We watched this performance by President Obama and enjoyed it. He sounded very reasonable and centrist, much more so than many of his Republican questioners. Perhaps we’ve been all wrong for the last year or so.

It is interesting to note that Obama’s performance in the Q&A relied on many of the same rhetorical techniques he used in his campaign speeches — (a) claiming that authorities both left and right approve of various of his policies, (b) positioning himself in the rhetorical center; (c) asserting facts that are clearly untrue, but are sufficiently non-specific to not invite refutation. We don’t recall hearing the “straw man” chestnut, but perhaps we weren’t listening closely enough. In many ways, Obama sounded like the campaign 2008 fellow. He’s quite an effective Pied Piper when he wants to be.

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