Why is that the first 100 days of President Obama’s rule is so significant? Why 100 days? Well, for one thing it’s a handy number – 100 years in a century, decimal system and all that, and it’s close to three months which is a quarter of a year, financial or otherwise. Long-term corporate ‘strategies’ often think in quarters: ‘We’ll implement that in Q3, 2010″ etc.
Historically, this measure dates back to Roosevelt, who came into office during the Great Depression and sat down with Congress to thrash out new laws for 100 days, all of which the famously quarrelsome entity passed – such was the need for action. It was his ‘New Deal’, a package that represents perhaps the greatest example of political capital that comes easily to mind. Such capital typically stems from the extreme misdeeds of the opposition of the extreme difficulties or fears of the country. In Britain in 1997 it was the former, combined with the extraordinary reinvention of Labour as a young, thrusting force replete with ‘Babes’. President Obama has his own stardust, and his capital flows readily from both sources but – while no-one at News Hour has direct experience of the Great Depression – it would be hard to argue that our modern situation is equable to the 1930s.
Regardless, Fox has chosen to mark Obama’s 100 days by refusing to carry his press conference on prime time, relegating it to the Fox News Channel and opting to carry much-needed advertising instead, plus the Tim Roth drama Lie To Me. Still, viewers will have no shortage of places to watch later tonight – take your pick from: ABC, CBS, NBC (all broadcast networks), CNN, MSNBC and CNBC. Crivens.
News hour, with Jerry Caesar 