There will be no more interviews with Barack Obama’s adorable young daughters, Malia and Sasha. No more chances to find out that Malia is fantasizing about decorating her bedroom in the White House or that Sasha hates when her dad squashes her shoes with a careless toss of his giant travel bag. When asked if he regretted the family’s July 4th interview with NBC’s Access Hollywood Obama said on Good Morning America today:
A little bit of pause, Michelle and I, particularly given the way it sort of went around the cable stations. I don’t think it’s healthy and it’s something that we’ll be avoiding in the future.
Because this going around the cable stations phenomenon is something Obama had no way of anticipating?
At any rate: thanks a lot, cable.
(What, I wonder, was the final straw for Obama? Was it Bill O’Reilly naming Malia “A Patriot” during the Pinheads & Patriots segment of his Fox News show last night “for patiently allowing her parents to campaign?” Was it Campbell Brown on CNN last night scoffing that Access Hollywood is “kind of a strange place to show up if you’re trying to protect your kids’ privacy” — CNN’s Election Center with Campbell Brown , naturally, would have been a much better, more privacy-protecting choice…)
Liz Cox Barrett is a writer at CJR.