Since the announcement of Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama has been almost completely removed from media spotlight. For years now his campaign has been received more coverage than any other 2 Presidential campaigns combined, and like a floodgate that’s been closed….the coverage just isn’t coming anymore. The vetting, smearing, naysaying, and all-around attacking of Governor Palin and her family has just been more important to members of the media than is reporting on the latest repeat of years-old speeches about CHANGE and HOPE.
So how desperate to get some free advertising time has the Obama/Biden campaign become? They’ve become so desperate that Senator Obama has finally-after years of turning a cold shoulder-agreed to do an interview with Bill O’Reilly of FOX News. Purely coincidentally I’m sure the Senator has agreed to do the interview on the night that Senator McCain gives his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination (a tact that Obama would have called “political malpractice” had Senator McCain pulled a similar stunt).
Making matters worse for The One, Governor Sarah Palin was grossly underestimated and when she gave her acceptance speech last night, she did not avoid political attacks as had been expected. She did not avoid any references to her insufferably scrutinized family as expected, and she did not fall on her face as had been hoped by so many Democrats and pundits. No, Governor Sarah Palin needed to give the speech of a lifetime, and she gave it. She gave it AND THEN SOME!
And so it is….
- cooled by a week where the warmth of a friendly media spotlight had been removed,
- empty by the lack of a significant post-convention bounce in the polls,
- trailing far behind where he should be in the polls,
- flooded with less than effectual campaign funding,
- stuck to a Vice Presidential nominee that had boasted years of knowledge but still confused battalions and brigades 3 times in a week, and
- reeling from a small town mayor’s calling out and dressing down…
Senator Barack Obama has chosen to do something challenging and go on The Bill O’Reilly Factor.
- Will he explain how his foreign policy for the future differs from that of Sen McCains and President Bush’s?
- Will he explain how he opposed the war in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and in 2009 expects Americans to support the war if he’s elected, but…maybe not if he’s not elected?
- Will Bill O ask him how taxing businesses will encourage those businesses to hire and reduced unemployment?
- Will he explain how when a person’s boss is getting taxed more, they’ll be more inclined to give away more in pay raises?
- Will he confuse battalions and brigades like his o-so-knowledgable running mate?
- Will he say what state he plans to jail Osama Bin Laden in if he closes Gitmo?
- Will he comment on how Pres Bush and Vice Pres Cheney have been called chickenhawks by his supporters, but he and Senator Biden have not?
- And what Democrat will play the drinking game where every time Senator Obama says, “Um” you have to do a shot?
Last night’s speech at the RNC was incredible. When it was over, even pseudo-newsman-wannabe Keith Olbermann said it was a great speech (not sure if he wrote that on Daily Kos yet though). Today and tonight and the rest of this campaign are going to be even more amazing! Last night was Governmor Palin’s crucible. Tonight, after years of campaigning for President, Senator Obama faces his first substantive challenge.
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I watched the O’Reilly/Hillary interview waiting the entire time for him to ask her some tough questions. Didn’t happen. Therefore will not waste my time watching the interview tonight. With BHO’s penchant for telling us what we can and can not talk about it follows that it all will be staged big time.
I think we need a poll to see how many times Barack will say “um”
10-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
50+
Stammers don’t count
I’m not expecting too many tough ones either, BUT the problem with waiting so long, and with only being willing to do the interview at this time (timing makes it a political stunt clearly), is that he’s been softballed by so many people…if Bill doesn’t ask him a few tough ones then the interview will be a mere repeat of other interviews. My guess is we’ll see a few good ones. Just enough to warm up for the RNC convention (or to make one plastered in the Um-drinking-game).
50+ If asked hard questions
41-50 if they are easy. I worder if obama asked for preconditions? Being that O’Reily would be considered a hostile country to obamanation.
O’Reily is “the media” and “ratings” are what drive his employer. Ratings. Get the Democrats to watch FOX news, even if John McCain is speaking on that same night. Most will probably wait and watch the interview on YouTube though because for a Democrat tuning into FOX News just is just unthinkable. So who care, let Bill the ratings spike.
Pumasally, Obama never asks for preconditions… they’re called “preparations” in Obamaese.
Bill O’Reilly has a golden opportunity, but will he take advantage of it? Will he expose The Vapid One as mere rhetoric? Will he grill him about his willingness to reduce military spending in the face of a renewed Soviet threat? How about his glee in seeing gas prices rise and the resulting negative effect on the economy?
Bill has about 5 minutes to start asking real, substantive questions or he’ll risk losing his “looking out for you” reputation IMHO.
So, Obama will try to eclipse McCain — as McCain has totally eclipsed Obama and Biden. I don’t think Obama will.
