President Obama will be appearing on Thursday’s episode of “The View”, making him the first sitting U.S. president to ever make such an appearance. This will be his second visit to the show, which is co-hosted by Barbara Walters, Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd.
One major reason why it is believed Obama is making an appearance in front of this highly female demographic audience is because of his recent fiasco concerning Shirley Sherrod. Obama forced Sherrod to resign from the Department of Agriculture last week over a selectively edited Internet video that wrongly implied Sherrod with showing racial bias against a white farmer. The episode to which her statements were taken out of context, took place in 1986 before she worked for the Agriculture Department. Obama promptly called Sherrod to personally express his regret over the rushed judgment, but his mistakes may have tarnished his image among women voters.
According to media critic and commentator for The Baltimore Sun, David Zurawik, “Here’s a women who was wronged by his administration” and is now given “a chance to address an audience that might be particularly offended by what happened with Sherrod.”
With Obama’s approval ratings doing poorly, not addressing the Sherrod incident could only make things worse. Although White House spokesman Bill Burton denies the appearance has anything to do with Sherrod, there is no way of knowing if the highly opinionated co-hosts of “The View” will bring up the issue.
Appearing on “The View” would be a great opportunity for Obama to reconnect with an important demographic of middle-aged, working-class women that see larger numbers in the poll booths compared to their male counterparts. With the midterm elections quickly approaching, any help, especially with a favorable show like “The View”, will be of benefit.
The topics the President is expected to talk about include the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the economy, jobs, and family life inside the White House.
Is it bad that I anxiously waited to watch it and loved it? 🙂