Enlarge Pool photo by Roger L. Wollenberg President Obama chats with Daily Show host Jon Stewart during a commercial break in taping. WHAT'S ON TV TONIGHT? WHAT'S ON TV TONIGHT? Hail to the TV chief. When it comes to interview gets, it doesn't get any better than sitting presidents. You've seen them on Today; you've seen them on Tonight. And Wednesday, for the first time ever, you saw one on Comedy Central's The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. RALLY: Can Stewart event shape political debate? STORY: Obama gets his 'Daily Show' moment of zen FAITH & REASON: 'Civility' is Jon Stewart's revival altar call It was no joke, as Stewart made clear with his opening line: "Please join me in welcoming the president of the United States, Barack Obama." With that one line, Stewart solidified his position as one of television's most influential opinion-shapers — and while that assertion of power often seems to make him uncomfortable, it's a hard one to avoid when you court and embrace powerful people. The president's appearance was the midpoint, and so far clearly the high point, of The Daily Show's week-long trip to Washington, D.C., a trip that will conclude this weekend with Saturday's "Rally to Restore Sanity" on the National Mall. As he has before, Stewart has gone from mocking the news to making the news — which, knowing The Daily Show, he will then proceed to mock. In all of this, Stewart is clearly within his rights and within his talent range. He's not a journalist, as he often goes to great lengths to insist, but there's nothing in the Constitution that says only journalists can gather crowds or speak to presidents. He's smarter and better informed than many of his TV talk-show competitors, journalists included. And if he's biased toward one political point of view, so are many of them. He's just willing to admit it. He's also quick. When Obama said, in defense of his first two years in office, that "we've done things that some folks don't even know about," Stewart jumped in with, "What have you done that we don't know about? Are you planning a surprise party for us, filled with jobs and health care?" That pretty much reflected the tone throughout, which was challenging at times but never abrasive, and sympathetic without being sycophantic. Unlike those who think the president has gone too far, Stewart spoke for those who think he hasn't gone far enough, chiding him, in the most pointed exchange, for what some see as a failure in leadership. "You ran with such, if I may, audacity … yet legislatively, it has felt timid at times. I'm not even sure at times what you want out of a health care bill." The answer was equally direct: "Jon, I love your show, but this is somewhere where I have a profound disagreement with you." By eschewing gotcha moments and overblown rhetoric, both men reminded the audience that it is possible to disagree without sacrificing civility, a lesson many TV hosts and guests could stand to learn. Stewart was clearly being more deferential than he is with most guests ("It's really hard not to talk," he said, after Obama thanked him for being polite), but most guests aren't the president of the United States. When you have one on your show, giving him time to speak isn't such a terrible idea. From Obama's standpoint, the performance was fairly foible-free — though he probably should have avoided giving the now Brownie-fied "heckuva job" compliment to Lawrence Summers, even if it was, as he said, an intentional pun. ("You don't want to use that phrase, dude," Stewart stuck in.) You can complain about the president appearing on an undignified forum, as The Daily Show is, but surely even people who dislike Obama recognize by now that he tends to carry dignity with him wherever he goes. There are still viewers who don't like seeing presidents move past traditional news outlets to newer TV incarnations. But those kind of limits made more sense when traditional outlets were all we had and monopolized us all. We live in an age of scattered audiences and targeted programs — and the young viewers Obama spoke to on The Daily Show are hard to reach otherwise. Should any of Obama's opponents want to talk to them as well, they know where to find them. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more