A recent article from the CBC argues that Obama’s appearance on The View this past week may have hurt his credibility. Why? Because Obama is the first sitting President to appear on a daytime talk show, and many pundits and journalists believe it portrays a desire to staunch bleeding poll numbers by wooing the show’s audience of middle-aged housewives. To which I respond: UGH.

Look, I’m no big fan of The View, but why exactly are middle-aged, working-class women somehow a lower class of voters? If Obama goes to a BBQ joint to talk to average-Joe Americans, people don’t worry that he’s losing his credibility with New York intellectuals, do they? So why is it that trying to appeal to women makes Obama’s politickin’ less serious and potentially damaging?

A current poll on the CBC website shows that 69% of respondents believe that the appearance did hurt his credibility, however keep in mind that CBC is a Canadian news source and most likely a …

… good chunk of the respondents have no voting power in the next election.

But you know who does have a huge amount of voting power in the upcoming 2012 election? Middle-aged housewives, according to The Week:

The specific demographic gold mine here is the show’s “huge audience of middle-aged, working-class women,” says Amy Chozick in The Wall Street Journal. These women (median age: 59) “rarely watch the Sunday news shows,” but they “vote in midterm elections in much larger numbers than their male counterparts.”

So … let me see if I have this straight: the target audience of The View consists of a huge pool of motivated voters. So why would an appearance on the show result in lowered credibility for Obama? Oh, right — because it’ll make him look sissy, according to Right Pundits:

Let’s face it, Obama will not appear on a show where he might get a tough question. So that rules out any on Fox News. He certainly will not appear on MSNBC’s “The Ed Show” after Ed Schultz prodded Obama for having a “Sissy Room” in the White House. Come to think of it though, would not “The View” be another “Sissy Room“?

Barbara Walters, cohost and executive producer of “The View,” will make an appearance as well on Thursday in honor of Obama’s visit. She’s been out on medical leave since May following heart surgery. Will she have the nerve to pose a tough question?

Translation: Obama would rather go on a “lady” show with delicate, gabbing ladies than a hard-hitting program like The O’Reilly factor, hosted by a hard-hitting man because he can’t handle a “real” interview.

Now, obviously a site called “Right Pundits” is unlikely to be giving Obama a fair shake here, but what’s more interesting is in the blatantly sexist attack on The View itself. Doesn’t all of this discussion of the damaging effects of The View betray the idea that there still an ingrained belief that female voters, television personalities or journalists are just not as unemotional and disciplined as their male counterparts?

5 Responses to “Is Obama Trying to Woo Middle-Aged Housewives?”

1. Kai says:

   July 31, 2010 at 9:46 am

   Women can’t do unemotional disciplined reporting? False.

   *The View* doesn’t do unemotional, disciplined, hard-hitting interviews? Probably a fair comment.

   It would be different if he appeared on a major news outlet, and happened to be interviewed by a woman. I don’t think the same complaints would arise.
   But there really is a difference with daytime gabfest TV. And that’s not what all women are, but that is The View.

   Reply
2. Erin says:

   July 31, 2010 at 4:14 pm

   I agree with Joey, the women of the View aren’t exactly hard-hitting critical thinkers. So I can see why people think this was a “sissy” appearance. However, it was also a very good idea. A lot of the people who watch the view probably don’t think a lot about Obama or politics, so it was actually very smart to reach out to them. Besides, no one wants to reach out to the middle-aged women, especially stay at home moms, politically. The fact that Obama actually did so may be a sticking point for some women.

   Reply
   • Joey says:

     July 31, 2010 at 5:40 pm

     Your weirding me out Erin,I haven’t posted on this article. My karma is hanging around here though!

     Reply
     • Erin says:

       July 31, 2010 at 6:32 pm

       Haha oops…I totally saw Kai’s icon and thought it was yours.

       Reply
3. Dumbbler says:

   August 28, 2010 at 8:03 pm

   I see so a large amount of hype about Obama.. is he a most suitable president in your current opinion? Have your corporation found any amazing things till now performed by simply him ?

   Reply