On an interview tour for his new book on President Obama, NBC's Chuck Todd told Larry King that his conversations with Obama are "very nourishing." Even after six or seven years of adoration, reporters still sound like then-NBC reporter Lee Cowan admitting in 2008 that being assigned to the Obama campaign made his "knees quake." He wondered if "he could do the campaign justice," since it was "truly historic."

According to a Gallup poll conducted this summer, asking people how much confidence they have in various institutions, only 7 percent of Americans said they trusted Congress a great deal or quite a lot. A mere 29 percent trusted the presidency.