Inside the Beltway

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By Jennifer Harper INSIDE THE BELTWAY

SEA TO SHINING SEA

And now, an unabashed star-spangled moment for those who fret that the U.S. is fading, broken, lost, aimless, etc. - a notion that has been bandied about in the global press in recent days, with a side order of schadenfreude. But claims that war, recession and partisan divides have dampened American spirit are premature.

"Americans are just as proud to be an American citizen now" as they were immediately after Sept. 11, 2001, says a Harris poll released Tuesday, with numbers to prove it.

The survey found that 95 percent of the respondents are indeed proud to be Americans and nine-out-of-10 are proud when they hear "The Star-Spangled Banner" - findings that are virtually unchanged since 2002.

"So what? One of the questions often asked after the events of September 11th was if the wave of patriotism would last over time. While there have probably been ups and downs, it is still clear that patriotism exists in the country as a whole," Harris says.

So, not to worry. Let's not overthink our traditional national identity. We've still got it, at least according to the 2,984 adults whom the pollster surveyed Aug. 10-18.

OBAMAPALOOZA

Is he basking in confidence - or in a panic? President Obama will appear on Sunday morning political talk shows this weekend, covering ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and Univision. No Fox News, though. And one ascerbic late-night host must be all aglow as well. Mr. Obama will be the "sole guest" on the "Late Show With David Letterman" on Monday.

"The cliched thing to say is that the president is 'doing the full Ginsburg.' Remember when Monica Lewinsky's lawyer William Ginsburg did the whole circuit in '98? Unlike a prime-time address, which is free airtime that he can script to his liking, these are newsmaker shows that are supposed to be tough interviews. Any of these shows would be biased not to accept his offer to appear," the Media Research Center's Tim Graham tells Inside the Beltway.

"Political analysts must be divided into two camps. One, that Obama's speechifying wins every battle, and five Sunday interviews makes a political juggernaut. Or two, Obama is clearly desperate about how badly he's losing, and the five interviews suggest panic. If they really believed these appearances help, why hasn't all his ubiquitousness helped already?"