Obama recognizes a meme

As part of his campaign to motivate disillusioned young people into voting for him again, Barack Obama did a reddit interview. Reddit users posted questions, other reddit users voted up questions, and Obama answered the questions that bubbled up to the top.  The interview was so popular that it essentially crashed Reddit.

There was nothing much to see in the interview itself. Nothing, that is, but a talented politician using words to avoid actually answering any of the questions.   Take for example, this question/answer pair:

Question:

Are you considering increasing funds to the space program?

Answer:

Making sure we stay at the forefront of space exploration is a big priority for my administration. The passing of Neil Armstrong this week is a reminder of the inspiration and wonder that our space program has provided in the past; the curiosity probe on mars is a reminder of what remains to be discovered. The key is to make sure that we invest in cutting edge research that can take us to the next level - so even as we continue work with the international space station, we are focused on a potential mission to a asteroid as a prelude to a manned Mars flight.

Notice that he doesn't actually say whether he is considering increasing funds to the space program.  A lot of words on a related topic, but not directly to the question at hand.
 
Wait, there is something worth noting: Obama's answers contained no outright lies -- these days, it appears that every speech by every Republican is full of lies, so perhaps it is worth noting that Barack Obama was saying only true things.  He was ducking questions, but he was not actively lying.

So, anyway, the interview ended with Obama's take on the whole Reddit interview process: "NOT BAD". This is a reference to a wildly popular meme that dates back to a year ago, when the Obamas visited Britain and were caught in this pose.

See more on Know Your Meme

I suppose that some young staffer would have pointed out to Obama that there was an internet meme centered about a candid photo of him.  Still, it was quite clever of Obama to reference it in a situation.  So much so that one of the Reddit posters was prompted to remark:

ONE OF US. ONE OF US.

Not really, let's be real here.
Although it's funny to imagine President Obama sitting in the oval office giggling and looking at photos of cats.
EDIT: I'm enjoying the fact that for the forseeable future my comment with the most upvotes will be one about President Obama looking at cat photos on reddit.

This easy empathy with an audience is what makes Obama the talented politician he is.