President O had his first prime-time presser last night. He took 13 questions in all, and the general consensus is he fared well, controlling the tone of the night and giving comprehensive, well-constructed answers to some fairly hard, albeit restrained, questions on the part of the press. Washington Post's Howard Kurtz has a round-up of the media response.

As for the public, 49.5 million viewers tuned in for the prime-time show. Despite being conveniently placed on the East Coast before popular shows like "24" and "Heroes," Obama drew a smaller household rating on the tube than Clinton's and Bush '43's first prime-time pressers. It's hard to estimate exactly how many people tuned in online, but a recording posted on the White House's YouTube channel has logged about 11,500 views. O spent a lot of time talking about how confident he is that his embattled stimulus plan (which is now in conference after passing in the Senate 61-37) will work. No real indication yet on whether he has the public convinced -- his approval rating has dropped, but just by a slim 3 points.

From repealing Bush-era executive orders to championing a new era of bipartisan governing, Obama's spent a large portion of the past few weeks sticking it to the country's 43rd commander in chief. But like his predecessor, W., O. didn't allow for any follow-up questions. Journalists and media folk criticize the move as slightly cowardly; follow-ups often lead to the more pressing (and harder to dodge) inquiries.

W., CQ Politics blogger Craig Crawford notes, was the first president since Calvin Coolidge to stunt the flow of follow-ups. So what's a shushed in pursuit of a big scoop journalist to do? Circumventing the media-savvy press machine of the president is going to take some major collaboration, Crawford says:

"If [Obama] intends to maintain this Bush policy, reporters must work together and agree to ask the obvious follow-up to the preview question as they take turns. Otherwise, these press conferences are nothing but one-sided speeches."

Judging by last night's performance on the part of the press, tag-teaming to snag shared scoops hasn't crossed the minds of the White House Press Corps.

Questions ranged from what metric we should use to determine whether the economic stimulus/financial recovery package is working (ABC's Jake Tapper) to what Obama's response is to the revelation that A-Rod used the 'roids (WaPo's Michael Fletcher). In case you were wondering, Obama is sad that the scandal has tarnished the Great American Past time and concerned about the message drug use by superstar athletes sends to the hardworking members of American's T-ball and Little League squads. No word on his feelings about A-Rod's alleged affair with Madonna.

Obama took Q's from all the usual suspects -- AP, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX Reuters, WaPo, New York Times and the like --with at least one surprise: Huffington Post's Sam Stein.

Media critics marveled at how avant-garde and new-agey it was for our tech-savvy president to call on "a blogger," as Kurtz put it. Kurtz and many others also remarked that this occasion was a first in presidential press conference history (a claim Washington Monthly's Steve Bensen disputes). First or not, Obama's choice sent Washington insiders in a tizzy. But Stein isn't just another anonymous ranter and raver with a Wordpress, he is a legit political reporter with a resumé that boasts gigs at Newsweek, the New York Daily News and the Center for Public Integrity. And, as The Plum Line's Greg Sargent points out, Stein a well-respected journalist who consistently produces "fair, evenhanded and well-reported pieces," even though his byline is on the bloggy and left-leaning HuffPo.

In fact, Stein's question was one of the most hard-hitting, substantive and confrontational of the night. Kudos to those rogue journos reporting from the snap, crackle and popping "series of tubes."

Also notable: you're not really president until you've had a run-in with the long reigning Queen of the Press Corps, Helen Thomas. Thomas' long run as a White House reporter and syndicated columnist suffered several setbacks in the last few years -- she was briefly hospitalized with a stomach illness and relegated to the back of the room by Bush's press team for a bit-- but the 86-year-old showed last night she's still alive and kicking... or should we say throwing. Hardballs, that is.

"All right, Helen. This is my inaugural moment here. (Laughter.) I'm really excited," Obama joked before turning the floor over to Thomas. She responded with typical flair and tenacity, pushing him for more answers on the threat of terrorism coming out of Pakistan. No one puts Helen in the corner!

So whose hand didn't get called on in the presser premier? Journos from predominantly black press. Several got the VIP treatment, placed front-and-center before the president, but their only time on-cam was in the crowd shots. "We were window dressing," Hazel Edney, one of the black-press reporters who felt snubbed by the country's first black president told the Washington Times. [Hat tip: FishbowlDC]

And that's a wrap. The legions of Obama-obsessed pundits and members of the public in general will have to stick to watching YouTube addresses until the next super publicized presser surfaces. For those of you who just can't wait, Chicago Sun Times' Lynn Sweet's blog on All Things Obama, which turned three this week, tracks his every move.