The times, they are still a-changing update: The talented Jimmy Fallon, who will take over the Tonight Show early next year, is increasingly known for his pop culture adaptations. For example, he will be bringing along the rap group, The Roots, as his Tonight Show house band. Currently he and The Roots do a Late Night with Jimmy Fallon staple called “slow jamming the news.” They take a topic–and an appropriate representative–and “slow jam” the message with hip counterpoints and flourishes. He gets live guests, notably politicians, to play along. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has taken a turn. So has President Barack Obama.
Christie was good because he’s a major ham–and because he fits well into the tradition of political candidates doing alternative-demographic audiences that dates to John F. Kennedy going on Jack Paar in 1960. President Obama, however, was a different story, although he played his role well. Of course he did; he’s naturally good on any stage, especially political theater.
But the problem–and I suspect it is not a problem to many observers–is that what is appropriate for a presidential candidate is not so for the person who actually holds the office. During his “slow jam” appearance, the president addressed the societal crisis that is the ever-rising cost of higher education and the need to keep college affordable. The issue–and collateral points–arguably deserved a more serious context than this, where The Roots leader chirped about “The POTUS with the mostest.”
But it could have been worse. The president could have been “slow jamming” about chemical genocide in Syria.