Obama Masters Three-Screen Presidency

One hundred days is scarcely enough time to draw any firm conclusions about a new president's capabilities. Even so, Barack Obama has garnered considerable respect for his media skills. Pundits have dubbed him the "new media president;" while some of the most cynical among them believe his underlying strategy is to end-run traditional Washington gatekeepers by communicating more directly with constituents sympathetic to his agenda. But his fans and critics alike may be missing the bigger picture. It's true Obama has readily embraced most things digital. Throughout much of his campaign, his unique online audience bested those of his opponents -- Hillary Clinton during the primaries and John McCain in the general election -- sometimes 2-to-1. His historic 26-word text message announcing Joe Biden as his running mate reached nearly three million U.S. mobile subscribers, and is considered the nation's single-largest mobile marketing event ever. And since taking the oath of office, he has continued to use the Web to blog on vital issues and field questions from the public. It should come as no surprise, however, that the president is taking full advantage of new technologies. Given the current state of the media, it would be more astonishing if he didn't.