Obama held a town hall meeting in the White House Thursday. (Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The President is not just the commander-in-chief - he's also the politician-in-chief. And lately, we're seeing President Obama more and more in that role.

Two town halls in California last week. This week, a virtual town hall. Appearances on The Tonight Show . . . 60 Minutes . . . ESPN. Two prime-time news conferences.

Then there's door-to-door canvassing by his grass-roots supporters, and a TV ad from his supporters in the Democratic Party that urges Americans to call their members of Congress and tell them to vote for the Obama budget.

Is the President risking overexposure? You hear that criticism in the press. New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote, "Barack Obama is going to be on television every day forever. No venue is too strange."

So far, however, the public doesn't seem to mind. At 63 percent in CNN's poll of polls, the President's job approval is higher than any of his four predecessors after two months in office. After all, the President is spending time with THEM.

Is President Obama violating his promise to change the tone of American politics? Actually, the president's tone has not been particularly harsh or partisan, even when he spoke to two Democratic Party fundraisers Wednesday night - audiences eager for partisan red meat.

"And to a bunch of critics out there, I've already said, show me your budget; show me what you want to do," said Obama.

The President saved his harshest rhetoric for, um, us.

"I know it can be easy, especially in Washington, to get caught up in the day-to-day chatter of cable television, to be distracted by the petty and the trivial and to fall into the trap of keeping score about who's up and who's down," Obama said.

He's leaving the toughest talk to his critics.

"The President's budget will hurt the economy and destroy jobs in our country at the very time that our country needs help, and I think it is completely irresponsible," says House Republican leader John Boehner.

"I want his policies that I believe take us in the wrong direction to fail," adds former senator and Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

Meanwhile, just how mild is the president's rhetoric right now? This week, the politician-in-chief endorsed a Democratic candidate in a special election for Congress. But he did not criticize the Republican in that race, praising Democrat Scott Murphy instead.

"Scott has the right experience with a record of creating real, high-paying jobs in Upstate New York. Now, he's ready to go to Washington to continue that work alongside me and Democrats and Republicans in Congress."

Obama said he wanted time to think about his AIG response.

(CNN) – President Obama gave a pretty tough answer to CNN's Ed Henry when asked why he waited days to express outrage on the AIG bonuses.

"It took us a couple of days because I like to know what I'm talking about before I speak," he said.

It seemed to imply the question was impertinent.

"After Ed Henry, he looked like he wanted to go home," conservative talk radio host and CNN Contributor Bill Bennett said.

Watch: Ed Henry on his exchange with Obama

President Obama supports lowering the tax rate at which the wealthiest individuals are able to deduct from their charitable donations.

(CNN) - President Obama's proposal on limiting tax deductions on charitable donations will not sit well with charitable organizations. Charities often raise most of their money from wealthy individuals. They say many wealthy donors could be discouraged from giving if their tax deductions are less.

He'll have a fight on his hands over this one.

(CNN) – Procurement reform is difficult because every expenditure is politically sensitive. When a president starts cutting and reforming procurements, he can make permanent political enemies.

(CNN) - President Obama needs economic growth to reduce the deficit. Tax cuts alone cannot do it. It was economic growth in the 1990's that eliminated the deficit.

The president is trying to argue his major spending proposals will lead to this needed economic growth.

(CNN) – The president appears very comfortable discussing complex issues and often performs well in these press conferences. It is no doubt reassuring to many Americans.

And take note: He is responding without a teleprompter.

(CNN) – President Obama used his first answer to critique the deregulation that was heavily promoted by both Democrats and Republicans in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

It's an argument that resonates with Main Street America.

(CNN) - I count 10 major initiatives on President Obama's agenda. Only two of them seem unpopular: bailing out the banks and the auto industry.

But nevertheless, most Americans say he is trying to do too much. His opening statement however clearly proves the president thinks every initiative is related.

Energy, healthcare, and education were all mentioned immediately. He wants Americans to think big picture.

Why is Obama having so much trouble rounding out his team? CNN's Bill Schneider explains.

The nation's jobless rate is rising, but at least one employer's having trouble filling open positions: the Obama administration.

What's the holdup? CNN's Bill Schneider explains.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, center, and GOP Rep. Mike Pence, right, speak with reporters Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - With the departure of President George W. Bush, Republicans have a new rallying cry: "Back to basics!"

