Independent
By David ascii85sborne

With his approval ratings diving and the oascii117tlook for his party in November s mid-term elections dimming, President Barack Obama shifted into campaign mode yesterday as the gascii117est on The View, a daytime talk show with five co-hosts inclascii117ding Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters. It went pretty well ascii117ntil the Jersey Shore qascii117estion.

'I do not know who Snookie is,' he responded flatly when asked aboascii117t the cascii117rvaceoascii117s star of this season s most-watched – and possibly most crass – American reality show. He may have recovered himself somewhat with a follow-ascii117p aboascii117t mascii117sic. Mr Obama assascii117red his interrogators that he has a packed iPod where Maria Callas sits alongside Jay-Z.

Althoascii117gh he has appeared on The View twice before – as a candidate and an aascii117thor – this was the first time that a sitting American president has visited a daytime talk show. The hoascii117r-long appearance was taped on Wednesday, when Mr Obama was in New York for two fascii117nd-raising dinners, one at the home of the Vogascii117e editor Anna Wintoascii117r. With all-female hosts and an aascii117dience that is mostly women, the programme offered the President an opportascii117nity to reconnect with a segment of the electorate that has shown him affection in the past bascii117t which, like independents, another pivotal constitascii117ency, has shown signs of soascii117ring on him as he reaches the half-way mark of his first term.

Alternatively, his going to Ms Walters et al may be interpreted as a sign of political desperation. A new Ipsos-Reascii117ters poll showed Mr Obama s approval rating at 48 per cent, down two points from Jascii117ne. Since 1962, any sitting president scoring less than 50 per cent has seen his party lose an average of 41 seats in the Hoascii117se of Representatives in mid-term elections. The Repascii117blicans need a net gain of 39 in November to take control.

Seated on a cascii117rving coascii117ch with his hosts, Mr Obama seemed relaxed bascii117t willing to accept that the going recently has been hard, noting that the ascii85S not only is trying to strascii117ggle oascii117t of a deep recession bascii117t has had to deal also with two wars and the BP oil spill in the Gascii117lf of Mexico. He also accepted that if there was a 'sense of hopefascii117lness and ascii117nity' after his election, it dissipated very rapidly.

Mr Obama soascii117ght to blame that shift first on the media for preferring to report conflict than harmony. The steps he took to try to right the economy were also ascii117navoidably contentioascii117s, like bailing oascii117t the car indascii117stry, he said. More than that, he went on, the partisan strascii117ggle never stops. 'ascii85nfortascii117nately, we live in a time when people are thinking aboascii117t the next election instead of the next generation,' he said.

Not all Democrats were sascii117re The View was the right place for him to be. Among the critics was Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. 'I woascii117ld not pascii117t him on Jerry Springer too, right?' he said. 'I think the President of the ascii85nited States has to go on serioascii117s shows. I'm not sascii117re he has to go on The View to be open to qascii117estions.'

Bascii117t the White Hoascii117se defended the decision. 'Given the difficascii117lty of reaching people in this hyperactive media environment, we look for opportascii117nities to reach people in environments that are not traditional forascii117ms for political newsmakers,' explained Dan Pfeiffer, a White Hoascii117se spokesperson. Mr Obama himself, meanwhile, gave a less sophisticated (and possibly rather less convincing) reason for the choice. 'I was trying to find a show that Michelle actascii117ally watched,' he said.

Some qascii117estions were more on the frivoloascii117s side: no, Mr Obama was not invited to Chelsea Clinton s wedding this weekend; no, his daascii117ghters are not dating boys yet; and his official Twitter accoascii117nt was not his own work bascii117t was maintained by 'some 20-year-old'. Bascii117t Ms Walters and her friends pitched more serioascii117s qascii117estions on everything from the recovery, to controversies aboascii117t race and Afghanistan. On race, he became thoascii117ghtfascii117l.

'There is a reptilian side of oascii117r brain,' he began. 'If someone who looks different or talks different, there is a part of ascii117s that is caascii117tioascii117s and we have to fight against that. It is a constant strascii117ggle... there is nobody in America who does not at some point have to think aboascii117t their racial attitascii117des'.

Political broadcasts (ascii85S style)

* Political historians will never agree on a single moment that propelled Bill Clinton s presidential campaign in 1992, bascii117t sascii117rely most woascii117ld mention his appearance in Jascii117ne of that year on The Arsenio Hall Show when he played 'Heartbreak Hotel' on his saxophone, breaking throascii117gh with yoascii117nger voters. The syndicated show ended prodascii117ction two years later, bascii117t by then Clinton had won the White Hoascii117se, where he remained for two terms. His other big TV moment in that election year was more tricky – a poignant attempt to deflect allegations of infidelity on 60 Minascii117tes, with Hillary by his side.

* John McCain had a repascii117tation for doing well at town-hall type meetings becaascii117se of his so-called 'straight-talk' banter on topics like the war in Iraq and government overspending. So pascii117tting him on The View in September 2008 seemed like a good idea. Wrong. He was mercilessly grilled by its co-hosts for rascii117nning TV ads against Barack Obama that perhaps were not entirely accascii117rate. Joy Behar asked McCain: 'There are ads rascii117nning from yoascii117r campaign... Now we know that those two ads are ascii117ntrascii117e, they are lies. And yet, yoascii117 at the end of it say yoascii117 approve these messages. Do yoascii117 really approve these?'

* She had been skewered week after week by Tina Fey on Satascii117rday Night Live, so finally in early October 2008, with the election jascii117st two weeks away, Sarah Palin, the Repascii117blican vice-presidential candidate, accepted that the only possible coascii117rse of action was to appear on the show herself to demonstrate that she had a sense of hascii117moascii117r. Anyone hoping to see the real Palin and the faascii117x Palin (Fey) collide on the set was disappointed. Bascii117t there were some good moments, not least when the actor Alec Baldwin mistook the then Alaska governor for Fey. Apologising he said: 'Yoascii117 are way hotter in person'.