When it comes to the 2012 presidential debates, we have to agree with Lindsay Lohan for the first and hopefully last time: we’re “so relieved that it’s over.”

Both candidates showed up to last night’s event armed with zingers and insults, but moderator Bob Schieffer may have scored the evening’s best line when he expressed his frustration with domestic policy squabbles by asserting that “I think we all love teachers.”

Do we, though?

Ask a teacher whether the public truly appreciates the work they do and you might get a different answer. (Hint: the average American teacher’s job satisfaction level is lower today than at any point over the last 20 years.)

Based on recent events, we’d say the teaching profession has something of a PR problem—especially when its members form groups and dare to make (gasp!) collective demands. For example, The 44th annual PDK/Gallup Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools found that, while a vast majority of Americans still say they have “trust and confidence” in the men and women who teach our children, we remain deeply divided on individual issues–and many of us think that teachers have too much power.

Based on the popularity of aggressive charter school advocates like Michelle Rhee and films like Waiting for Superman and Won’t Back Down that convey strong anti-union messages, we’d say Americans don’t love or trust public schoolteachers much at all.

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White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs CBS’s ‘Face the Nation’ yesterday, where he told Bob Schieffer in regards to the Gulf Coast oil spill:

There’s no doubt that we have had some problems with BP’s lack of transparency: We asked that a video feed be made public, and that took 10 days. We have sent letter recently in order to get them to post their air-and-quality data.

Schieffer also asked the oft-repeated question, “Is this your administration’s Katrina?”

“I think the difference in this case, is we were there immediately,” said Gibbs.

The “CBS Evening News” with Katie Couric and “ABC World News” with Diane Sawyer both do their shows from the Louisiana coast tonight.

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The PR firm Murray Hill, Inc, who is running for Congress (as a corporation, not a person) to protest the recent Supreme Court decision Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has upsold itself to the Washington Post, and to “Face the Nation” this Sunday.

CBS’s Bob Schieffer was pulling for the “candidate.” “That’s too bad. I was looking forward to a spirited debate on when corporate life begins,” said the chuckling anchor.

The Sunday political show ran the campaign ad in its entirety during the segment, free of charge.

RELATED: PR Firm Runs for Congress, Pokes at Supreme Court Decision

[h/t OpenSecrets.org]

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PR firms representing the nation’s insurance companies have certainly been busy during the health-care reform process that has taken place over the last year.

However, this week has brought new challenges, as President Obama has used some of his most aggressive language to date in order to get health-care reform passed.

“He’s trying to isolate the insurance companies now,” said CBS News chief Washington correspondent Bob Schieffer on “The Early Show” this morning. “…not running so much against Republicans, as he’s running against the insurance companies. And this is the shift: this is what is different now.”

Patrice Tanaka, Co-Chair and Chief Creative Officer at CRT/Tanaka, an agency which counts a number of health-care industry clients told PRNewser, “I applaud President Obama for taking on such an important issue that affects all Americans. And, I agree with his statement, reported in today’s New York Times that, ‘We can’t have a system that works better for the insurance companies than it does for the American people.’ I think many of us know someone who was denied health-care coverage by an insurance company because of a ‘pre-existing condition.’”

Not everyone agrees. Peter Pitts, former associate commissioner for external relations at the FDA and now Partner and Director of Global Health at Porter Novelli said Obama’s messaging is “thin.”

“I don’t think you can market something good by using a negative message. The American people are confused and want to hear good news in times of stress and by trying to paint one industry as cause of nations woes is thin…and not going to work,” he said.

Pitts said Porter Novelli currently doesn’t represent any insurance companies, although the agency previously has.

Regardless, the administration faces another front on the health-care debate, as former Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) is now claiming he was kicked out of the house because he planned to vote against the health-care bill. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called Massa’s comments “ridiculous.”