It's an odd sign of how Argentina's government has operated over the past five years, but this month marked a milestone: It was the first time former President Nestor Kirchner ever held a news conference.

Since his election in 2003, Kirchner has had a stormy relationship with the press, not giving interviews and attacking reporters for their supposed biases. Even his spokespeople rarely speak.

That has extended into the presidency of his wife, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who succeeded him in December. Over the past few months, posters accusing the country's top media conglomerate, Clarin, of lying have popped up all over the country. The common wisdom is the president's supporters are behind the campaign.

But on June 17, there was Kirchner at the Hotel Panamericano in downtown Buenos Aires sitting at a table taking questions from reporters. It looked completely normal until you realized Argentines have never interacted with Kirchner this way.

He was defending his wife's government from a more than three-month-long farm strike that has paralyzed the country. To shift the odds in his favor, he brought along supporters who laughed and clapped and basically played his studio audience.

He didn't say anything new, continuing attacks on the farmers as elites ungrateful for all the country had done for them and hammering the press for their supposed double standard in covering the conflict. Kirchner clearly retains a major role in his wife's government, so what he said mattered.

Watching Kirchner handle the questions, which ranged from his relationship to controversial activist Luis D'Elia to splits within the Peronist Party he leads, my main reaction was: Why hasn't Kirchner done this before?

He was charming and witty, throwing mischievous glances at reporters and the crowd and basically playing the situation like a pro.

Having limited his utterances to speeches at rallies where he has to bellow and gesticulate, his public image has been a stern, cold one. This week's news conference revealed a much warmer side to the former president and showed why he has been the dominant political force in Argentina for five years.

It also showed he can dance across contradictions with swanlike grace.

While he insisted he was for democracy and open debate, he also said the government had the right to set policy and that was that. He kept insisting he was for peace and understanding, glossing over the fact that his supporters have beat up normal people taking to the streets to show their opposition to the government.

Such double-speak is the everyday stuff of politics all around the world, and Kirchner does it as well as anyone. What he hasn't done is engage the press in this kind of back-and-forth dialogue. His performance shows he excels at that as well.