[big campaign] Media Monitoring Report - Evening 06/23/08

podesta-emails 3,335 words email

P17 V11 V15 V16 P20

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*Main Topics: *Charlie Black controversy, offshore drilling, McCain's fundraising, Iran, Barr-mentum *Summary of Shift:* In McCain news Charlie Black's tasteless comments received an exceptional amount of coverage, leading both *Countdown* and *Race for the White House* and a few roundtables/panels. In the limelight equally, pundits and strategists also raised the question of whether McCain's monetary incentive for a zero-emission car is a gimmick. Other McCain news included the recent *Newsweek* poll that puts Obama at a 15-point advantage above his rival. Rising gas prices, in and outside the context of the race took center stage tonight. Obama's shift on public financing remained a hot topic. George Carlin's death was covered seriously, with most notable memorial coverage on MSNBC's *Countdown*. Highlights 1) Charlie Black's remarks from *Fortune* magazine a. CBS: Couric reports that McCain's campaign was shocked by Black's comments b. NBC: Brian William re-caps the controversy c. CNN: Bash links Black's remarks to Bush's style of campaigning in '04 d. CNN: Bash links Black's remarks to McCain's reaction to Bhutto assassination e. CNN: Lou Dobbs finds Black's remarks somewhat incoherent 2) CNN & FNC: At press availability McCain elaborates on offshore drilling and fundraising 3) MSNBC: Fiorina says she cannot prove a negative when it comes to Iran 4) MSNBC: Bob Barr could potentially be a spoiler for McCain 5) MSNBC: mid-day reports from David Shuster summarize Black's remarks on a second terrorist attack on the US and his following apology [no clip] 6) MSNBC: *Hardball*'s big number re-caps Bush's failed efforts to install a US-friendly television station in the Middle East. $500 million to a station that bashed the US and Israel while promoting pro-Iranian policies [no clip] 7) MSNBC: Keith Olbermann pokes fun at McCain for his prize offering on the zero emission car and skewers him for his connections to Gramm [no clip] 8) MSNBC: Mark Green calls the McCain campaign 'the zig-zag express' [no clip] 9) CBS WUSA: Program asks viewers to write in their opinions on whether they believe McCain's battery incentive will speed up the invention process [no clip] Clips Highlight #1 *Katie Couric Re-Caps the Latest Black Scandal on **CBS Nightly News* (CBS 06/23/08 6:43pm) KATIE COURIC: [McCain's] campaign was shocked by a comment from a top advisor. [...] Senator McCain's political advisor, Charlie Black told * Fortune* magazine that, if there is another terror attack, 'Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,' meaning McCain. JOHN MCCAIN: If he said that, I do not know the context. I strenuously disagree. COURIC: In a statement Black said, 'I deeply regret the comments. They were inappropriate.' Barack Obama's campaign called Black's comments, 'A complete disgrace and is exactly the type of politics that needs to change.' *Brian Williams Summarizes the Latest Black Scandal* (NBC 06/23/08 BRIAN WILLIAMS: [...] John McCain's chief strategist, GOP veteran, Charlie Black apologized tonight for telling a reporter that another terrorist attack in the US would help McCain's prospects in the election. Charlie Black also told Fortune magazine that Benazir Bhutto's assassination was unfortunate but it helped McCain in the New Hampshire primary because, according to Black, McCain's reaction showed he was ready to be commander in chief. Charlie Black said tonight that he regretted making the comments and they were inappropriate. *Black's Comments Fit Perfectly in the Politics of Fear* (CNN 06/23/08 08:03pm) WOLF BLITZER: The politics of terrorism. […] The Chief strategist Charlie Black is quoted […] as saying a new terrorists attack on America would benefit McCain's campaign. […] "Certainly it would be a big advantage to him." […] DANA BASH: The McCain campaign really struggled to get a correction, really an apology out from Charlie Black. […] It was immediately clear to the McCain campaign that they had absolutely no choice but to clean up Charlie Black's comments. Because they understand full well that *this plays into the kind of thing that democrats have really hit the Bush Administration, specifically Bush campaigns, for doing over the last election cycle in 04', which is playing to the politics of fear. *[…] JOHN MCCAIN: I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true. It's ah. I've worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America. My record is very clear. If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree. […] WOLF: How damaging is this? CANDY CROWLEY: Well