OK, that was not Katie Couric’s opening question to Pres.-elect Obama in an interview aired in part on this morning’s Early Show.  How soft was the Evening News anchor? Downy soft doesn’t begin to describe it. Twice Couric went so far as to help the president-elect answer her own questions. Now that’s the kind of interview a president could get to like! Here was Katie’s actual opening salvo.

KATIE COURIC: Are you starting to realize the enormity of your new job?

Hard-hitting stuff!  And the questioning didn’t get any tougher . . .

BARACK OBAMA: Over the last several weeks, we’ve been working on a whole bunch of stuff, having to do with the economy, getting people back to work.  So in some ways, this transition’s been so unusual, we’ve had to do so much work on the front-end, that I think January 21st is not going to feel that different from January 19th or January 17th.  We’re really just moving offices. But, having said that, I think when you’re sitting in the Oval Office, you’re very clear that these decisions count, and I think the magnitude of it is humbling.

Katie pulled another toughie from her bag of tricks.

COURIC: How do you balance the optimism and hope that surrounded your election with realistic expectations?

The pres.-elect might have thanked Katie for helping him lower expectations.

OBAMA: Well it turns out that the American people, I think, are in a pretty good place, in the sense that they are hopeful and optimistic about what a new administration may bring, but they’re realistic about what’s going to be accomplished in the first year or the first 18 months. I think that they recognize that we’re not gonna magically eliminate some of the problems that we’ve had, but that we’re going to make steady progress.

COURIC: And you’re not going to sugar-coat it, are you?

Aww. Isn’t it cute when couples finish each other’s thoughts?

OBAMA: No, one of the things I’m absolutely convinced of is that these are times that call for complete honesty.

Again, Couric helped Obama flesh out his idea.

COURIC: Straight talk, to borrow a phrase from your former opponent.

OBAMA: Absolutely, well but, I think that people desperately want, they’re hungry for that.  They just don’t want spin and soundbites.  My goal throughout the presidency is going to be to speak honestly to the American people, not to talk down to them, not to try to dumb things down.  The American people are plenty smart, but we’ve got a set of challenges right now that are daunting, and everybody’s going to have to contribute, everybody’s going to have to pitch in for us to deal with them.

It must be comforting to the new president to know that if ever he does have a problem expressing himself to the American people, Katie will be right there to do it for him