Nothing is more basic to the Republican philosophy than smaller government, a principle many Republicans believe got lost at the end of the Bush administration.

"President Bush in the last few months has opened up the door to Mr. Obama's big-government activism," Ken Blackwell said earlier this month.

Blackwell, the former Ohio secretary of state, is one of six candidates running for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee.

Full story

Barack Obama's cool and reassuring at a time of great anxiety.

WASHINGTON (CNN) – This was a "cool" speech, not a rouser. That is the quality Americans admire most in Obama - he’s cool and reassuring at a time of great anxiety. Everything will be O.K. We can get through this. But it demands something from all of us: "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - A dramatic moment - noting that 60 years ago, his father could not have been served in segregated Washington. Those of us who grew up in the segregated South understand the amazing significance of this moment. We have lived to see the day.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - The call to unity is very much Obama’s trademark –- reaching across barriers, ending "the recriminations and worn-out dogmas." That’s what he means by changing politics in Washington. And right away, he addresses some clear departures from the Bush approach.

A man holds a flag as he watches the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America.

The choice between safety and ideals is false, he says. Without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control. There's a clear acknowledgment of the global warming crisis ("the way we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.")

He's one of the few modern Presidents who has reached out to "non-believers" as well as Christians, Muslims, Jews and Hindus.

"The world has changed, and we must change with it." His theme of "change" carried him through the campaign. Voters saw it as change from Bush. Now he is using it to call for big policy changes, calling this "a moment that will define a generation" - very much like Kennedy in 1961.

"Remaking America" - no small ambition, starting with the literal reconstruction of our infrastructure. He has "big plans" –- and a big crisis that can help him carry them through.

But still, there's an overriding realism. His answer to the old partisan debate: "The question is not whether our government is too big or small, but whether it works." It’s the pragmatist’s answer. Does it work?

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Could an African-American President be the one who finally ends the cultural civil war that has been roiling American politics since the 1960s: liberal versus conservative, red versus blue, Democrat versus Republican? Both Bill Clinton and George Bush set out to end it. Clinton was "new Democrat." Bush was the compassionate conservative and the uniter. Both got trapped in the culture wars and ended up leaving the country more divided than ever. Clinton and Bush were the bookend Presidents of the Baby Boom generation.

Obama is technically a Baby Boomer – he was born near the tail end of the Baby Boom. But his approach and philosophy look beyond the Baby Boomers’ experience. He wrote in "The Audacity of Hope" about his desire to move beyond "the psychodrama of the Baby Boom generation –- a tale rooted in old grudges and revenge plots hatched on a handful of college campuses long ago."

WASHINGTON (CNN) – The Obama team has acknowledged that inviting pastor Rick Warren to deliver the invocation was a "stumble.’"

They underestimated the anger people felt after the passage of Proposition 8 in California - a measure Warren supported. In an effort to be inclusive (toward evangelicals), they ended up excluding others. Warren just acknowledged the problem when he called for "civility in our attitudes, even when we differ."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Bush goes out on a wave of disapproval and discontent. Since World War II, only Richard Nixon went out with less public support - and Nixon resigned. For the last couple of years, we’ve seen a brisk sale of calendars counting the days down until today, when President Bush leaves office.

Barack Obama comes in on an unprecedented wave of good will - not just because he is the nation’s first African-American President, but also because he aims to break barriers. He is a new generation, unencumbered by the culture wars of the sixties. He can speak a language of faith that many Democrats are uncomfortable with. His appointments and his policies reach across lines of party and ideology. And he said throughout the campaign that his aim was to deliver what Bush promised and failed to deliver – to be a uniter, not a divider.

Obama’s poll numbers have given him something to smile about lately.

(CNN) - How's the honeymoon going?

Very well. In fact, better than the country's previous honeymoons.

Watch: The new Obama approval numbers

When it comes to honeymoons with new Presidents, Americans have, shall we say, been around the block a few times. But this new guy is really sweeping people off their feet.

Eighty-two percent of Americans are happy with the way President-elect Obama is handling his transition. Even 61 percent of Republicans like him - and they're the in-laws in this marriage. He's not supposed to be good enough for them.

“You know, I am remarkably pleased with Obama,” conservative leader Pat Robertson told CNN this week. “I had grave misgivings about him – but so help me, he’s come in forcefully, intelligently.”