it plays into Democrats perfectly. […] […] WOLF: He may have a point there, Charlie Black. […] When registered voters were asked who would do a better job on terrorism, Obama got 33% McCain got 52%. […] JOE KLEIN: […] *This is part of a long-term Republican pattern. It goes back to Karl Rove saying that the war in Iraq would work to Bush's advantage*. I mean it's a really heinous thing to say. […] *McCain's Comments after Bhutto's Assassination Legitimize Charlie Black's Statement *(CNN 06/23/08 06:03pm) WOLF BLITZER: John McCain's chief strategist now says it was "inappropriate for him to talk about the political advantages of terror". Charlie Black was quoted in "Fortune" magazine, as saying a new attack on US soil would be a "big advantage for McCain". Black was also quoted as saying that McCain's knowledge and ability to talk about the assassination of the former Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, showed that he's ready to be commander and chief. And therefore helped his campaign at a crucial time. […] DANA BASH: This is obviously is not what the McCain campaign expected their message to be today. And it was not very long before they put out a statement about Charlie Black. […] What the campaign says is that Charlie deeply regrets his comments. They were inappropriate and he recognizes that the candidate we work for has devoted his entire adult life to putting his country and placing its security before every other consideration. *Black is apparently saying that he doesn't remember actually making those specific statements*. But he's also not denying it. The point that the campaign says he was trying to make is that *he believes that anytime the political discussion is about terrorism or national security it's a big advantage for John McCain. That's something that Charlie Black has said to me many times as have others of the McCain team.* BLITZER: McCain himself was asked about it at a press conference and he wasted no time at all repudiating these kind of statements. BASH: He did. He definitely repudiated the kinds of comments. Specifically where they most stung is Charlie Black talking about what a potential future terrorist attack could benefit McCain. […] *I was with John McCain that day that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Iowa. He was very, very strong in coming off, right off the bat in that town hall, saying that he has credentials in that area, that he knew Benazir Bhutto, He'd been to Pakistan,* […] JOHN MCCAIN: I'm the one with the experience the knowledge and the judgment, so perhaps it may serve to enhance those credentials. BASH: So McCain at that time the day Benazir Bhutto was assassinated basically conceding that his credentials, he hoped, would at that time, he was running in a pretty open field in the republican primary, help him. And what Black is saying in this comment is that in the end it did. Obviously what has hurt him or what Democrats are already pouncing on is the suggestion that a future terrorist attack would help the McCain campaign. The Obama campaign is already calling that a disgrace. *Lou Dobbs and Panel: Would a Terrorist Attack Really Benefit McCain? *(CNN 06/23/08 8:03pm) LOU DOBBS: Are you at all offended that not too much note has been taken today of the fact that a "Fortune" magazine reporter asked Charlie Black the question: what would happen if there was another terrorist attack? It's not like Charlie Black came with this out of whole cloth and created this sentence. *ERROL LOUIS: […] I think the problem is that in some ways it's not just offensive its also somewhat incoherent*. DOBBS: The question or the answer? LOUIS: the answer. *The McCain campaign it sounds like they are trying to have it both ways. If the surge is somewhat successful, the president's policy to which McCain is joined at the hip. He'll say this is evidence that my wisdom and experience are proven right. On the other hand his advisor is saying well you know what if there's an attack and it looks like security is going down the tubes that will help you too. It doesn't make a lot of sense. […]* DIANA WEST: […] *The fact is that any reminder of the fact that we are in a war on global jihad benefits the candidate that believes we are in a war time situation*. Senator Obama has made it very clear that he believes terrorism is simply a matter of cops and robbers. So I think what we are looking at is the divide between the so called September 10th mindset of Senator Obama and the September 11th mindset of John McCain. LOUIS: After hundreds of billions of dollars spent isn't it safe to say that we are not supposed to be having attacks on American soil. So in the horrible event that that did happen does not speak well of the approach that's been tried for 8 years. WEST: The war continues. We have not won this war. […] *I don't know if Senator McCain fully understands it, but he does grasps that we are in and need to be in offensive mode.