One of my favorite political stories involves my favorite political Barry, Barry Goldwater. Who, by the way, was humble enough not to name his dog "Bg".

The story goes like this: During the 1964 Presidential campaign, GOP Presidential nominee Senator Barry Goldwater went on the record as being against the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

One day Senator Goldwater is on the trail and he meets up with a woman who lived in Northern Alabama, an area that was and remains within the TVA's coverage jurisdiction.

As all good candidates do, Senator Goldwater laid out his case and asked for the woman's vote. She told him no.

When he asked why she wouldn't vote for him, the woman relied "Because I heard you want to get rid of my TV."

Momentarily taken aback, Senator Goldwater wondered what he could have said that gave her that impression. Then it occurred to him...she had misheard his remarks condemning the TVA.

Seizing the opportunity to correct the record, Senator Goldwater corrected the woman. "I don't want to get rid of your TV! I want to get rid of the TVA!" he claimed.

The woman thought about this response for a moment and replied...

"All the same, I'm not taking any chances."

Why do I bring up this story from the 1964 campaign? Because it's the first thing I think about when I see stories like this: President Asks for Primetime Slot in May Sweeps.

It is no secret that this President has a particularly acute streak of narcissism. For someone who has not even accomplished enough to earn an honorary degree from Arizona State University, he sure seems to enjoy going on television to remind you of it.

I thought that this passage in the above article was interesting:

ThereÂ’s no word yet on whether the broadcast networks will agree to the White House request, though one network insider said itÂ’s all but a given they will.

Programmers have been peeved at President ObamaÂ’s numerous primetime appearances since taking office, because every unscheduled speech or press conference results in a loss of ad revenue.

Is this an early indication of Obama-fatigue? Apparently Obama is costing the nets money by "forcing" (not really, but which network will say "No"? None of them) them to carry programing that the television viewing market clearly isn't interested in. The ratings should be interesting, especially considering that there is no compelling reason to watch what appears to be little more than a "100 Days and I'm Teh Greatest!!1!!1!!1! Evah!!1!!!" pep-rally. Not exactly a matter of compelling public interest.

Truth be told, I don't feel too sorry for the networks. They pretty much brought this media-created empty-suit on themselves.

I do think about the woman in North Alabama, though. If she's still around, I wonder how upset she is becoming with Obama's regular pre-emption of her "stories."

Because among the lessons of the 1964 campaign is that you mess with people's TV's at your own expense.

Luckily for Conservatives, this Barry seems not to have learned this lesson. Yet.

Posted by: Jack M. at 06:01 AM | Add Comment
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