[big campaign] Media Monitoring Report - Morning 07/28/08

podesta-emails 3,507 words email

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*Main Topics:* McCain Ad, Church Shooting *Summary:* The shooting at a Unitarian Christian Church in Tennessee over the weekend led the news cycle this morning. Few details have been released about the incident. However, the event may have political ramifications relating to gun safety and over the possibility that the attacker might have been motivated by a social conservative ideology. McCain's new attack ad accusing Obama of ignoring American troops stationed in Germany eclipsed the Arizona Senator's poor performance on ABC's *This Week*. On Morning Joe and Fox and Friends, pundits applauded the move to criticize Senator Obama. McCain surrogates, ignoring the negative headlines in the New York Times and elsewhere, appeared this morning to continue to hammer Obama on energy policy and the surge. Highlights: 1. CNN: McCain ad focuses on rare Obama stumble 2. CNN: Tucker Bounds attacks Obama on withdrawal 3. FNC: Hazelbaker talks energy issues, gas tax holiday, drilling 4. FNC: Hazlbaker attacks Obama for not visiting troops in Germany 5. CNN: Dana Bash notes McCain's use of term 'timetables' to appear more in mainstream of Iraq discourse 6. MSNBC: Morning Joe hosts discuss McCain's new attack on Obama using word 'understand' 7. MSNBC: McCain's "nonplan" faces "bad news" in the Iraqi timetable debate No Clips 8. MSNBC: Chuck Todd says McCain should be worried he still doesn't poll above 45% [no clip] 9. MSNBC: Joe Scarborough supports McCain attacking Obama for 'not visiting' troops in Germany, 'great campaign issue' [no clip] 10. CNN: Young Republican leader attests to youth support for McCain [no clip] 11. FNC: Fox and Friends discuss McCain ad [no clip] Clips: *Highlight #1* *McCain Ad a Rare Opportunity to Attack an Obama Stumble *(CNN 07/28/08 7:06am) JOHN ROBERTS: John McCain is again questioning Barack Obama's support for US troops with a new campaign ad . . . take a look at it. [McCain ad plays] ROBERTS: . . . why has the McCain campaign decided to put out, what is for all intents and purposes, a very aggressive ad? BASH: A very aggressive ad indeed John. This is not exactly a secret that the McCain campaign had trouble, big time trouble competing with . . . Obama's overseas trip last week. So, they were waiting for something like this. And that is, a stumble. And that stumble is, as was described in that ad, the idea that Obama was scheduled to go see wounded troops in Germany . . . and he essentially canceled that because he said he didn't feel it was right to take a campaign trip there . . . this is the kind of thing that the McCain campaign was really, really hoping for . . . especially with regard to troops and the military. Because what the McCain campaign is trying to do in the long term . . . is to build an idea that his judgment is poor . . . McCain advisors insist that this story is spreading like wildfire in the military community and they also have really been trying hard to seize on opportunities they don't get them that often . . .<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMUxgC9narY> *Highlight #2* *Bounds Attacks Obama on Willingness to Withdraw *(CNN 07/28/08 7:27am) JOHN ROBERTS: 26 minutes after the hour. The Iraq War is the big topic of conversation. Lots of talk about timetables for withdrawal and whether the troop presence there should be dependent on the conditions on the ground and also big criticism from the for Obama on the McCain campaign for not meeting with the troops on his trip to Germany . . . Senator McCain appears to, in some of the things he said, be giving consideration to Senator Obama's 16-month timetable for withdrawal. Our Wolf Blitzer asked him about Nuri al-Maliki's support for the Obama timetable . . . let's listen. WOLF BLITZER: Why do you think he said that 16 months is basically a pretty good timetable? JOHN MCCAIN: He said it's a pretty good timetable based on conditions on the ground. I think it's a pretty good timetable as we should, uh, horizons for withdrawal, they have to be based on condition tons ground. ROBERTS: He said, Tucker, seems like a pretty good timetable. Is there a coming together here? Senator Obama is now talking about condition tons ground dictating residual force in Iraq, and now Senator McCain is saying, maybe a timetable? TUCKER BOUNDS: Well, he said, and if you go back and look closely, I think the key point that John McCain made is that it's based on the conditions on the ground. The difference between the two candidates going into November is that Barack Obama wants a rigid time line for withdrawal. John McCain wants