* DOBBS: *Are you supporting McCain or are you opposed to him? You're talking about what he grasps and what he doesn't. You make him sound like he has a tenuous hold. * WEST: I feel like most people do. […] HANK SHEINKOPF: […] *Charlie Black made a big boo boo. […] All it did is open up John McCain to more commercials of by the way 100 years in Iraq John McCain and how silly you look today*. Not good for America and not good for our fighting men and women. DOBBS: […] The hundred years thing, you want to put that in context. […] SHEINKOPF: […]He said if required we will have akin to what we have in Korea and other places, combat troops on the ground. […] [Clip of McCain's response to Black's comment] DOBBS: *What in the world is he trying to say. I don't even know what he's trying to distance himself from.* SHEINKOPF: These are all losing arguments. Particularly younger people are going to say I would never give you my vote, why? Because I can't understand what your saying. […] Highlight #2 *McCain's Media Avail: Should Florida and California Drill Offshore *(CNN 06/23/08 02:48pm) QUESTIONER: […] Do you think that Californians and Floridians should want to drill off their shores? MCCAIN: Well according to a poll just in the last couple days, the citizens of Florida by a significant majority said that they, if it was obviously environmentally safe and sound, that they would support it. So I don't know about California, I have not seen any polling data. […] *Do I think they should approve it? Sure I'd love for them to.* But I leave that decision up to them. Obviously I want the moratorium lifted because I'd like to explore every possible way to bridge us through this time when we are still going to be dependant on foreign oil. <https://issuealliance.box.net/shared/static/k8pxs5oo48.mov> *McCain Hits Obama on Rejecting Public Financing and Joint Town Halls at Press Conference* (FNC 6/23/08 2:44pm) JOHN MCCAIN: [...] And finally, I'd just like to say again, my deep disappointment concerning Senator Obama's again, absolutely reversing his commitment, not to me, as he said when he said that if I accepted public financing for campaigns that he would do the same, time after time after time, committed publicly that he would sit down and discuss it with me before he made a decision, which he didn't do, and obviously he has gone back on his word. The President has to keep his word when it's popular and when it's not popular. And he's done so on this issue of public financing of the general election. The first time since the post-Watergate reforms, a major presidential candidate will not accept public financing. I'm not concerned about him out-raising me as far as money is concerned. I've never been in a hotly contested race that I wasn't out-raised. I wouldn't be here, as the candidate and the nominee of my party, the presumed nominee of my party, if it had been all about raising money because I was clearly out-raised and outspent. But what bothers me is how the American people, one has trust and confidence in the commitments we make to them, if we continue to reverse our word as he has with Town Hall meetings and most importantly and as importantly the issue of public financing. So I'm ready again, the American people will make the appropriate judgment but I don't think it does anything to help what our first priority should be is to restore trust and confidence in those of us in elected office when we go back on our word. Highlight #3 *Nancy Pfotenhauer Complains That She Cannot Prove the Success of US Status Quo Iran Policy* (MSNBC 06/23/08 DAVID SHUSTER: Regarding the proposal today, $300 million should be given to an inventor for a battery for a hybrid vehicle. [...] Some democrats are saying that this is a campaign gimmick. NANCY PFOTENHAUER: [...] John McCain has been a leader in his area and [...] with Joe Lieberman introduced a global climate change bill a couple of years ago that senator Obama praised in, I think it was June 22nd or July 22nd of 2005. [McCain's] been a leader on these things. He's got a plan in the short and the long term and it does include spurring innovations; not through industrial policy but by identifying an objective and then unleashing innovation to try to meet that objective. Obama's answer is no to everything. No to drilling. No to nuclear power, which is zero emission. No even to a gas tax, that would give, at least, a modest amount of relief to the lowest-income folks in this country who feel the rising gas prices the most. SHUSTER: [...] explain what has been accomplished with the policy of not talking with Iran. Has any progress been made? Because a lot of people would suggest Iran simply just continues up their nuclear centrifuges and we're still not talking to them. *PFOTENHAUER: Well it's tough, David because you're expected to prove a negative.