December 14, 2007
Hotline After Dark -- Another Dull Debate?
Here's your post-Dem debate TV talk:
CNN's Crowley: "You have never seen six such agreeable people." More: "Nobody slipped up. Nobody stuck out" ("AC 360," 12/13).
CQ's Crawford: "Nobody was on steroids during that debate, I can tell you that" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 12/13).
Ex-WH adviser David Gergen: "John Edwards was the best today. He was the most focused. I think he actually walked away with some honors today. ... Barack Obama, I think, was more at ease in this debate than I've ever seen him in the past Democratic debates and I think has some of that warmth" ("AC 360," 12/13).
MSNBC's Matthews: "Do you think that the campaign debate we watched ... was an attempt by people who hate television to destroy television?" ("Hardball," 12/13).
CNN's Yellin: "There were no fireworks in this debate. You could you call it the make nice debate" ("Situation Room," 12/13).
MSNBC's Shuster: "The debate was largely sort of friendly. There were a couple jabs, but the highlights from the debate will not necessarily be on policy issues" ("Hardball," 12/13).
Washington Post's Kornblut: "It was a pretty diligent public broadcasting display, I would say, yes, not the most riveting hour" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 12/13).
CNN's Borger, on HRC: "An incumbent is not what people are looking for in an election that's about the word we've been talking about -- which is about change. So she's trying to reposition herself and, also, in a way, to humanize herself. ... This is going to be a different kind of Hillary Clinton. We'll have to see if she continues to attack and how Obama reacts to this new Hillary Clinton" ("Situation Room," 12/13).
NOT EXACTLY THE THREE MUSKETEERS
HRC strategist Mark Penn, Obama strategist David Axelrod and Edwards strategist Joe Trippi appeared together on "Hardball" last p.m.:
Axelrod, asked if he's satisfied with the explanation from HRC's camp about Shaheen comments not coming from the top: "Look, I have no way of knowing. They say that, and we have to accept them at their word. I'll say this. When you launch a negative attack and you say that this is the fun part of the campaign, you send a signal down the line to others in the campaign that leads to this kind of thing. And so whether or not there was an instruction to Mr. Shaheen, I think it's important that a signal get sent right from the top of the campaign that this isn't encouraged, that it's not the fun part of the campaign, that we ought to be lifting up this country instead of trying to tear each other down."
MSNBC's Matthews: "Mark, given the fact that this has reached into the spin room today, and there were several questions to David Axelrod about whether his candidate, Senator Obama, has in fact shared or sold drugs, do you expect the Republicans to use this against the Democrats, no matter who wins ... the nomination fight?"
Penn: "Oh, I don't know. ... I'm very disappointed by David's comments. I mean, you know, he's trying to rewrite history here. It is his candidate, Senator Barack Obama, on the front page of the New York Times that called Senator Clinton disingenuous. He started a wave of direct, personal negative attacks. ... I think this thing with Billy Shaheen, he has stepped down. He was never a part of this campaign. It was unacceptable."
Matthews: "Do you tell him to step down? It took 24 hours for him to do it."
Penn: "No. No. ... I think this story is over. I think we made it very clear yesterday that we didn't condone it. We weren't part of the story that he went on with. And we absolutely apologized. And the senator went on the tarmac of the airport as we were all coming down to this debate and apologized personally, because this is not part of her campaign. ... I think we have made clear that the issue related to cocaine use is not something that the campaign was in any way raising. And I think that has been made clear. I think this kindergarten thing was a joke."
Trippi: "I think he just did it again. He just did it again. ... Unbelievable. ... This guy's been filibustering on this. He just said cocaine again."
Penn: "I think you're saying cocaine."
Matthews: "If the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and the campaign of Barack Obama involve themselves in what the senator from Illinois said as a kindergarten student and whether he used drugs or shared them or whatever, doesn't that allow John Edwards to sneak by, both of you guys?"
