If Obama decides to make late-night appearances a regular part of his schedule, he will need to curb his tendency toward sarcasm, which doesn't play well in a president. But overall, the "it's just not presidential" jibe is hard to defend when a self-parodying appearance on "Saturday Night Live" is now as important to a campaign as taking New Hampshire or Iowa.
Part of the change Obama seems to consider his mandate is establishing a more intimate and equitable relationship with the citizenry. Short of his own Facebook page, television is as close as it gets. On the "60 Minutes" interview, he showed off his daughter's new swing set (being careful to explain how it was not paid for by taxpayers) and even pointed out the windows of the living quarters, which can't have made the Secret Service very happy.
It's as if he were inviting Americans to imagine what it would be like if they somehow became president. He prefers basketball to golf, never seems to know who gets to keep what pen and his first big, real fight as president was to keep hold of his BlackBerry. It isn't too hard to imagine him jammin' past the Lincoln bedroom like Hugh Grant's prime minister in "Love, Actually," except Obama would probably be wearing ear buds.
