Since this weeks Texas Democratic debate, something has been stirring online concerning a story told by Barack Obama. The Senator relayed a story he claimed to have heard from an Army Captain who said it was easier to capture weapons from the Taliban in Afghanistan than get the necessary equipment from the United States. The reason was because resources had been moved to Iraq. The Pentagon questioned the account.
ABC News reports that Mike Huckabee will make a cameo appear on this weeks episode of Saturday Night Live. The episode will be the first since the show went off the air due to the writers strike. Tina Fey is hosting with musical guest Carrie Underwood. No other information is known about how Huckabee will be used.
Furthering the sentiment I expressed yesterday ABC News provides some video evidence that Bill Clinton’s attacks on Barack Obama are working. ABC News reporter Sunlen Miller asked Obama “Are you allowing President Clinton to get in your head?”
Obama responded that he was simply responding to attacks. Zeleny asked a follow-up.
Update: The original version of this post noted ABC’s charecterization of the exchange as “testy”. However as some other blogs have noted, watching the video, now included, might not represent the view of ABC news that the exchange was all that “testy”. The rest of it I stand by, I do think Clinton is getting into Obama’s head and this does continue that line.
From the article:
When Zeleny yelled a follow up question suggesting the Illinois senator had not answered the question, Obama fired back angrily, “Don’t try cheap stunts like that.”
Obama then walked away and shook hands with the mass of voters that surrounded him.
A few minutes later, Obama came back and confronted Zeleny again.
“I will answer your question though off the record, would you like to talk off the record?” Obama asked. Zeleny refused to go off the record and then motioned toward the gaggle of TV cameras gathered around him.
My quick thought? I said it aloud during the debate and I think we are seeing further evidence. The Clinton’s are effectively drawing out Barack Obama and changing him from the candidate of “hope and change” to an angry candidate. The angry candidate is what many in the grassroots who feel like the last two elections were ripped from Democrats who had all the sentiment of voters but none of the fire or the issues. However the new crop of Obama supporters, young people, ivy leaguers and white voters who don’t like the fire of Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton but like the message of voting for an African American President that would represent unity, are not turned on by the old politics of division and anger.
So did Clinton get into Obama’s head? I think he did! Will it pay off for the Clintons? I don’t know that we can be 100% sure about that, he may have just turned Obama into a complete candidate, a realistic candidate who might learn how to defend himself. So far though, it isn’t working out well for Obama.
Earlier today when asked about recent comments by Bill & Hillary Clinton that some saw as racially motivated Senator Barack Obama said to ABC News “I don’t think it was in any way a racial comment. That’s something that has played out in the press. That’s not my view.”
Obama also called reporters together to say he did not want to see the campaign “degenerate into so much tit-for-tat, back-and-forth that we lose sight of why all of us are doing this” and “Bill and Hillary Clinton have historically and consistently been on the right side of the civil rights movement.â€
“Over this past week, there has been a lot of discussion and back and forth - much of which I know does not reflect what is in our hearts.
“And at this moment, I believe we must seek common ground.
“Our party and our nation is bigger than this. Our party has been on the front line of every civil rights movement, women’s rights movement, workers’ rights movement, and other movements for justice in America.
“We differ on a lot of things. And it is critical to have the right kind of discussion on where we stand. But when it comes to civil rights and our commitment to diversity, when it comes to our heroes - President John F. Kennedy and Dr. King – Senator Obama and I are on the same side.
“And in that spirit, let’s come together, because I want more than anything else to ensure that our family stays together on the front lines of the struggle to expand rights for all Americans.â€
After a weekend of both campaigns hitting each other and surrogates going out of their way to both help and hurt their candidates, I am sure both sides wouldn’t mind a cooling off period.
Last night’s double-header WMUR/FACEBOOK/ABC News debate was filled with fireworks and if you missed it or you saw it and want to learn more you can check out WMUR which has video recaps and results from real-time response tracking.
Republicans and Democrats with both be sitting with Charlie Gibson tonight at a roundtable to square off ahead of the New Hampshire primary. Both should provide for some VERY interesting television and if there is going to be any earth shattering, poll shattering, election shattering gaffes or breakout moments to either reinforce or destroy the Iowa Caucus results, it could happen tonight.
With less candidates than we’ve seen in both “debates” this year, more time will be focused in on the candidates and more time could potentially be had to explore, god forbid, issues! Especially on the Democratic side where only five candidates will be at the round table discussion and where the last few debates have mostly focused on the Clinton-Obama back and fourth. If Gibson does his job right we could actually start pulling out what is DIFFERENT about these candidates not just on style but substance.
Having said all that, expect that we could potentially learn nothing at all and this “debate” will be as near useless as all the others.