Oh, Mr. Prez! So soon, so much, yet so little

In Media Training 101, executives are told that the most effective means of communicating with the press -- and thus the public -- is to present short, simple, direct statements regardless of how complex the question may be. The more you talk, the more you elaborate, the more detail you provide, the greater your likelihood of getting something wrong. And, surely, the longer the answer, the less the likelihood your audience will grasp the one important point you are seeking to get across.

We know that President Obama has taken Media Training 101, but he must not have listened. Perhaps it was to long. 

The result was exhibited tonight. The president took seven minutes to answer to each of his first three questions. 

Liberal apologist Chris Matthews thinks this long-windedness helps the public understand Obama's thinking process. We believe it actually confuses issues.

Obama will have to change his manner of communicating if he expects to be fully understood for the facts, and not just the emotion. His Baptist preacher style -- filled full of elaboration and allusion -- is not an appropriate manner for the nation's Chief Executive.

With such unwillingness to grapple with these press conference basics, we wonder if he can he control Congress and the pressures around him? Or will House Speaker Nancy Pelosi politely let the Prez ramble on, then go off and do what she wants, which now seems to be the case.

By contrast, David Gergen on CNN stated that "eight or 10 days from now" Obama's long winded approach may be successful, the markets may love it, and we'll all be asking "How'd he do such a masterful job," or something like that. 

We don't think so. But we hope we are wrong. Even so, we don't believe Obama convinced Wall Street, though Main Street may have bought it. The folks on Wall Street are notably unsentimental about their money, and they react to the expectation of performance, and sometimes even performance itself.

The real measure of persuasion will come in Wall Street's reaction to Tim Geithner's first/public presentation of the next recovery plan PLAN. That comes tomorrow, Tuesday. Market movement will be a credibility barometer for the plan's perceived efficacy.