President Obama promised a break from the old Washington ways of permanent campaigning and a president unaccountable to the people. Put aside the lack of “Change” in terms of policy [Obama is continuing many of the Bush excesses in the War on Terror such as indefinite detention]; but concentrate solely for a moment on a recent Town Hall forum that President Obama held on health care.

President Bush pioneered the staged Town Hall as the first president to employ it. It used to be a New England tradition where elected representatives would take questions and exchange in debate with their constituents. But in the age of hyper-politics, many politicians decided they would rather do without tough questions from their voters in a 24/7 news cycle.

President Bush held one Town Hall after another where only Republican activists were allowed in, and got to ask only pre-screened questions [ex. What can I do to help you?] after signing a statement vowing to vote for Bush. Many people in the media ridiculed such a display, and rightly so. Presidents are presidents for all, not just for their admiring supporters. If a Town Hall forum is to be held, the president should be subject to questioning from all people.

That is why it is so dismaying to see Obama, or Bushamm, behave like Bush. President Obama’s recent Town Hall forum was entirely staged with only Obama supporters allowed in and all questioned vetted before they could be posed to the president.

It is so odd that the White House would behave like this. Bush was a stumbling idiot who would freeze and embarrass himself if he got a question that made him think too much, and the Bush White House wanted to save their guy from public unease.

But Obama is no Bush. The young president is a brilliant speakers, even off the cuff. He has also done hundreds of open Town Halls, including overseas in France and Turkey. Obama can clearly handle himself no matter the tough questions. And tough questions he should be subject too, especially on a public debate as important as health care.

If the White House worried about Obama’s image if he was subject to too much tough questioning, then they themselves have cause embarrassment for the president. By staging such a Town Hall, the White House makes the president look dismissive of critics, unwillingly to listen to the other side, and less confident in defending his policies. That does not bode well in convincing Americans to support them. The White House should let Obama be Obama and stop trying to manage him.