Grading on the Curve.

"I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf," Obama told NBC's "Today" show in an interview scheduled to air Tuesday.

"A month ago I was meeting with fishermen down there, standing in the rain talking about what a potential crisis this could be."

Isn't there any middle ground between promises of "kicking ass" while partying with celebs, and keeping your administration's nose to the grindstone and working through these troubles day by day by boring day?

Sure the presidency is a prize, plus it's summertime and the livin' is easy...

But rolling up the blouse sleeves for the cameras, and standing in the rain for some photo-ops? Talking tough w/Matt Lauer? Sheer showmanship. It might win a campaign, but it won't turn the country around.

Can't the administration gauge the American people's mood this summer, and show they're part of the team too? Tone it down for Summer 2010 -- lots of work still to do and perceptions matter.

A variety of critics have accused Obama of being too cerebral in his reaction to the undersea gusher now fouling the Gulf of Mexico, of failing to put the full force of the administration and of putting too much trust in oil company BP. But Obama told NBC his deliberations have been more than academic.

"I don't sit around talking to experts because this is a college seminar," Obama continued. "We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick."

The disaster was uncorked by an explosion aboard the offshore oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20 that killed 11 workers. The rig sank two days later, and estimates of the amount of oil pouring into the gulf from the undersea blowout grew rapidly in the following week.

Obama made a May 2 visit to the Coast Guard command center in Venice, Louisiana, warning during a rain-spattered news conference that the problem may take "many days" to solve.