Hillary Clinton was working so hard to look like she was enjoying herself – grinning widely and giving the audience a thumbs-up as she entered, doubling over in laughter at the host's jokes, merrily going about a bit of prop comedy – that it was hard to believe she was enjoying herself that much at all.
The Democratic presidential nominee's appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Monday night was about par for the course for campaigning politicians turning up on late-night talk shows – a low-risk, low-reward bit of free publicity in return for proving herself a good sport, while she was in California to fundraise.
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But the president she is seeking to replace has set a higher bar than that – one that she suffers for being unable to meet, even if it is completely unreasonable to expect her to do so.
Barack Obama rarely has to pretend to be having a good time when he's dabbling in modern showbiz, because it clearly comes naturally to him. Blessed with (or having honed, at some point) a dry comic timing to go with his massive charisma, he can do bits – from "slow-jamming the news" with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, to trading insults with Zach Galifianakis on the relatively obscure Between Two Ferns – that are painful even to imagine other politicians attempting.
If you consider Mr. Obama too much sizzle and not enough steak, that speaks well for the other politicians. Maybe the most powerful person in the Western world, or someone who aspires to that role, shouldn't have the time and interest to perfect and seek out opportunities to make people laugh. Ms. Clinton in particular, up against a Republican nominee who traffics in his own bizarre brand of entertainment, can lay a reasonable claim to her seriousness being a virtue.
But Mr. Obama did not become the first sitting U.S. president to bother with late-night talk shows at all – let alone podcasts and online series and assorted other corners of the entertainment world to which he has ventured – just for kicks. He has also done so because of an acute awareness that modern office-holders need such venues in ways their predecessors wouldn't have dreamed.
As Mr. Obama's former adviser David Axelrod and others in his orbit have acknowledged, the presidential soapbox is not what it used to be. Once upon a time, the White House occupant could take to the airwaves and Americans would have little option but to pay attention. Now, media consumers – especially younger voters Democrats need to reach, because they are likely to vote for their party, if at all – are so spoiled for choice that even the President has to seek them out. That means reaching voters piecemeal, with pitches that grab their attention before they realize they're pitches at all.
Mr. Obama's few minutes with Mr. Galifianakis back in 2014, in a parody of a talk show with an online cult following, epitomized this approach. After the President spent a few minutes deadpanning repulsion with a mock-combative host who acted as though he barely knew who he was, the two of them seamlessly segued into a plug for Obamacare that at once mocked the way celebrities awkwardly push their latest products, and actually told viewers how they could sign up.
His appearances on more traditional talk shows have displayed the same awareness of how the landscape has changed. Late-night shows like Mr. Kimmel's and Mr. Fallon's are viewed primarily by a middle-aged audience live; they reach millennials mostly through segments that have to be grabby enough to be shared digitally the next day. So during a Tonight Show appearance in June, Mr. Obama delivered the case for his record in the form of a sultry monologue – and a quick Rihanna verse – over backing beats from the Roots, keeping a straight face while Mr. Fallon interjected with mock-sexy innuendo.
It seems highly unlikely that Ms. Clinton's visit with Mr. Kimmel, highlighted by her opening a pickle jar to make light of Donald Trump's insinuation that she is too frail for the presidency, will live on much past Monday night. Most of it, as Mr. Kimmel lobbed softballs in her direction about the craziness of running against Mr. Trump and shared a laugh with her about a clip of her husband playing with balloons, just felt rote.
That doesn't say much about her suitability for office. But it may go a small way toward explaining her difficulty in conveying authenticity to voters, especially younger ones.
And if she wins in November, it might add to her challenges in keeping them engaged thereafter. If this kind of media feels like a chore, it will be enticing just to skip it the way presidents before Barack Obama did, back when it mattered less.
Adam Radwanski