Penn: "All know that Senator Obama raised this question about whether or not there was a 20-year effort to become president, that he actually launched an attack. This kindergarten thing was something that was a joke at the end of a long research document. It was not meant to be taken seriously. What was serious was that Senator Obama said his being, you know, age 6 to 10 in Indonesia was a qualification for foreign affairs."
Trippi: "I can't believe we're doing this again. This is amazing" (MSNBC, 12/13).
BIDEN HIS TIME
Joe Biden was in the "Situation Room":
Asked why he can produce change in America better than the other '08ers: "I'll just tell you why I think I can produce change. I've been ahead of the curve on an awful lot of things ... from the Violence Against Women Act when no one wanted to deal with women being abused, a crime bill that put 100,000 cops on the street, getting President Clinton to move on Bosnia, Iraq, an Iraq plan. I mean, this is just about action, it's not so much about change. It's about you don't have to guess what the next president is going to have to face. There's enough crises sitting right there on the table, and I've laid out clearly what I do."
Asked what he thought of Mitt Romney's faith speech: "I thought it was a shame he had to make the speech."
Asked what he thinks of the allegations HRC NH co-chair Bill Shaheen made against Barack Obama: "I don't think much of it. And I don't think that will have anything to do whether or not Barack is electable. I think there's other issues about experience in the rest we talk about. But I sure as heck -- I think this guy who is a man of character, I think he's a serious guy. I don't think it will have any impact."
More: "What Barack Obama did or didn't do as a teenager sure has virtually no relevance to whether or not he could be elected or should be elected president. There's other reasons why I'm running against Barack and others, why I think I'm better, but it's sure not because of anything he did in his teenage years" (CNN, 12/13).
AS I'VE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG ...
Chris Dodd was in the "Situation Room":
Asked why it was such a quiet debate: "That's the last things Americans want to see at this point. We've had a diet of that constantly for the last six or seven years and they're anxious for some adults with some maturity that are going to confront these issues. How hard we're going to fight is not the issue. Can you get any results done for the American people? People woke up this morning and did not wonder whether they were a Democrat or a Republican, a conservative or liberal. They wondered whether or not they were going to have a job, if they got sick, would their health care be there for them, are their kids safe and getting a good education and can anybody lead this country by bringing us together?"
Asked about the HRC campaign saying GOPers would use Obama's drug use claims against him: "Republicans are apt to do anything here. This is not new. Just ask John McCain what they're apt to do -- what he went through in South Carolina four years ago. So you're trying to define what some of these people would do. There are no limits, apparently. But, again, I come back to the point I made earlier ... and that is this kind of campaigning is what America is sick of. They're nauseated by it. ... If you start dwelling off on these side issues here ... some may think it's great politics. I think it's dangerous politics. I think it will be rejected by the American people."
Asked how his IA campaign is going: "I feel very good about where we are. We've got a great staff. We've got 13 offices open. I've got family and friends from Connecticut and across the country out here campaigning for us. We've got a good message that I think resonates with Iowans and I'm very confident we're going to do very well on January 3rd" (CNN, 12/13).
GETTING HER SAY
MSNBC's O'Donnell spoke with Elizabeth Edwards following the debate:
On HRC NH co-chair Bill Shaheen resigning over his comments about Obama's past drug use: "I thought that was an inappropriate thing to say. ... Since Lee Atwater, the way that the Republicans have run campaigns has really been to the down and dirty politics. And I think it doesn't matter who the Democrats nominate. We're going to see down and dirty politics from the Republicans in all likelihood. The important thing is not whether we can expect that fight to happen, but what we can expect from the candidate. Can we expect a candidate who can both take a punch and give a punch? That's going to be the most important test. ... I think that Billy Shaheen probably regrets his words and ... if he does regret them, I concur with that."
On whether Oprah Winfrey campaigning for Obama makes a difference: "I think that anybody who brings somebody in to the room to talk to you and listen to you makes a difference. And she can bring a lot of people into the room and that makes a difference. The candidate themselves has to be the one to make the sale" ("Tucker," 12/13). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 09:15 AM
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