten from terrorist suspects couldn't have been obtained through other means.

But the president never addressed Tapper's question of whether he thought the Bush administration engaged in torture, and so Tapper asked it again. "I believe waterboarding is torture," the president said. "It was a mistake."

When Chuck Todd was called upon, the NBC News correspondent said, "I want to move to Pakistan." (Wow, went a voice in my head, is Chuck still bitter over not getting the "Meet the Press" gig?) Todd was of course talking about the situation in Pakistan, and concerns about the security of the country's nuclear weapons in the wake of Taliban gains. Obama said he was "confident" that Pakistan's nuclear arsenal would be kept out of militants' hands.

CBS's Chip Reid asked about yesterday's startling party switch by Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, and the concern some were having (mostly Republicans, I guess) about one-party rule in Washington. Obama was, as expected, extremely complimentary about Specter and welcomed him to the Democratic Party. He said he thought the party switch would "liberate" Specter to vote his conscience more than he had been able to in the GOP, when a primary challenge was always hanging over him. But the president said he is "under no illusion" that "I'll have a rubber-stamp Senate." Obama also talked about "bipartisanship" in Washington, and how it means different things to different people.

Ed Henry of CNN, referencing the controversy over Obama's invitation to speak at the commencement at Notre Dame, asked the president about abortion and the Freedom of Choice Act. Obama went on for a bit about abortion, ultimately saying that the FOCA was "not my highest legislative priority."

The most interesting question of the evening, the one that got the most chuckles, came from Jeff Zeleny of The New York Times. What, in the past 100 days, surprised, troubled, enchanted and humbled the president the most? Obama had to write the four categories down, to the laughter of the assembled press corps. But he answered each one.

He was most "surprised" over the sheer number of critical issues that are coming to a head all at the same time. He was less "troubled" than "sobered" by how slowly change comes to Washington. (Obama wistfully remarked that if would be great if everyone took a "time out" on political games in order to get things accomplished.) Maybe not "enchanted," but Obama said he was "profoundly impressed" and "grateful" for the the sacrifices made by American servicemen and women. And he was "humbled" by the office of the presidency and the responsibility that came with it.