Inside Man Geithner Shines When He’s Offstage: Margaret Carlson

[babylonsister]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aJOTT8sg1Nzs

Inside Man Geithner Shines When He’s Offstage: Margaret Carlson
Commentary by Margaret Carlson


March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner never looks so tall as when he’s sitting down. Sketching a diagram about the nation’s banks on a legal pad in Bloomberg Television’s green room this week, he showed he’s at his most impressive when the cameras are off.

Geithner had just finished one of his better interviews, an hour-long sit-down with Charlie Rose in Washington. It proved to be a good setting -- Rose’s questions are so long that Geithner looked pithy by comparison.

Here’s Geithner’s problem: He’s an Inside Man. Inside Man has the brain of Einstein and the presence of a flea. Inside Man can’t catch a break in our telegenic age. Even friends are taking after Geithner, from Paul Krugman of the New York Times to Kent Conrad, chairman of the U.S. Senate Budget Committee. On March 9, Obama’s friend, Warren Buffett, said the economy has “fallen off a cliff,” and criticized the message about how to save it as “muddled.”

snip//

Fortunately, there is a long history of less-than-great communicators managing to communicate. People get used to mumblers and bumblers like George W. Bush, Barney Frank, John McCain and Al Gore (the communicating comeback of the decade.) Some great communicators -- Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin, another victim of SNL -- don’t make it. Sometimes it’s the steak not the sizzle.

By yesterday, things seemed to be looking up, at least on the financial networks. Charlie Rose may be long-winded but he’s also soothing, and in one hour on his program, Geithner came across as someone on top of the situation. Geithner’s been crucified by the Dow slipping. It helped that the index rallied almost 400 points on Tuesday.

Then There’s Obama

And then there is Geithner’s boss, Barack Obama. Although he has the wordiness of a professor -- the classic Inside Man -- he has the charisma of an Outside one. Republicans portray the president, with each passing day and every decline in the S&P, as more and more responsible for the current crisis. Yet when Obama spoke to Congress two weeks ago, people told Gallup afterward that they felt more confident. In a recent Quinnipiac poll, 57 percent said they approve of the job Obama is doing handling the economy.

Geithner wouldn’t sign his bank bailout sketch so I could do my part to stir up economic activity by listing it on EBay. Inside Men don’t make nice, or need to. They’re not running for office, just running to save the world.



(Margaret Carlson, author of “Anyone Can Grow Up: How George Bush and I Made It to the White House” and former White House correspondent for Time magazine, is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.)

[Demeter]

1. It's a Little late for Whitewash, and It's Pouring Rain

Give her an E for Effort.

[babylonsister]

3. Excuse me? Did you see the Charlie Rose interview? I did, and

thought it was great. Definitely showed Geithner in a different light.

[Demeter]

4. I Refer you To the Following

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=430907&mesg_id=431073

It's the results that count. I'm not so superficial as to think that "personality" or a favorable TV interview will get the world out of trouble.

[babylonsister]

6. I don't know anything about Keating, but he sure

does like to point his finger at everyone else for his failures, seems to me. I just have a hard time believing President Obama would pick someone so flawed. And I bet I could find just as many links from people who thought and think Geithner was and is an excellent choice for this position. I guess we'll see, but I liked Carlson's article because she does point out how different he is one-on-one as compared to sitting in front of a committee. You might want to avail yourself of that interview. I know it's been posted on DU somewhere, or go to PBS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Keating

[LSparkle]

2. Good job, Margaret! Not everyone needs to be telegenic ...

I'm really sick of all this criticism of Geithner -- he's only
been in his job for around 2 months, after all. He's not being
paid for being a spokesperson -- he was hired because of his
EXPERTISE. Just speaking from personal experience, it's usually
taken me a few months just to get the hang of a new job, and
sometimes YEARS to feel competent and assured. We're truly
expecting FAR too much of this man too early on.

PATIENCE, people!

[LuvNewcastle]

5. Considering all the grief he got from

Republican Senators today, Geithner might just be doing something right. They want him to fail, after all, so any advice they have is suspect.

[Ghost Dog]

7. Oh Jesus we are truly fucked.

Insiders rule, ok. :grr: