The Candidates
This pathetic:
MR. GREGORY: Andrea Mitchell, that’s a pretty clear contrast.
MS. ANDREA MITCHELL: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, there was the crisp, immediate, forceful response by John McCain, clearly in a comfort zone because he was with his base. And Barack Obama, taking a risk in going there but seeing an opportunity. And a much more nuanced approach. The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because that — what they’re putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MS. MITCHELL: He seemed so well prepared.
That exchange between David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell took place on today’s Meet The Press.
While I’ve never agreed with Obama on the issues, up until now I’ve at least respected him as an intelligent public official who probably genuinely wants to do good. But to see Team Obama accuse McCain of cheating simply because he schooled Barack in last night’s Saddleback forum sends my opinion of the Illinois senator’s character through the floor. Obama’s a forty-something man acting like a fourth grader who just lost the spelling bee. And the fact that the MSM is reporting this accusation without doing one whit of investigative reporting to determine whether or not there’s a shred of truth to the claim speaks volumes.
The MSM and Democrats expected Bill Clinton and Bob Dole to show up last night. Instead, they got Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. All of this makes me think that the dynamics of this race could change entirely once America’s likely voters get to see McCain and Obama in action during the debates this fall. With the majority of red states now back in McCain’s column, and with at least a half dozen blue states (MI, PA, NH, OR, WI, MN) currently giving Obama a low single-digit lead, we could be in for an early night in November, with McCain deemed President-Elect by 11pm here in the east.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
Oh, that would be a beautiful thing.
Now lets get Romney on the ticket, so we can lock this thing up!
August 17th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Supporting McCain now feels a lot like it did when I was rooting for the Denver Broncos in Superbowl XXXII. You know, the one where everyone knew Green Bay would win.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
DaveG, maybe i’m missing something, but since when do David Gregory and Andrea Mitchell speak for the obama campaign? If you’re still lacking reasons to dislike obama because of his campaign managers, look no further than David Plouffe who asserted that McCain has the “racist vote”.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
CNN put out a story from Warren that McCain didn’t hear anything, but that he didn’t get to the church until half an hour into Obama’s time.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
And the fact that the MSM is reporting this accusation without doing one whit of investigative reporting to determine whether or not there’s a shred of truth to the claim speaks volumes.
Dave,
Unfortunately, it’s true.
Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn’t in a ‘Cone of Silence’
August 17th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
If team Obama is leaking this, then it was a very bad night for them. A VERY BAD NIGHT. They know it.
Maybe McCain should stop working 18 hours per day, because if he performs like this when he is semi-rested, the debates will be a landslide.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
#3: If you read the text of Mitchell’s comment that I posted above, you’ll see that she reports that the Obama campaign is spreading this around.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
sampo: the point spread to that game was GB by 11.5.
Obama is a very weak candidate who should not be running with the exception that the liberal socialist media is trying to carry him. Meanwhile, i suspect that GB held a 11.5 point spread on its own merit & not because of Inside the NFL.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:38 pm
Either way, it seems like sour grapes to me. What difference would it have made anyway? Let’s say Obama was able to peek at the questions right before speaking with Warren… Would he have actually been able to come up with a tough decision he’s had to make in his life? A lot of the questions were total softballs, the sort of things any presidential candidate should be able to respond to with ease. For example, when asked why he was running for president, his answer was hardly any less meandering than the response he gave to the little girl a couple weeks back.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
If Obama thinks it was rigged, then let them have a do-over, with Obama going last!
August 17th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Here is the CNN link
politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/17/warren-mccain-did-not-violate-cone-of-silence/
August 17th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Well, how come Obama has not accepted a debate with McCain after repeated attempts??
August 17th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Oh give me a break. Those were all standard McCain lines from NH town-hall meetings. Even the answers regarding his personal life and war record are from his books.
This was standard McCain, and you all have seen him on Leno or Letterman, so this is not a surprise.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Obama Ducks McCain!.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
I’m fine with this because I think most people won’t hear about this, but it will still cause the MSM and the Obama campaign to underestimate McCain. This gives him a better chance to wow everyone again at the 1st debate when many more people will be watching.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:46 pm
From Politcal Ticker:
August 17th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
If Obama is so worried about everything then he should have accepted McCain’s repeated invitations to attend town hall events.
August 17th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Whenever the Dems lose they cry “you cheated!” like four-year olds.
Funny how every election is fixed except for the ones they win. 2000 was fixed; 2004 was fixed; and amazingly everything was fine and dandy in 2006.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Tom Ridge, speaking earlier today with a local station in PA’s Lehigh Valley, about John McCain and the possibility of him selecting a pro-choice running mate:
“He’s a big tent Republican. He’s not judgmental about those people who disagree with him on that issue, but he certainly holds his position very strongly, and regardless of the view of the vice president, the administration would be pro-life.”
