海角大神

鈥淢orning, guys. How鈥檚 everyone?鈥�

With that, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs launched the first press gaggle of the Obama presidency to be held in Mr. Gibbs鈥� private office. Only a select few reporters were invited 鈥� well, more like 50, per Gibbs deputy Bill Burton, who sent out the emails early Friday. About 20 showed up for the 9:45 a.m. session. No TV cameras. Krispy Kremes on the table, courtesy of Margaret Talev of McClatchy News Service.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an experiment,鈥� Gibbs said, seated comfortably behind his desk, a Top Secret briefing book among the clutter before him. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an attempt to get you guys a readout and answer some of your questions and not wait until the briefing later in the day.鈥�

What Gibbs didn鈥檛 say is that getting a flood of reporter questions first thing in the morning also helps him get a read on what the media are working on.

Still, how civilized, how collegial, especially since Gibbs typically holds his on-camera briefing rather late in the day 鈥� 1:30, 2 p.m., usually starting late. And in this small venue, we all had front row seats, a treat for those of us usually relegated to the back of the briefing room. Past White House press secretaries have had such informal gaggles in their offices, but after 9/11, that changed. The crowd was just too large.

So did he make any news? Nothing earth-shattering. But fresh quotes on the record are always welcome. Here鈥檚 a sample (questions summarized):

Q. Why did Obama go to his house in Chicago last night?
A. 鈥淥ne, he wanted to go just see how it was. And he wanted to, I think he had a couple of friends over to have a little dinner.鈥�

And no, he didn鈥檛 have any trouble getting in the front door, Gibbs noted.

Q. How鈥檚 he feeling about healthcare reform, now that there won鈥檛 be a Senate vote before the August recess?
A. 鈥淭he most important thing from the president鈥檚 perspective is, we鈥檙e making progress on the issues that we know have to be dealt with.鈥�

Q. Has the White House altered its plans for August?
A. It鈥檚 鈥渟afe to assume that for a long time, we planned to continue the discussion on the issues that are important, be it the economy, healthcare, energy, education. That stuff doesn鈥檛 鈥� that had always been in many ways 鈥� priced into the scenario.鈥�

Q. How does Obama think he did in his Wednesday press conference?
A. 鈥淚 think the president believes that he was successful 鈥� Obviously, it [healthcare] is a complex issue that isn鈥檛 something that can be boiled down to 7 or 8 or 10 seconds.鈥�

Q. Does he regret weighing in on the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.?
A. 鈥淚f he realized how much of an overall distraction and obsession it would be, I think he would probably regret distracting you guys with obsessions.鈥�

Will Gibbs do more of these small gaggles? He said he would. Stay tuned.