to start reducing our troops, keeping the gains in security that we've earned in Iraq, but by doing so, avoiding a third war. I think that's the most important point here, John . . . if we look at it there is one candidate who wants to reduce troops based on the conditions on the ground, securing the earned security that our troops have earned. So I think bringing them home with victory is the most important contrast between the two candidates. ROBERTS: When senator Obama talks in detail about this 16-month timetable for withdrawal he does say it's dependent on the conditions on the ground but he thinks based on current conditions he should be able to withdraw one to two brigades a month. He's suggesting that the horizon could go out beyond 16 months, though he won't say how much. BOUNDS: I'm glad you brought that up. Because the truth is that Barack Obama is an inexperienced candidate along these issues. If you look at how his evolution on these issues has progressed, just last week when he met with General Petraeus the first thing he did was to admit that General Petraeus would like further flexibility based on the conditions on the ground that may not support his time line of 16 months. It's the conditions that's the difference and it's the conditions that will secure victory for our troops as we bring them home and help us avoid a third war . . . ROBERTS: Do you really believe that senator Obama would jeopardize the progress in Iraq if General Petraeus or his successor came to him and said we need to take a pause here because we're afraid we might lose it, do you really think he would say I'm not going to listen to you, I'm going ahead with the withdrawal plan? BOUNDS: You know, John, I'd like to not believe it . . . every indication with everything that he's talked about is that he is for a 16-month timetable for withdrawal . . . Barack Obama is saying that he's saying he's going to bring them home regardless of the conditions. That's the difference. We want to avoid a third war. The experience and judgment and a tested hand at the till is important. ROBERTS: . . . he has not said regardless of conditions . . . He said he would like to bring them home in 16 months but that may depend on conditions on the ground. BOUNDS: That may depend on which day you are talking to Barack Obama . . . ROBERTS: . . . the McCain campaign put out a very aggressive ad criticizing senator Obama for not visiting wounded troops in Germany. Let's take a quick listen to that. [ad excerpt plays] ROBERTS: . . . if he doesn't visit at this time droops you're going to ding him but if he did visit the troops you would have said it was a photo opportunity using our troops for political purposes. BOUNDS: He said one thing, John, but you're avoiding the eight other things his campaign said as excuses as to why they didn't visit the troops. The one fundamentally true thing about this situation is, Barack Obama canceled visiting injured combat troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. ROBERTS: If he had have gone, would you not put out an ad that said that he used political troops for political purposes? BOUNDS: I think that's ridiculous. I think that you know and I know both that any campaign run by John McCain -- I work for John McCain. John McCain is not going to allow anyone in this campaign or anyone affiliate with this campaign to attack his opponent for visiting injured combat troops. That's a false argument, it's ridiculous. ROBERTS: That was just a suggestion by Senator Chuck Hagel . . . BOUNDS: Interesting suggestion. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl-7dFkSaGo> *Highlight #3* *Hazelbaker Pushes Drilling and Gas Tax Holiday *(FNC 07/28/08 8:26am) STEVE DOOCY: Ali, Brian, and I were talking about this Robert Novak column out today about how Barack Obama has gotten a bounce from his trip, but he's still not able to get above 50%. Not able to close the deal with a number of white working class Americans . . . why do you feel he can't close the deal? JILL HAZELBAKER: . . . I'll leave the parsing of the polls to the experts like you guys. Listen, I think the American people make their determination on the big issues, on the economy, on how they're going to afford health care, on national security. John McCain is the candidate with the experience and the judgment to lead. He is ready to be commander in chief. He's tested. Voters have concerns whether the soaring rhetoric of Barack Obama is ready to lead . . . ALISYN CAMEROTA: . . . I will have you respond to one thing. Novak takes a bit of a swipe at you guys. He says John McCain's campaign appears to be in shambles. HAZELBAKER: Well, our campaign is very confident in our message, we're confident