September 18, 2007
Hotline After Dark -- Deja View
Here's your non-O.J. news from last night:
Barack Obama talked with NBC's Williams on the "Nightly News" last night. Williams introed the piece with: "Obama was here in New York. He gave a speech at the Nasdaq. ... He then came to see us at the top of the Rock for an exclusive conversation."
Asked about the moveon.org ad, Obama: "I probably, if they had asked me, would have suggested we focused attention on George Bush the commander in chief. My assessment is that General Petraeus is playing a bad hand as well as he can. The general came out with reasonable policy given the constraints. I would give him a different mission, which is let's begin getting our troops out of Iraq."
More: "I certainly think it was counterproductive in that it gave Republicans, who had nothing else to stand on, something to deflect attention away from the failed policy of the president."
Asked why HRC is seen as an "agent of change": "Senator Clinton is the default candidate for a lot of Democrats. People have found memories of Bill Clinton and his administration. They still are less familiar with me. They remember me from a speech from 2004. They have favorable views of me but I don't think they have a clear sense of what my agenda is. That takes more time."
Asked how he and HRC get along: "Obviously when you're in competition in the midst of a campaign you're not as buddy-buddy as you might have been previously but I have high regard for Senator Clinton. I think she is a smart, capable person."
Asked about being away from his family: "The frustrations of being away from my wife and kids are enormous. I was able to go a soccer game Sunday morning. But I missed a lot of soccer games this year" (NBC, 9/17).
NOTHING TO SING ABOUT
John McCain played "Hardball":
Asked if he agrees with Greenspan that the reason we went to war in Iraq was oil: "No, it's not. I have the greatest respect for Alan Greenspan as an economist. Of course, oil makes the area more important to our vital national security interests. But I don't think that's why we went to war there. I think we went to war there because we believed that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, which has turned out not to be true. But the sanctions were breaking down. The no-fly zone was deteriorated. There's a huge oil for food scandal in the U.N. And Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction in the past. I have no doubt he would have attempted to acquire and use them in the future. I think that's why we went to war there. But oil being so important to our economy, obviously coming from that part of the world, it makes our national security interests far greater."
MSNBC's Matthews, asking about Iran: "Are you still for the Beach Boys lyric on that one or not?"
McCain: "You don't want me to sing it again."
Matthews: "No, I don't want you to sing it. I'm sort of a dove on this one. I think the lyrics were somewhat scary there. You don't really want to bomb Iran, do you?"
McCain: "I don't. At the end of the day, I don't think we can allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I was asked by an old veteran, with a group of veterans, when are you going to send a message to Iran. You've got to have some humor in American politics" (MSNBC, 9/17).
EYE OF NEWT
And Newt Gingrich was on "Hannity & Colmes":
Ask what he thinks of Greenspan's claim that the Iraq war was about oil: "I think that that's, frankly, hyperbole. I think that the ability of the United States to protect the Persian Gulf relates to oil ... but I think the actual Iraq war itself relates nothing to oil. ... If this was only about oil there was an easy way to get it -- just buy it. ... I think he's wrong."
Asked about WH '08: "After [the America's conference is] over, Callista and I will start talking."
Asked how long a decision will take: "A couple of weeks" (FNC, 9/17).
THE DOCTOR IS IN
There was some talk of Hillary Clinton's health care proposal.
CNN's Crowley: "The last time Hillary Clinton tried her hand at health care, it did not go well. This time around, her campaign believes that times have changed and certainly, so has her approach. At the base of Clinton's $11 billion plan to revamp the health care industry is insurance for every man, woman and child in America" ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," 9/17).
Clinton made the morning show rounds this a.m. to talk about her plan. Details will be in today's Hotline. [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 09:06 AM
Comments
Post a comment
The Watergate · 600 New Hampshire Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20037
202-739-8400 · fax 202-833-8069
NationalJournal.com is an Atlantic Media publication.
