New White House Press Secretary

CMC alum Mike Shear writes at The New York Times:

In a few weeks, Jay Carney, a former Time magazine bureau chief with more experience doing the asking than the answering, will take over as press secretary from Mr. [Robert] Gibbs. Mr. Carney, who has spent the last two years as the chief spokesman for Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., must develop relationships with three distinct constituencies as he steps into Mr. Gibbs’s shoes.

The first is the public. In the hyper-fast era of Internet video and 24-hour cable news, the White House press secretary is often the face of the administration. The image of Mr. Gibbs in front of the blue White House seal is — probably more than any of his predecessors — ubiquitous.

One clip of a Gibbs briefing titled “W.H. Press Briefing Room Laughs At a Gibbs Answer” has been viewed 87,533 times. Another entitled “Cell Phones Interrupt White House Briefing” has been viewed 193,937 times. When Mr. Gibbs mocked Sarah Palin for writing on her hand, the clip was viewed more than 75,000 times.

Mr. Carney is hardly used to that kind of public attention. There is no daily briefing for Mr. Biden, and it would probably get little coverage if there were. Most of the YouTube clips of Mr. Carney are from his days as a reporter more than two years ago.