Previous honeymoons –- like fellow Democrat Bill Clinton’s - have been good. But not this good.

The public is particularly impressed by Obama's cabinet appointments: 80 percent approve of Obama's so-called “team of rivals.” Obama's scoring more than 20 points better on his cabinet picks than President Bush did in 2001.

A “team of rivals'” is well and good, but will Obama be a strong leader? He insists he will -– telling Americans the “vision for change comes…first and foremost” from himself. But do people think Obama will be tough enough? Apparently, they do.

Nearly half the public expresses “a lot of confidence” that Obama will provide real leadership. That's more confidence than people felt in President-elect Bush or Clinton. Obama even scores higher on leadership than President-elect Reagan did when he took office. That's saying something.

It's a bad time, and the country just went through a failed marriage with the current President. Obama represents hope. Isn't that what honeymoons are supposed to be about?

Martinez announced Tuesday he will not seek reelection.

(CNN) - Senator Mel Martinez's decision not to run for re-election in 2010 for his seat from Florida signifies the failure of the Republican Party's outreach to minorities, and it points to difficulties Republicans could face in the 2010 election.

Republicans have always taken special pride in Senator Martinez. He's the former chairman of the Republican Party and the only Latino Republican in the Senate. His decision not to run for a second term indicates problems for the Republican Party.

"We need to have a legislative agenda that is centrist, that tends to be bipartisan, and stay away from those issues that have been so divisive in the past," said Martinez said last month.

One of those issues is immigration reform, which Martinez championed in the Senate. But many in the Republican Party were vocal in the opposition to immigration reform and critical of Martinez for his position.

"He has been under a great deal of pressure in Florida over immigration issues," says Matt Towrey, a political analyst who heads the polling for the political information firm Insider Advantage.

Martinez is the symbol of Republican outreach to Latino voters. That outreach failed this year. Among Latino voters nationwide, the Republican vote for Congress dropped 15 points from 2004 to 2008 - from 44 to 29 percent.

"Mel Martinez isn't strong enough to overcome the issues that otherwise took his backing of Latino voters away from the Republicans," adds Towrey.

Issues like the economy and the unpopularity of President Bush.

Republicans ought to be hopeful about 2010. The opposition party usually makes gains in a midterm election. But Republicans will be defending 19 seats, including Martinez's seat in Florida, while the Democrats will be trying to hold onto 17 seats.

Florida went for Obama this year. That could spell trouble for the GOP as they try to hold on to Martinez's seat in the next election.

"If Obama were to turn the economy around, then yes, it becomes very problematic, because Florida is a state that is very much on the edge," says Towrey.

Obama won Florida by three points this year. In 2004, Mel Martinez won Florida by just one point. And 2004 was a much better Republican year

HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) – Both Obama and McCain are free traders, but McCain's problem is that he is a more full-throated ideological free trader and that doesn't play well in economic times of trouble.

The public is very suspicious of free trade.

HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) - McCain is falling into the weeds by taking the bait and talking about the campaign ad squabbling.

Obama is making an effort to come across as Joe Cool, McCain is noticeably addled.

HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) - Obama is trying to rise above the squabbling. The moderator invited it in asking them to address the attacks, but Obama would be wise not to be baited.

By keeping his eye on the ball and addressing the economy he looks more presidential.

HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) - The only way the the budget can be balanced - the only way it has ever been balanced - is with an economic boom.

It has never been balanced through spending cuts.

HEMPSTEAD, New York (CNN) - Obama is once again not answering the question about which programs he will cut.

He says that he will go through the budget line by line and eliminate the programs that don't work...but he won't specifically name any.

McCain is also avoiding specifics on this issue. Why can't they just acknowledge that if the economy is in a slump they will have to delay rolling out new projects and spending, and then they'll try and get them done when the economy picks up again?

Hempstead, New York (CNN) - Obama's answers during this first line of questioning appear crisp and clear, while McCain's sound disconnected and rambling.

This whole discussion is about taxes, but what voters want to hear about is jobs. What are these two candidates going to do on jobs?

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) - I'm not sure that McCain's presenting of Iraq as a model for Afganistan will be resonate with voters.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) - That's a very interesting answer from McCain on Pakistan.

