On Friday, I argued that the narrative of President Obama not “connecting” with the American public is a symptom of his declining approval ratings, not the cause.

In a new interview with Diane Sawyer, Obama made a similar point about how perceptions of his personality tend to vary with his popularity:

When your poll numbers drop, you’re an idiot. When your poll numbers are high, you’re a genius. If my poll numbers are low, then I’m cool and cerebral and cold and detached. If my poll numbers are high, well, he’s calm and reasoned.

So that’s — that’s the filter through which a lot of this stuff is interpreted.

It’s a sad state of affairs when the president understands what the press is doing better than the reporters themselves.