Trappings of the Office: "Third Man" in the Campaign, and in Last Night's Dueling CBS Interviews

Looks like the the C.I.C. might be covering his flank a bit with this one, the fresh Flickr photo likely a response to the uptick in vulnerability lately on Libya, Egypt and foreign policy. Taken on August 1st and posted Friday, that’s an impressive landing party with all the chest candy.

What it also captures, however — with the campaign winding down and Romney flailing —  is how much the President is leveraging the trappings of the office.

Here we see Obama in his 60 Minutes interview last night at the White House. It was played against an interview with Romney set in an office I’m not sure where, and then aboard “Scrapbook One.”

After hearing Romney pass “the Palin test,” chatting on about his reading list and President Adams, the setting lent just a little more oomph when Obama, as he’s wont to do, brought up Lincoln.

(photo: Pete Souza/White House caption: President Barack Obama disembarks Air Force One upon his arrival at Mansfield Air National Guard Base in Mansfield, Ohio, Aug. 1, 2012.screen shots: AP via CBS/CBS. caption 2: In this Sept. 12 image taken from video and provided by CBS, ’60 Minutes’ correspondent Steve Kroft speaks with President Obama, at the White House in Washington. The interview aired on ’60 Minutes’ Sunday night, Sept. 23.)