The crux of it was that while Obama's policy may be right...it's foolish to announce it to the Pakistanis; You probably should do what Obama suggests, but you shouldn't talk about it.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) - Obama just said that Health care should be a right. How do we get there? Obama's answers are far to abstract.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) – A town hall is supposed to be an opportunity to address the voters concerns.

Obama and McCain are using it as an opportunity to attack each other and push their own policy agendas.

Neither is doing what Bill Clinton was able to do in 1992.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) - That's a pretty fundamental question...should there be for profit health care?

Obama's answer...he's not answering the question.

Once again they're giving campaign speeches but not really answering the voters questions. Their answers sound like policy position papers.

Has Obama changed his stance on global warming?

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) - That was a very strong answer from Obama on exploring for more oil and coal...but it seems to contradict his stance on global warming. More coal and oil = more greenhouse gases.

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) - McCain's attacks are so conspicuous that they may backfire.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Palin's primary strength is her outside of Washington status. She doesn't act like an insider, she doesn't talk like an insider, and a lot of voters may respond to that.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Palin's answers do not lack confidence, they lack coherence.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Reform, corruption, maverick...these are words that Palin often uses, but she needs to define them.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) – Palin say's she'll be a maverick, but she doesn't talk about how her administration would be different from McCain. She isn't drawing any kind of distinction.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) – He's in an awkward position...Biden voted for the use of force in Iraq, Obama came out against it from the beginning.

Watch: 'We will end this war,' Biden says

It's a problem that he shares with Hillary Clinton.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Building an embassy in Jerusalem is intensely controversial. Several candidates have made that promise...none have kept it.

Was Palin misleading with funding charge?

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) – Palin is bringing up Biden's comments from the Democratic primaries when he was critical of Obama's vote against an Iraq troop funding bill. But many of the troops funding bills included other provisions, like troops withdrawal timetables.

Biden responds by mentioning that McCain also voted against the troop funding bill, which did include a timetable.

Palin counter attacks by saying that Biden wants to wave the white flag in Iraq. Biden responds by lumping McCain with Vice President Cheney and saying that McCain has been dead wrong on the war.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Palin's answers often come across as slogans that appear to lack specificity and seem to be more campaign speeches than answers to questions.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Joe Biden is talking about senate votes. This is where you get into the weeds. This is why senators rarely become president. Biden is also trying to drive a wedge between Palin and McCain, saying Palin supports a windfall profits tax on the major oil companies that McCain opposes.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Palin is going after Biden over his comments that the wealthy should pay more taxes as a patriotic move. The Alaska governor has come to this debate fully armed. Biden is responding with knowledgeable comebacks.

The senator from Delaware is also selling fairness. Fairness is an issue that works when the economy is bad. When the economy is bad, as it is now, voters believe the system isn't fair. It's very hard to sell fairness when the economy is well.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Governor Plain is clearly trying to go on the attack. She is prepared to go on the attack against Senator Biden.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - It would be nice to hear both candidates explain what's in the proposed bailout package before Congress right now. So far the question hasn't come up.

It would be interesting to hear what Sarah Palin means by corruption. She keeps bringing it up. Who does she mean. The implication is lenders who gave money to those who couldn't afford homes. What did they do? How are they corrupt?

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Sarah Palin is portraying herself as a Washington outsider, as a so called "hockey mom." She's trying to portray Joe Biden as a Washington insider.

ST LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - Deregulation was a policy pursed by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Under the Clinton Administration, Democrats embraced deregulation, which Senator Biden is partially pointing to as a cause behind the current financial troubles.

The constitution says that the qualifications for vice president are the exact same as for president. So the question for the vice presidential candidates is are they qualified to be president.

OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) - Both McCain and Obama support including Georgia and others into NATO, at the same time saying that they don't want a new Cold War. Both of them are portraying Russia as a greater threat than we've been regarding them for a while...but they both insist they don't want that new cold war. They both agree on Russia, but it doesn't all add up.

OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) - McCain is saying that if you meet without preconditions you are legitimizing them.

Obama, on the other hand, said he would not impose preconditions, but he would insist on preparation.

It's a very complicated argument.

Watch: Sen. John McCain says he doesn't need any 'on the job training' to be president.

(CNN) – McCain almost certainly misspoke when he said he wouldn't speak with Spain...I am not sure that's a fair thing for Obama to call him on.