Some of President-elect Barack Obama’s most powerful campaign tools were his use of the Internet and the media. Both combined made it easy for browsers to look up information on the candidate at any point in time.

To continue this practice into his presidency, a Nov. 22 Newsweek article reported that Obama has discussed streaming portions of his cabinet meetings to reach more people. Addressing the nation on a regular basis may keep the public more aware of the state of the nation and may serve to build stronger trust in the president. Too much exposure, however, may cause unnecessary judgments of the president and his cabinet members’ characters.

According to the article, government transparency means making it easier for Americans to keep track of what their elected officials are doing. It would be a great benefit to have a more government-educated general public.

But there is a certain fear that a regular viewing of cabinet meeting discussions would make cabinet members too reserved. Where private meetings would ensure that anything said is disclosed and honest opinions can be expressed, cabinet members may become too worried of how they are viewed and rightfully so.

“From my experience on the Hill, I observed many instances where overexposure meant political death and where strategic silence proved to be the right strategy,” said John Feehery, a legislative and communication strategist, in a Nov. 6, 2007 article on riponsociety.org.

The media is always looking for a weakness or flaw in political action (for example, this article).

Anything inappropriate said that would normally be ignored or addressed solely in the cabinet meeting would be called out by every journalist and analyzed for weeks. It would be awful to see in-depth coverage of Capitol Hill resemble the same manner of gossip associated with “The Hills.”

Though Obama’s intentions are noble, he might underestimate how susceptible much of the population is to tabloid opinion.

“If something important were being discussed, I would want to see what everyone’s stance on it is before it became a policy. But, I would not watch it regularly just to see what they’re saying,” said junior finance major Dan Wegmeyer.

Obama has brought a new sense of connection between the people and their government. He realizes the power of the Internet and how useful it can be in organizing and educating the masses. His desire to be honest and exposed is encouraging and admirable. Too much discussion about discussion, though, would do a disservice by negatively affecting our focus on the administration.