The second Presidential press conference

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President Obama took on a familiar tone in addressing the nation. The same "we mean business" tone heard from him on the campaign trail last fall came back last night and it was a far cry from the lighthearted Obama the nation saw last week with Jay Leno.

He hit hard on the economy, going over his budget; the state of race in this country and the cost of war. On "The Takeaway" with an assessment of the appearance is Adam Nagourney from the "New York Times," and Glenn Thrush of Politico.

Nagourney on the tone of the President in his relatively confrontational encounter with the national press: "I was struck by the President in particular, just sort of how calm and placid he was — he rarely smiled and his voice … rarely raised; he didn't seem to go out of his way to … vigorously make any point, he just … methodically tried to explain things again. Early on in his campaign there were periods which we used to refer to his as the professor, the lecturer and that was the way he was … he was not the way he was before Congress…"

Thrush on the President's pared down tone: "We're in a process moment, we're not in an inspirational moment in terms of where he is on this budget … part of it is, I think, the moment of his presidency; but also, we're at a stage in this process where details matter, and I think he spent a lot of time talking about details."

One of the testier exchanges of the press conference came with a question about AIG — Nagourney: "Clearly that was the most interesting moment of the night … I thought Obama came back with … a pretty strong response … I thought it was a pretty good message to send out. Remember, this is a guy who is president, essentially because he projected an image of being cool and circumspect at a time of crisis."

The President's response to a question about Israel raised a few eyebrows: "We don't yet know what the Israeli government is going to look like, and we don't yet know what the future shape of Palestinian leadership is going to be comprised of; what we do know is this: that the status quo is unacceptable."

Thrush: "I think what's really interesting — in the larger context — is how he answers questions. I mean, this is a guy who admits to ambiguity and sort of opens it up and lets you into his thought process. And I thought on the Israeli question, he isn't sure and he sort of shares that uncertainty with the American people — it's a real, marked departure from George W. Bush."