| | Obama: Captains of industry are 'a little tone deaf'
Obama tells Walters he's negotiating to keep his BlackberryAs he prepares to assume the presidency, Barack Obama appears to be preoccupied with the prospect of falling out of touch with the problems of ordinary Americans, whether he is discussing the "tone-deafness" of top auto executives or his own potential isolation in the Oval Office.
In an interview to air Wednesday night, ABC's Barbara Walters asked Obama how he feels about the auto company executives taking private jets to testify in Washington.
"I thought maybe they're a little tone-deaf to what's happening in America right now," Obama replied. He added, "This has been a chronic problem, not just for the auto industry. I mean, when people are pulling down hundred million dollar bonuses on Wall Street and taking enormous risks with other people's money, that indicates a sense that you don't have any perspective on what's happening to ordinary Americans."
Obama also agreed with Walters that bank executives could set a good example by foregoing their Christmas bonuses, suggesting, "If you are already worth tens of millions of dollars and you are having to lay off workers, the least you can do is say, 'I'm willing to make some sacrifice as well because I recognize that there are people who are a lot less well off, who are going through some pretty tough times.'"
In a very similar tone, when Walters asked Obama about reports that because of security concerns he may have to give up his personal Blackberry and communicate through intermediaries, he replied, "One of the things that I'm going to have to work through is how to break through the isolation, the bubble that exists around the president."
"I'm in the process of negotiating with the Secret Service, with lawyers, with White House staff," Obama continued. "I'm negotiating to figure out how can I get information from outside of the 10 or 12 people who surround my office in the White House. I want to make sure that I keep my finger on the pulse of the struggles that people are going through every day."
A recent article in Slate highlighted Obama's dilemma, suggesting, "Imagine you're Barack Obama. You just ran 'the most technologically sophisticated presidential campaign in history.'... You proved yourself to be a modern info-executive with your 3 a.m. e-mails and your preference for reviewing docs on your BlackBerry. ... Now, you're preparing to enter the White House, and your BlackBerry is about to be ripped from your clutches because of privacy and security concerns. Savor the irony: You captured the Oval Office by making technological history, only to find that you're now required to govern like in the 19th century. Echoes of Lincoln, indeed."
Walters reports, sadly, that Obama is currently losing the negotiations to hold onto his Blackberry.
Walters was also enthusiastic about how Barack and Michelle Obama interact as a couple. "I don't want to gush," she said while previewing the interview on Good Morning America. "They're very cute -- and very funny in this interview together."
This video is from ABC's Good Morning America, broadcast Nov. 26, 2008.
Download video via RawReplay.com
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