Working for Obama

I have no justification for what I'm going to say, but doesn't it seem like there wouldn't be a more fun president to work for? I mean with the exception of Bill Clinton (bad joke). It's only been two months since President Obama took office, and his visibility is leaps and bounds greater than any previous president. Below is an article mentioning a handful of the places he's been and things he's been up to:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iOmBrSJce9WwmkDD2o9EU8KT0RxAD979VRU00

What is missing from this article are his appearance on The Tonight Show as well as his NCAA tournament picks on ESPN. It's clear that not only is he working at a torpid pace, but he has a team behind him working just as hard. Two items that can potentially be on the job description for the Obama's administrative support staff are NCAA Men's Basketball research and playlist selection for the Queen of England's iPod.

Obama himself is clearly knowledgable about basketball in general, but there is no doubt that someone behind the scenes did all the necessary research. Year after year, a large number of office workers pour over their brackets, trying to determine if Memphis is the same without Derrick Rose or if Ty Lawson will be able to get over his toe injury in time. Someone in Washington poured over a bracket but probably didn't end up making any picks. Instead he provided enough contextual evidence and notes with various recommendations to aid the President in forming a bracket and appear on television.

In the case of the Queen's iPod, I imagine the following events taking place. Obama talks to a small team briefly about how he needs to make an impression on the Queen of England and is thinking about giving her a unique gift. He has some other things to take care of but expects something by the end of the day. So the team sits down and throws a couple of things at each other. People pitch designer, vintage, and rare items to each other; however, the catch is that this gift really has to be something unique. After a little while the team determines that they need to settle on something that's hip yet cultured to match Obama's image. After more discussion and brainstorming, they somehow land on filling an iPod with various Broadway tunes. They decide that 40 would be an appropriate number of songs, and then spend the rest of the day researching and listening to whatever noteworthy song they can get their hands on. At day's close, they reassemble and pick out the 40 that'll make it onto this iPod.

I'm sure the average day for the Obama staff is more mundane and political, but I love the fact that the kinds of things someone might sit down and do for leisure make it onto another's job profile. These kinds of public displays have given Obama much more exposure than his predecessors and not all of it has been good. Notably his "Special Olympics" wisecrack brought criticism, and less notably supporters of women's basketball found fault in Obama's lack of a women's bracket. I take some enjoyment out of these antics, and I've undoubtedly fallen into the President's trap as I view him as less of a politician than the rest.