While the Obama cabinet-level positions – from Hillary Clinton (State) and Tim Geithner (Treasury) to Bill Richardson (Commerce) and Eric Holder (Attorney General) – have attracted the media spotlight, there’s a sub-cabinet position that is very much on the media’s radar. It’s the White House press secretary – the de facto face of the administration. The liaison to the public – domestic and global – via the White House press corps.
It matters if the press secretary is fast on his or her feet with the “gotcha” crowd and has a sense of humor, but it matters much more if that person has credibility with the media. That only happens if the press secretary has serious access to the president — and policy — and not just to the prepared bullet points of spin.
In short, it matters whether you have Scott McClellan or Tony Snow.
The Obama press secretary will be Robert Gibbs, 37, the president-elect’s spokesman since his 2004 Senate campaign. Gibbs is close enough to Obama to be called an “arch loyalist.” And witty enough, reportedly, to be called a serial punster.
Back in May, Newsweek magazine described Gibbs as “Obama’s traveling counselor and sometime court jester.”
So far, so good.