I consider myself a progressive liberal, and an avid Obama supporter. 
I am sorely concerned about this nation and this planet, and look for signs every day of a turn-around, to a solid and redeeming future.  I cringe when one who I think is on my side of issues and concerns flubs, lies, or turns over in the face of the powers that be, or gets blindsided to the detriment of our fragile democracy.


Having said that, my assessment of Obama's appearance with Chris Wallace on Fox News
Sunday was this:  He did well. He fluidly answered all questions
without a "gotcha" moment, and actually did what he has been saying he
would do: bring both sides together and change the divisiveness of
politics as it is now.





People commenting that Obama didn't "take on" Fox in a meaningful way,
and unduly "legitimized" Fox, fail to understand the strategy and tact
involved in a nationwide political campaign.  Obama needs to introduce
himself to a nation.  Going on Fox and pointing a Clintonian finger
in Wallace's face with sniping accusations of Fox's coverage of him
would have been a massive mistake.  Not only would it have been
completely out of character with Obama's message of a purple nation,
but it would have been fuel for drama in an already saturated political
circus.




Obama scored big on Fox.




Remember that the people watching Fox everyday already legitimize Fox
in their minds... Fox to them is a reliable source for news.  In that
medium, Obama showed himself to be an intelligent, calm and unifying
character, to some who would otherwise be painting him as a Muslim
underground agent, an angry black man, a typical politician, take your
choice of stereotype.




Knowledge is power. Known things are less scary.  It is more difficult
to make things up about a person if you have experienced what he or she
is like in a sustained setting, like an extended interview on your
favorite Sunday night news show.  Obama introduced himself to a lot of
people who were - and many who still are - scared of him because they
don't know him.




Being a progressive liberal, and an Obama supporter, I see very little
to fault him with on this interview.  He faced tough questions,
retreads of Wright, his liberalism and questions about what he liked
about Republicans.  Like a fish being hooked, he took the bait and
flopped into the boat.  Then with his artful understanding of
diplomacy, he made friends with the fishermen, and even suggested another fish (McCain) they might want instead of him. In the end, they
threw him back.




Now, I know nothing about the hashing out of his interview that
happened before and after this interview, which I'm sure was typical
Fox noise.  But Obama won some hearts and minds tonight that he didn't
have before... no doubt about it.