February 28, 2008
Hotline After Dark -- A Preview Of What's To Come?
The talk between John McCain and Barack Obama on Iraq netted the two men some TV coverage last night.
But before we get to that Hillary Clinton sat down with PBS' Woodruff:
Asked if the 2/26 Dem debate will affect the campaign: "One never knows, but I feel very good about it and have had a tremendously positive reaction from people where I've been today, in Cleveland, here in Zanesville."
On NAFTA: "Well, I had my doubts about it way back at the beginning of Bill's term, but I was working on health care. But David Gergen and others have apparently remembered a lot of the meetings we were in where I raised a lot of questions. But it's hard to argue with the economic success overall of the Clinton years. ... Since I've been in the Senate, I have raised a lot of serious questions. And I've said, look, I have a plan to fix it."
More from HRC and other WH '08 talk after the jump. [EMILY GOODIN]
On ex-Pres. Clinton saying she cannot get the nod if she does not win OH and TX, Clinton: "Well, I'm doing everything I can to win, so that's my goal. And I'm working really hard. I feel good about both states. We have great campaigns going, and I think that we're going to be successful."
On Lewis switching his support to Obama: "He is a dear friend. And I respect him so greatly. And I understand the incredible pressure that he's been under. So he's my friend today, just like he was yesterday, and he'll be my friend tomorrow."
Asked to explain how she lost her frontrunner status: "None of this is surprising to me. You know, last spring when I looked at how the race was shaping up, I knew that it would be a close contest, and I assumed it would be with Senator Obama. And at that time, you know, I said, 'We've got to start thinking about Texas. You know, we've got to start thinking ahead.' I think it's great that this has been a close contest. I don't have any problem with that. I don't think I'm entitled to anything. I hate being a frontrunner. I find that sort of, you know, burdensome."
Asked if she will win TX and OH: "I don't make predictions. I just get up every day and do the work. And what I have found is that more and more people seem to be taking a hard look at both of us and concluding that they will support me. And we'll see how it turns out on Tuesday when people actually get to vote" ("NewsHour," 2/27).
LEWIS MAKES A TOUGH COMPARISION
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), on choosing Obama: "I love Bill Clinton, I love Hillary Clinton, but something is happening in America. Something is unbelievable, it is unreal. ... Forty-three years ago, I marched across the bridge in Selma. It was much easier than the decision that I have to make, but I have to make it."
NBC's Mitchell: "You're saying this decision was harder than the Selma march?"
Lewis: "It was much tougher."
Mitchell: "You got your head beaten in. Your face was covered with blood."
Lewis: "But this is tougher. I'm dealing with friends, people that I love, people that admire, part of my extended family" ("Nightly News," NBC, 2/27).
A PREVIEW OF WHAT'S TO COME?
FNC's Henneberg: "Trying to capitalize on what he sees as weakness in his potential Democratic opponent, today during multiple stops in Texas, Senator John McCain hit Senator Barack Obama hard on Iraq" ("Special Report," 2/27).
ABC's Wright: "Obama may be focused on McCain but he still has to get past Clinton" ("World News," 2/27).
Newsweek's Fineman, on the McCain/Obama spat on Iraq: "I think you have, on several levels in seed form, what the campaign in the fall is going to be about" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 2/27).
Washington Post's Milbank: "John McCain is not going to be subtle at all in trying to tease out these differences in Barack Obama's vulnerability" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 2/27).
FNC's Barnes: "Here's why I don't think what Obama did today will work in the general election, for two reasons. One, he can't fall back and say I was against the war in the beginning. That's not relevant now to what's going on in Iraq. You have to deal with what's going on now, and the improvements, and security, and so on, and reconciliation. So he's going to have to deal with that. And, secondly, he doesn't seem to understand what has worked in Iraq" ("Special Report," 2/27).
Posted at 09:12 AM
Comments
Heard Amy Walter on NPR's All Things Considered today. Her analysis was about as conventional as I have ever heard. Let's hope that NPR never asks her back.
Ned Farmer | 02.28.08 05:58 PM
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