is sort after yawner and people outside the beltway don't care about it and those who write about it inside the beltway, a great many of them are tremendously upset. over obama's new policy. so he's sort of getting the worst of both worlds here. >> pat, you bring up the writing about it. peter, the president says he before going to bed each night reads five letters every night from average americans, they are sort of randomly pick. is that enough to keep him grounded? does he at all risk becoming too much inside that washington bubble? >> i think any president has that problem, alex. harry truman called the white house the great white prison. one of the things i think that's very important -- i've been in meetings with the staff -- they want him out in the countryside much more than he has been. they want to make sure that he hears and feels the concerns of the american people. but those letters are important to him. he cares a lot about it.