But will Obama ANSWER the hard questions? He may be ASKED the questions, as was the case at Saddleback; but will Obama answer them. I think not.
The more time passes, the more people, voters, become aware of who Obama really is — his absolute lack of achievements, lack of executive experience — the more everyone will try to distance themselves from Obama. Obama a radical, socialist, extremist and a certifiable liar. He’s been found out. Anti-Obama Books, blogs, word-of-mouth and Obama is exposed.
If Obama does not answer the hard questions, he can crawl back into the small hole he’s been put into since the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate.
Voters, when they discover the truth about Mr. Muslim Islam Hussein Obama, do not go back to supporting him — EVER.
Down with Obama. Long live America!
Empty suit is on the run.
Obama’s appearance on the last night of the GOP convention just hours before McCain speaks smacks of the kind of egocentrism and tacky, classless attitudes that Obama has demonstrated throughout this campaign.
On the night Obama held his Nuremburg Rally in Denver, McCain put out an ad of congratulations and kept out of the spotlight himself. There was a rumor that he would announce the selection of Sarah Palin that night but that would have been classless and tacky like what Obama is doing tonight.
Tonight is John McCain’s night and if Obama weren’t an egomaniac he would have the good sense to stay home and keep quiet.
Do Americans want a man for president who is clearly so obsessed with himself that he would do this tonight and violate nearly every precedent of polite political discourse?
The answer is NO!
Will Bill O ask him how taxing businesses will encourage those businesses to hire and reduced unemployment?
Will he explain how when a person’s boss is getting taxed more, they’ll be more inclined to give away more in pay raises?
——–
All anyone has to do is come to Chicago (Obama’s home town) and see how well THE HIGHEST TAXES IN THE LAND have failed to bring in more revenue. Chicago is Obama’s Achilles’ Heal.
30% of Fox viewers are Dems.
Mr. muslim Islam? What is your problem with them Adrian S. ?
Besides showing no class in the timing of the BOR interview, I don’t think Bill will be asking any of the hard questions that need to be answered. Unless BHO has agreed to this, only on the condition of the questions being given to him in advance, I suspect a very boring, say nothing event in the spin zone.
Sarge, you may be right, but if so then there’s a catch 22 in that viewers will finish watching the BOR interview, and tune in to any network and hear pundits talking about how Palin’s got to go on tv and answer tough questions. Obama would look small in that shadow.
My bet is that it’ll be very polite questions-hard or not, w/out followups (thus making it easier, and him more comfortable). Then Bill will ask whatever it is that’s most in HIS mind, and that’s what he’ll follow up on. W a comfortable Obama, the hope would be that Obama might give a little and give some sort of scoop. Bill’s done it before w several celebs like Rosie and w Hillary.
However….this late in the campaign…it’s harder and harder to find a softball as even marshmellows seem to pickup terminal velocity and make them dangerous.
I ran into this comment on a CNN posting questioning Palin’s assertion ..
There is a S. 2590:109th Coburn “Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006′ which was signed by the President on 9/26/2006, but Obama and McCain are listed as a cosponsors.
There is Feingold’s S.230 `Lobbying and Ethics Reform Act of 2007 ‘ which Obama, Lieberman and Tester cosponsored which is in the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee.
As far as I can figure there is no Lugar-Obama Nuclear Non-proliferation and Conventional Weapons Threat Reduction Act (but there is a S.198 Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 2007 which has been thru Foreign Relations and is now in Armed Services), but Obama did sponsor S.1977 Nuclear Weapons Threat Reduction Act of 2007 but it is still in the Foreign Relations Committee.
This last one might have stood a chance if Obama had actually attended Congress.
Why would a freshman senator actually GO to Congress? There’s far more important things to do (like run for President).
Sorry, I like Obama’s speeches and his idealism and more, but c’mon…running for President doesn’t get you experience credit to run for President. That’s like saying someone deserves an Olympic gold medal because they’ve trained for an Olympic gold medal, they already have a design made up, and they put a picture of it on their plane.
Arrogance doth shine through so brightly
O’Reilley’s interview w/ O’Bama will be just like his interview w/ Hillary.
Softball.
There won’t be anything “new” in BOR’s interview.
Probably not-though I do wonder why he gave the impromptu press conference afterwards. At it, he CLEARLY was trying to dismiss Sarah as moot, rightfully said he’s running against John McCain, and definitely is pushing the idea that there’s been no policy discussed at the convention at all (lie).
As the timeline compresses, so too does the favorable/unfavorable aspects of an Obama/Biden administration.
OBAMA? WHO’S OBAMA?