August 17th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
With Hillary getting a roll call at the convention, if it looks like Obama will lose the election, what are the chances that the super delegates will bail on him?
August 17th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
On CNN, Warren did say that he told both guys ahead of time what the 1st question would be so they’d both be comfortable to start off with.
He also said he told Obama about the orphans question ahead of time, but didn’t tell McCain.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
#20, of course not. #1, impossible that she would have enough votes, #2, she is in debt without $, how could she run a campaign?
#19 Aron, you know it will not be Ridge. “Well, we’ve had no discussions” - Tom Ridge on Fox News.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Call me a jaded cynic, but McCain may well be truthful in saying he, himself, didn’t personally see or hear any of the questions being asked of Obama, but, if we’re keeping it real, it would’ve been foolish to not be informed of any of the questions from an aide prior to arriving at the church.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
20. If that happened then the Obama group would create a government de jure overseas & file a case in a European Court!
August 17th, 2008 at 11:21 pm
And how about Mark Halperin of Time giving both of them an A-/ He’s the same guy who gave Obama a B+ in his Philly/ABC debate and said he beat Clinton. How does he still have a job?
August 17th, 2008 at 11:23 pm
#23, as a decade-long McCain supporter, I was not surprised by his performance, I have seen this before, once live in NH in 2000.
Yes, you are being a “jaded cynic”.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Because Halperin had once informed the ABC news staff to focus its attacks on Bush in 04.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Aron, read this; http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13718
No Ridge and now Mitch Daniels is on the list.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Mitch Daniels has foreign policy experience, from the mid-west, a former Reagan official and a Governor.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
#29:
He has also managed to irritate a great deal of the Indiana electorate and may barely survive a re-election against a woman who lost to Dan Quayle.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
I am not saying I am a fan of his, I am just saying his name was in the article as a potential VP. That is all.
The article was bad news for Romney and a “pro-choice” VP, good news for Jindal, Pawlenty, Palin and Portman. Although Portman and Jindal took their names out of the running.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:45 pm
With Hillary getting a roll call at the convention, if it looks like Obama will lose the election, what are the chances that the super delegates will bail on him?
0. It’s a fun political fantasy, but would never happen.
August 17th, 2008 at 11:46 pm
McCain protests NBC coverage
August 17th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I have been saying this for months, the VP will be young and Conservative.
“Jindal and Pawlenty, both of whom underwhelmed in TV appearances last week, remain on the top of the short list, while former Congressman and U.S. Trade Rep. and current OMB chief, Rob Portman, and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin remain darkhorse candidates, according to McCain campaign insiders.”
August 18th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Jindal just took his name off the list
August 18th, 2008 at 1:21 am
Even if this story had a fraction of an atom’s worth of truth, it still doesn’t speak to the fact that Obama’s appearance was just horrendous. McCain’s answers had no effect on Obama’s performance, whether he knew the questions ahead of time or not. That was all Obama’s doing.
And again, even if true, it would mean that McCain can do infinitely better with just minutes of prep time than Obama can do with a well-prepared speech.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but I was under the impression that both sides were given basic ideas ahead of time of what would be discussed.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:45 am
“While I’ve never agreed with Obama on the issues, up until now I’ve at least respected him as an intelligent public official who probably genuinely wants to do good”
That is more than most people on this site DaveG!
I’m surprised people thought Obama’s performance was so horrendous (#36). For a guy polling 20% or so with evangelicals I thought he did very well to overcome his poor positions on things like abortion.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:18 am
This story is bogus. First of all, if you believe it is true and that the only reason McCain did so well is because he knew all the questions beforehand, then why didn’t he royally botch the second-half of the thirty minute interview?
It’s just stupid. The Obama campaign is nothing but a bunch of whiny babies. They’re not going to be able to prove McCain heard anything (and I don’t believe he did). So they just come across as serial whiners. Sort of like that time Obama screwed up the other debate on ABC and Hillary cleaned his clock. Naturally Obama supporters, ever mindful of how they could use Barry’s race to an advantage, called it a “lynching”.
I really hope our guy wins this year. I want all these know-it-all arrogant liberals to feel a whole lot of hurt. Same goes for NBC news.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:09 am
[...] DaveG comments on John McCain’s performance at Rick Warren’s Faith Forum and the “MSM” reaction: The MSM and Democrats expected Bill Clinton and Bob Dole to show up last night. Instead, they got Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. All of this makes me think that the dynamics of this race could change entirely once America’s likely voters get to see McCain and Obama in action during the debates this fall. [...]
August 18th, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Obama’s performance was horrendous? Which performance was this? I thought he did well, even though I personally disagree with many of his opinions.