Hotline After Dark -- Mr. Sandman

"World News," Evening News" and "Nightly News" each led with the swine flu outbreak and featured taped interviews with WH CoS Rahm Emanuel.

Pres. Obama's third prime-time press conference held on his 100th day in office was met with pretty mediocre reviews.

Karl Rove: "The news conference was boring. ... We had a news conference that was not important, except that they said it was important because it was the 100th day. ... They clearly prepared for tonight's event, but it was flat. It was dull. There were a couple of very important moments in it. I don't deny that, but it was a boring, boring news conference" ("Hannity," FNC, 4/29).

Weekly Standard's Hayes: "I thought he was tremendously disingenuous on interrogations. You know, he said he couldn't talk about these memos that Dick Cheney has been talking about because they're still classified. ... He sort of kicked that question aside. I thought that was a tremendously unfair way to treat the issue" (CNN, 4/29).

MSNBC's Matthews: "He's obviously looked at his polling and he wants to soften his image. He doesn't want to look like too big a government guy. ... He wants to be very pro-military. ... He wants to lessen the harshness of the reputation he's getting by the people complaining about the Notre Dame speech, that he's too pro-choice" ("Countdown," 4/29).

After the jump, interviews with WH sr. adviser David Axelrod and Emanuel.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

RNC Chair Michael Steele: "A little bit slow. It was anticlimactic. ... The president avoided answering questions that I thought were pertinent on Pakistan. I thought he avoided answering questions that were pertinent on a number of other social and economic issues, like abortion" ("Hannity," FNC, 4/29).

Ex-WH adviser David Gergen: "I thought he was a little disingenuous. And that is about growing government. You can't look at what his plans are on health care and look at his plans on energy and say he really doesn't want to extend the influence and grow government" (CNN, 4/29).

WHAT PART OF NO DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

During an appearance on "Hardball," Axelrod was asked if Obama would actively oppose Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) if he entered the Dem primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-PA).

Axelrod: "The president has made it clear he supports Senator Specter."

MSNBC's Matthews: "Even against a Democrat?"

Axelrod: "He's not supporting him against anybody. He's supporting him because he appreciates the decision he made. He appreciates his support on the economic recovery package. So he's indicated that he'll strongly support Senator Specter. Governor Rendell has done the same. And that's where they'll be."

Matthews: "So it's a deal. He will support Specter against even a seasoned respectable major Democrat like Sestak or Schwartz or Pat Murphy? Even if one of those heavy weights from the southeast of Pennsylvania were to run, your president would back Specter against the Democrat?"

Axelrod: "I've not changed my answer from 30 seconds ago, no" (MSNBC, 4/29).

LESSONS LEARNED

Some highlights from Emanuel's appearances on all three broadcast evening news programs:

Emanuel, on how Obama handles the problems he inherited and how he communicates with the country will determine how he's viewed after four years: "If you looked at successful presidents and transformative presidents. ... If you look at Kennedy, you look at Roosevelt, you look at Reagan -- you can even go back if you wanted to on Jefferson -- they follow failed presidents. ... The presidency didn't succeed. They were good communicators, and they came at a point of crisis in the country. ... It's a moment of crisis and a successful communicator."

ABC's Gibson: "Fair to say, though, that he ran for one job and got another given the condition of the economy as he takes office?"

Emanuel: "Fair. ... I think I can reflect that the president's view is, you know, we inherited these set of problems. That's not to point fingers, but the fact that that's the set of problems, and that's basically the hand he's been dealt with. And that, therefore, we have to have a set of solutions that is as significant and as deep and as serious as the set of problems" ("World News," ABC, 4/29).

CBS' Couric, on the economy: "How much more time do you need before this administration starts to get blamed for this crisis?"

Emanuel: "Blame is not the issue. We don't walk around -- sitting here and having conversations, 'Well, we got to avoid blame.' The president's been very clear about taking responsibility to make sure we're gonna make the right decisions. That's where his focus and energy is. ... We have an important role in setting the policy choices to make sure that we get out of this."

Emanuel, asked why Obama is more popular than many of his policies: "Because he's a good guy. ... I study polls, unfortunately. I go through the public opinion data. The American people know that this is a president who's taken ... their challenges seriously and ran on a set of pledges and, surprisingly, unlike other politicians or in past, didn't change those pledges when he got to Washington. ... He actually has followed through on what he ran on is what I think the American people are responding to. And two, that he's having an honest discussion with them."

Emanuel, asked what it says about the state of the GOP now that Specter is a Dem: "I don't think the Democrats should go running around saying, 'Oh, this makes everything, you know, we've ever wanted.' The reason we have grown as a party in the last two elections is because we've offered real solutions to the challenges the American people face every day."

More Emanuel: "If we're not attentive to why we got elected, what is our job here in public service, the American people will have us on a short leash. I think the Republican Party has to really look inside and say, what is it that we offer the American people as they face these challenges?"

Couric: "What is the biggest mistake you all have made in the first 100 days?"

Emanuel: "Even in successes, in the recovery act, there were things that we could've done different. The key thing of any process growing up, it's no different in government. Do you learn from your mistakes? ... I think we've had a good set of 100 days. The question is, did we learn anything from that 100 days to make the next 200, the next 300 days better and improve the way we do it?"

Emanuel, on the admin.'s greatest accomplishment: "A new renewed sense of hope in America. In a sense that we can actually meet these challenges. ... We've helped give America that sense of confidence again, that we can meet these challenges and this country is headed, finally, in the right direction" ("Evening News," CBS, 4/29).

Emanuel, on his now-famous quote "Never let a crisis go to waste": "The basic view was that that crisis allowed us to finally start to face the challenges that had basically been postponed, on the health care area, on areas that relates to our energy independence, and creating new companies and new industries and new jobs here, as well as dealing with the financial regulatory reform or education reform."

More Emanuel: "To the other point, in the sense of those industries, the president would like nothing better than not be involved in the level we are with the financial sector. Our goal now is to make sure that they get through this period of time and take the steps that're necessary. That's also true about the auto industry. It's not a desire to be involved with them, but given that either the parts of the auto industry were near collapse, as well as the financial, we only the government could play a role in stabilizing" ("Nightly News," NBC, 4/29).