What might Bush and Obama have in common?

This LA Times blogger has noticed that Obama has broken the record for interviews given by a president elect, but none of them have been with Fox nor has he called on Fox representatives for questions at news conferences. Obama commented on his portrayal by Fox during the campaign saying:

"I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls. If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me, right? Because the way I'm portrayed 24/7 is as a freak! I am the latte-sipping, New
York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?"

He hits on something important here, confronting the persona that the channel chose for him, unrelated to his politics and policies. It seems he may be avoiding them not for fear that their question may trip him up or make him look bad, but only because they deliberately tried to make him look bad. As much as I have said I think confrontation can be healthy, it requires cooperation from both sides and I can't blame Obama for assuming he won't get it from Fox.

The end of the blog makes an interesting parallel, talking about Bush's refusal to talk to the NYT in all of his time in the White House possibly being connected to his extremely low approval rating.

Long-term vindictiveness is not a viable political communications strategy for those who've won elections. As Bush's exit era sub-basement approval ratings might suggest. But officeholders must learn that lesson for themselves. Or not.

Whether or not Obama remains "vindictive" and whether or not it matters, remains to be seen.