December 21, 2006

Hotline After Dark -- Setting The Sun On '06

Last night's TV mainly concentrated on Pres. Bush's 12/20 presser and Iraq.

FNC's Baier: "Setting the tone for his speech about the new way forward in Iraq, soon after the knew year, President Bush conceded in an hour long news conference 2006 was a difficult year for U.S. troops and the Iraqi people. While the president said insurgents were successful in sparking sectarian
violence, setting back reconstruction and preventing stability, he added the U.S. enters the new year, quote clear eyed about the challenges ahead" ("Special Report," 12/20).

MSNBC's Shuster: "In the face of the tough news coming out of Iraq, President Bush today tried to take control of the storyline by underscoring his resolve and confidence. ... In his last scheduled news conference of the year, President Bush today played the role of cheerleader in chief" ("Hardball," 12/20).

CNN's J. King, on Bush: "He is in a tough box, because he's not ready to answer the big questions right now: Will he send in more troops? Will he establish benchmarks for getting the troops out? He's not ready for that. Look for that in the first week of January" ("AC 360," 12/20).

New Republic's Crowley: "There's something very unsettling about what we're starting to hear from Bush. For so long, his mantra was that he was taking his lead from the commanders on the ground, and that was this ... ultimate card he could play of credibility. ... You thought things couldn't get worse, and now you have a situation where, gosh, he's overruling the people who really do seem to know best. And we're sort of in uncharted territory here, if you ask me" ("Scarborough Country," MSNBC, 12/20).

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI): "I don't support the surge. I think it would be a mistake to get in deeper into Iraq. When General Abizaid was in front of us, he didn't support the reductions which we were proposing in our forces in Iraq. But he also very strongly opposed increasing the number of forces in Iraq because he basically said that would take the pressure off the Iraqis to reach a political settlement" ("Situation Room," CNN, 12/20).

NBC's Miklaszewski, asked if the American public will support a surge in troop levels in Baghdad: "I think it would be a very tough sell politically and the U.S. military would have to be clearly on board before the public is going to buy that argument" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 12/20).

AN INSIDE VIEW

There was also much discussion on Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) 12/20 appearance on "The View."

HRC, asked if she would support Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) if she decides not to run for WH '08: "Well, you know, I'm just going to wait and see how all this develops, you know?"

On Obama: "He is a terrific guy. And we're going to have a lot of good people running in the Democratic primary, and I think that's exciting because in most elections, you know, it was kind of expected somebody on one side or the other was going to be the nominee and maybe the likely winner. This time, that's all thrown up. And I think that's good. I think everybody who wants to compete should compete."

Asked if it would help to have a woman in the WH: "We will never know that until somebody tries because it's such a leap of faith. And I am well aware of that. It is, like, way out there."

On poll numbers showing here ahead of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) and ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani: "I heard that. ... Well, you know, it's very early" (ABC, 12/20).

Salon.com's Joan Walsh, on HRC's appearance: "I think she's playing to her strong suit, which will be women voters, and she went to a very, very receptive, as you said, fawning audience. ... You know, she's going to where she's loved and she's going to play it for a while. ... I think the worst thing for Hillary Clinton right now would be to have an air of inevitability about her because that would bring all of the Hillary haters out of the closet. ... I think voters don't like Hillary when she's Princess Hillary. They love her when she's, you know, scorned and victimized Hillary, sadly" ("Scarborough Country," MSNBC, 12/20).

FNC's Schwartz: "Daytime is becoming part of a political strategy" ("O'Reilly Factor," 12/20).

Atlantic Monthly's Green: "I think she ought to win a daytime Emmy Award for fielding such inane questions" ("Scarborough Country," MSNBC, 12/20). [KATHERINE LEHR]

Posted at 08:06 AM

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