As Barack Obama demonstrated on Thursday, one of the best ways to ensure an interview full of “softball” questions is to bring in someone who has benefited from your policies and is happy to say so.
After Jerry Penacoli and the president exchanged greetings, the Extra correspondent stated: “Thank you for inviting us. I know this is rare to have an interview sitting down with you here in the Rose Garden. It doesn't happen very often.”
“It is my pleasure,” Obama stated.
“And I also want to say 'thank you' because you pretty much saved my finances and my life,” the interviewer gushed since he received financial assistance from ObamaCare while battling melanoma and thyroid cancer.
Obama then replied:
Jerry, I know the story of you sort of battling courageously against an illness, and then hitting lifetime limits potentially in insurance.
One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act was not just to help people get insurance who didn't have it. It was to give better protections for people who already had insurance.
“And I think a lot of people don't understand that,” Penacoli said. “Isn't there confusion surrounding that?”
“There is,” Obama replied, “and look, you were a perfect example of somebody who could be caught with debilitating bills or, alternatively, not being able to get the care you need, so a lot of the protections essentially made existing insurance better for a lot of people.”
The president continued:
The main message I have for viewers, though, is that despite the website rollout having problems, despite all the politics and noise around it, what's happened now is millions of people have insurance who didn't have it before.
People who did have health insurance before -- like you, Jerry -- are much more secure in the insurance that they've got, is costing less than anybody expected.
“It's working well,” the Democratic occupant of the White House stated, “and now we just have to keep on making the effort to make sure that in this great country of ours, if you get sick, it shouldn't be that you're at risk of bankruptcy.”
When asked by Penacoli how he responds to critics, the president replied: “I get 10 letters a night out of the 40,000 letters and emails and messages that we get, some of them are just saying thank you for something, some of them are saying you're an idiot.”
“Do you answer the ones who call you an idiot?" the interviewer asked gently.
“I do,” Obama replied.
“Are they surprised?" Penacoli inquired.
“I think sometimes they are,” Obama responded. “I will tell you the number of stories I've gotten like yours … it’s made a difference in a lot of people's lives.”
Other topics covered in the friendly interview included: the president's daughters -- Sasha and Malia -- who “are wonderful,” and “most importantly, they're kind, they're respectful, they don't have an attitude” thanks to the influence of his wife and their mother, Michelle.
The conversation then turned to Obama's final days in the White House. When he leaves, the president said, he "will take some of the furniture with him."
“A bunch of the furniture in this house, we bought,” he explained. “Sometimes people are surprised to hear we pay for all our groceries!”
The president also admitted he will miss 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. “It’s a home inside this incredible, historical monument, and we are extraordinarily privileged to be here.”
When asked about the first thing he and his family will do when they leave the White House, Obama replied: “I think it’s fair to say that it won’t be up to me, it will be up to Michelle.”
The final softball questions Penacoli asked dealt with sports, particularly the National Basketball Association championship series between the Garden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the final games of the National Hockey League season.
“I think both teams are playing incredible basketball,” Obama replied. “Who knows?” but “I’m sure enjoying watching it.”
As for the NHL, the former senator from Illinois is rooting for the Chicago “Blackhawks!” “You’re talking to a guy from Tampa Bay,” Penacoli stated.” The president laughed and said: “I’m sorry, my condolences.”
It's certain Obama wishes that all the interviews he gives are as easily handled as Thursday's discussion. Perhaps Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should give Penacoli a call about being as “tough” with her as he was with the president.