* What we do know is that what Senator Obama is advocating is not just at odds with U.S. policy; he has undercut all of our European allies and he's gone against, at least, three U.N. Security Council resolutions. Some people say four and those resolutions were passed for a reason. I think it was Mitt Romney, who said why would you give a propaganda bonanza to this tyrant and dictator that he would have at home, which would strengthen his political hand at home. *The answer is to go after sanctions and to go after them hard. Do things like freeze their national bank accounts. Go after their money! That's what's gonna affect these guys.* SHUSTER: Right, but nothing has affected them yet. *PFOTENHAUER: Well it's been a real challenge* and it is a challenge when you're dealing with someone who is as radical and as bent on destruction as Ahmadinejad is and his backers. I mean, here you've got a man who, as you know David has said The Holocaust never happened, called Israel a 'stinking corpse' and still continues to say his goal is the destruction of Israel. I still don't believe and I think you've got republicans and democrats and nonpartisan foreign policy experts who say that Barack Obama's position frankly revealed either ignorance or naivety or arrogance and it was a mistake that he has tried to backfill and back-peddle away from ever since he's made it. All of a sudden, instead of preconditions he was talking about 'preparations.' A couple of folks said it was plain embarrassing. Of course there are preparations. You know, you prepare for this interview. Of course you prepare for a meeting. It was embarrassing that a presidential candidate would say that. Highlight #4 *Bob Barr Discusses His Candidacy and Whether He'll Quit If He Ends Up Being a Spoiler for McCain* (MSNBC 06/23/08 4:00pm) DAVID SCHUSTER: Explain what a libertarian is for voters and explain how your views are different from Senator McCain. BOB BARR: A libertarian is a person who believes the size, the scope, the power and the cost of the federal government ought to be minimized and the power of the individual, that is individual freedom, needs to be maximized. So that is at the core of everything the Libertarian Party and I stand for [...] Neither Senator Obama nor Senator McCain bears any real resemblance to that philosophy. Both of them believe in very large, powerful, big, expensive government. Senator McCain may be slightly less than Senator Obama but on virtually every policy we differ based on the size of the federal government. SCHUSTER: Mr. Barr, I know that you're a pragmatic enough to realize that our country, for better or for worse, is still locked into a two party system. Given that, are you ok with the role of spoiler? BARR: I don't intend to be a spoiler. We intend to make this a very competitive three-way race. We've hired as our campaign manager the gentleman that ran Ross Perot's campaigns. Ross Perot was not a spoiler. He was a very serious candidate. He gained 20% of the vote back in 1992. We intend to do very well in this race, in a three-way competitive race. We could win, we know that's a long shot but this is a very positive race [...] We are on track right now to be on the ballot in 49 states [...] The only state that continues to be a problem is Oklahoma. SCHUSTER: Mr. Barr, I know that you don't envision this scenario but let's suppose, two weeks before the November election the polling has you at say 5% or less. At that point, so that you don't hurt John McCain, presumably conservatives would, who don't support you might go for John McCain, would you then throw your support behind Senator McCain, if you were that far back? BARR: First of all, that's an unlikely scenario. We intend to be doing much better than that and it is my intention to stay in this race to provide the American people who believe that both parties have given them far too much government and far too little individual liberty to make sure that both of the major parties adhere at least somewhat to our agenda so that we influence the debate. -- Jacob Roberts Media Analyst PMUSA (c) 208.420.3470 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. To post to this group, send to [email protected] To unsubscribe, send email to [email protected] E-mail [email protected] with questions or concerns This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---