Playing The Palace

I think the public and the Administration understand (the way Bush never did) there’s a world of difference between performance (as in, results) and putting on a show.

That’s not to say, however, that Obama — at Caesars Palace, scoring donor cash for a Harry Reid bailout — isn’t a genius at the latter, especially when pulling out the stops.  (In the theatricality here, I’m reminded of “the Sinatra shot,“Alan Chin’s Vegas-like image of Obama’s surprise appearance on the third night of the DNC.)

If I were Michael Steele (or anyone else even partially tasked with getting the GOP back in the game), I’d be thoroughly terrified.

(image 1:Jason Reed/Reuters. caption: Democratic party donors applaud U.S. President Barack Obama as he participates in a fundraiser for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in the Coliseum at Caesars Palace Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 26, 2009. Reid is seeking re-election in the 2010 U.S. Senate election. image 2: Jim Watson – AFP/Getty Images)