The third prime time Obama news conference went smoothly for the President, as he defended the work of his first 100 days and took another swipe at his predecessor over torture.

Mr. Obama defended his efforts so far on the economy, and professed himself pleased with his administration's record - so far.

"I'm pleased with our progress, but I'm not satisfied," he said in the White House East Room.

The President urged Congress to act on a wide range of his legislative initiatives, everything from tougher regulations on Wall Street to clean energy intiatives.

The first question he faced was on the Mexican Flu, and whether the feds should consider closing down the border with Mexico.

The President said that was not the answer, using the arguments of top officials to say that closing the border now doesn't stop the spread of the virus in the US.

What was notable about this news conference was that it was not focused on the economy at all.  There were questions about Pakistan, Iraq, immigration reform, state secrets and more.

There was another first, as the President called on the New York Times for the first time.

Reporter Jeff Zeleny got the biggest laugh - but he may have had the best question too - as he asked the President to run down what has surprised, troubled, enchanted and humbled him about the first 100 days.

It probably seemed like a goofy question to many.  But what it did was really good, because it made the President think about his answer on the fly - and not just repeat something that he's said a hundred times.

I would never ask a question like that - I wouldn't even think of doing something along those lines - just because I'm more of a nuts and bolts guy, just the facts ma'am.

Along the way, Mr. Obama again signaled that he wants to press the case for immigration reform, that he doesn't want the U.S. government to hold shares in private companies for very long, and he again rebuked the last administration over torture.

"I believe that waterboarding was torture," Obama said in response to a question on the release of those Bush-era memos that sanctioned a series of controversial interrogation techniques by the CIA.

"It was a mistake," the President concluded about the decision of the Bush Administration, as Mr. Obama argued that critical intelligence could have been gained through other, less onerous means of questioning.

One thing that struck me was that this third news conference had much more zip in it than number two, which was tedious.

I still bet the networks would rather have him do these news events around 3pm in the White House briefing room instead, so they don't lose as much ad money in prime time.

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