April 30, 2008
Hotline After Dark -- The Breaking Point
Talk of Rev. Jeremiah Wright continued. Last night's TV focused on Barack Obama's presser. Obama: "In some ways, what Reverend Wright said yesterday directly contradicts everything that I've done during my life. ... I do not see that relationship being the same after this" (mult.).
CNN's Brown: "It has been 43 days ... since Barack Obama first attempted to dampen the whole Jeremiah Wright scandal with his race speech. In an election year, 43 days is a lifetime. And some say the fact that it took Obama so long to emphatically denounce his former pastor shows just how difficult this decision must have been for him" ("Election Center," 4/29).
Roll Call's Kondracke, asked if Obama's criticism helps put Wright out of the picture: "It depends partly on whether Reverend Wright gets out of the bathtub like the famous woman in 'Fatal Attraction' for the last stabbing. ... The idea that he's going to go and have a face to face interview with Kim Jong Il when he has been in this guy's church for 20 years and can't size him up, I think that's naive" ("Special Report," FNC, 4/29).
NBC's Todd, on whether Obama had to "divorce" Wright: "I think he had to, and ... look, you can't divorce politics from this. I mean, clearly, they saw some movements, some problems in the campaign, whether it's Indiana, North Carolina. And he had to look like he could stand up to his pastor. I mean, let's remember we're electing a commander-in-chief. If you can't stand up to your pastor on views you don't agree with, are you going to stand up to another world leader?" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 4/29).
Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tucker: "Note that Senator Obama in today's press conference repeatedly used words like 'performance' and 'spectacle.' After Reverend Wright's decision to go on tour over the weekend and further inflame the controversy that had already ignited over his previous remarks, Senator Obama had absolutely no choice to do what he did today and to go further than he had in the past" ("NewsHour," PBS, 4/29).
After the jump, more Wright and Bill O'Reilly prepares for his interview with HRC (KATHERINE LEHR).
CNN's Crowley, on Obama's presser: "It was really personal. ... The room was very tense. It was very interesting to me. And this is a very cool guy. He rarely shows emotions. Sometimes, he's a little snippy with the press corps, but, beyond that, you hardly ever see him break a sweat, as they say. Today, he was alternately just looked really devastated by this, particularly when he was asked, well, what's your relationship now. ... But he was also really angry. You could almost see him seething" ("AC 360," 4/29).
Karl Rove: "What I thought was interesting was Senator Obama drew three statements out that he found particularly unattractive about Wright: AIDS, Farrakhan, and terrorism. And yet ... all of those statements had been made in the past, some of them in multiple times in different variations by Reverend Wright over a course of years. And yet, Senator Obama took umbrage at their repetition yesterday. Did he not take umbrage the first time that Reverend Wright talked about those things years ago?" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 4/29).
MSNBC's Matthews, on whether Obama denounced Wright fast enough: "He was a little slow on the trigger but he did it today, conclusively. ... The damage between them is real, it's personal. ... I don't think he could have gone much further, but I think he could have been a little faster" ("Verdict," 4/29).
LEAVE ME OUT OF THIS
Meanwhile, CNN's Brown caught up with John McCain, and asked him about the latest comments by Wright and Obama.
McCain, asked if Rev. Wright is a legitimate political issue in this campaign: "I believe that that's a subject between Senator Obama and the American people. I have made it very clear that I don't believe that Reverend Wright reflects the views of Senator Obama, and I don't have anything more to say about it."
Ex-Romney nat'l press sec. Kevin Madden, on McCain remaining "tight-lipped" about Rev. Wright: "There's an old saying in politics that if your opponent is about to commit suicide, whatever you do, do not murder him. So, you know, I think the Republicans right now have to just sit back and let Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright be the story on its own. There's not a whole lot of need to put any fingerprints on this" ("Election Center," CNN, 4/29).
THE FUN FACTOR
On last night's "O'Reilly Factor," FNC's O'Reilly asked Karl Rove what he should ask Hillary Clinton in his upcoming interview with her. The interview is set to air tonight and 5/1.
Rove: "I'd first ask her ... when you went to the United States Senate, you made a deliberate effort to reach out across party lines and work with Republicans on issues, particularly in the Armed Services Committee where you served. Why did you let Senator Obama begin his campaign and make a central element of it, his desire for bipartisanship and remain silent about your efforts at bipartisanship?"
O'Reilly: "That question is way too smart for me. ... I have really stupid questions, but they're fun" (4/29).
Posted at 09:09 AM
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