New Orleans The daily Obama Administration watch is an on-going fascination of consuming interest. These folks continue to surprise, and not just me, it seems virtually everyone. In short order they seem to have transferred two years of campaigning into a similar war room style operation in the White House as part of the perpetual campaign now to get the job done and legislation passed. For a government in power as opposed to an outsiders’ campaign apparatus, they seem to still be practicing either phenomenal message control or have exceedingly thin skin, as two recent examples dramatically illustrate. Since I have to assume they know way more than folks like us at the bottom looking up, I assume polling and focus groups are driving them to take some wild changes at walking the line between shaping the message and the more controversial “managing the news.” There is time capsule on that issue though, because it won’t be more than a few months before the press, currently fascinated, will kick up their heels at the tightness of the bit. The press and pundits seem to be so smitten with being taken seriously for a change after eight years in the Cheney-Bush information deep freeze, that even phone calls from the White House or the President are themselves news. This is all unique. The cases in point though are the following: Number One: The Threat of Socialism The right wing has been throwing up an air ball in recent weeks about welcome to Europe and how do you like socialism. Normally, one would simply let this deservedly slide like water off a ducks back. Not the Thin Skin White House War Room. The President Is on the Line to Follow Up on Socialism By JEFF ZELENY Published: March 7, 2009 — New York Times WASHINGTON http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/08/us/politics/08callback.html Op-Ed Columnist – When Obamatons Respond By DAVID BROOKS Published: March 5, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/06/opinion/06brooks.html