There was an interesting article called Obama Abolishes the Press Conference linked on Drudge.  It not only discussed Obama not having them, but why they are important to have.

Press conferences are extraordinarily important for several reasons. A number of questions are asked on different topics. The pressure of being on national TV forces the president to explain his thinking. The public gets to actually see the president think and understand how he comes to his conclusions, an invaluable public service.

What’s more, the prospect of a press conference forces the White House to think through its own views. Everybody in the West Wing, including the president, has to stop and consider just what they are doing and why. Often the agencies are mined for answers about current policies so that White House aides can prepare the president, giving the West Wing valuable feedback about what’s going on.

The problem here is that we need a president who is capable of or willing to go into detail about his decision making, and we haven’t had one since Bush 41.  It’s doubtful Obama really knows why he does what he does, other than a Chicago adviser advised him to.  Bush knew why he made his decisions, but wasn’t good at explaining it.  Clinton could have explained it, but never would have told the truth.  So not having them isn’t that much of a loss.

But that’s only half of it.  We need a press corps (corpse for you Obama voters) who can do their part.  There are a handful of reporters who can intelligently discuss policy, but most can’t.  Bush routinely endured questions such as was he going to apologize to the American people, what his biggests mistakes were, or to prove he wasn’t AWOL.  It’s not surprising he didn’t have many after a while.

So until we have a president who can discuss issues well, and a press corps that will ask intelligent questions, we’re kind of stuck with what we have.