in our candidate. We'll be making our case to the American people over the next hundred days talking to them about how we're going to keep their taxes low and why John McCain is the candidate to keep Americans working and safe. DOOCY: Earlier we were talking a little bit about how John McCain is for drilling in the outer continental shelf, and we've talked on this program about how very shortly China is going to be drilling . . . off the shore of Florida, so it makes sense if they can do it, we ought to be doing it too. What about ANWR? I know John McCain is not for drilling in ANWR, but times when so many Americans are feeling such a pinch, why not the kitchen sink approach . . . ? HAZELBAKER: Well, John McCain believes we need to protect the pristine wilderness of ANWR, but states do need the opportunity to open up their coastlines. DOOCY: . . . he did change his mind on drilling in the outer continental shelf. He said we're having trouble, so I'm now for lifting the moratorium. So why would he not be for, perhaps, drilling in ANWR? HAZELBAKER: Well, Steve, we need a comprehensive plan. We need something that has short term and long-term relief. Drilling is only one piece of the pie. We need to focus on wind and solar as a way to reduce the cost of energy in this country. We need to obviously look at a gas tax holiday. Something that Barack Obama was opposed to . . .<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iVd03ZJctY> *Highlight #4* *Hazelbaker Hits Obama for Not Visiting Wounded Soldiers *(FNC 07/28/08 8:21am) STEVE DOOCY: Last week Barack Obama had a really good week. He's now ahead by nine in the Gallup daily tracking poll . . . last week your campaign had planned to chopper your senator, McCain, out to an oil rig to talk about drilling in the outer continental shelf, which Barack Obama is not for. Bad weather because of dolly. Now what do you do? JILL HAZELBAKER: Well, the number one problem in this economy is the high cost of energy. John McCain knows that, which is why he's out on the campaign trail talking every day about his plan to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of oil. There is a short-term component and a long-term component, which you address, and that's the issue of drilling. John McCain has said that states need to have the ability to open up their own coast to offshore drilling, decided of course by the states themselves. Barack Obama has been opposed to that. He's also opposed to short-term relief at the pumps for a gas tax holiday. He's been Dr. No on this issue. A ALISYN CAMEROTA: Over the weekend you put together a TV ad that attacked Barack Obama for canceling a scheduled trip to see injured soldiers on his trip overseas. Some people say that because in that ad it says he took time to play basketball but not go see the troops when it wasn't really a time issue, that it's out of bounds. Your reaction? HAZELBAKER: Well, senator Obama's campaign has had about a dozen reasons as to why they were unable to visit the troops. My understanding from the pentagon is that the Obama campaign was more than welcome to have senator Obama go in his official capacity as a United States Senator. What the pentagon objected to of course is bringing the campaign apparatus the photographers and the zoo that accompanies these candidates sometimes. Maybe that's the point at which Barack Obama's campaign decided that it was not important if they couldn't bring the photographers. I don't know. What I do know is that John McCain never misses an opportunity to thank or troops for the work that they're doing in the field.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60c3DIs4DUc> *Highlight #5* *Dana Bash Says McCain is "Talking About Timetables" To Avoid Appearing Like He Is "Completely Out Of Touch"* (CNN 07/28/08) JOHN ROBERTS: Has Senator McCain, Dana, change his position to support a phased withdrawal and a certain timeline? DANA BASH: Well the McCain campaign says absolutely not, but you know you just heard Senator McCain himself use the word timetable. John, you know very well that has been a buzz word Republicans and Senator McCain have tried to stay away from as much as a possible especially what you just heard Senator McCain do use that word in the same sentence as pretty good, a pretty good timetable. When Republicans, and even some McCain advisers, heard him say that they winced and in some cases they did more than wince because they felt he was muddling his message. So Yesterday, he tried to clean it up. [play clip] JOHN MCCAIN: Anything is a good time table that is dictated by conditions on the ground. Anything is good. But the timetable is dictated not by an artificial date but by the conditions on the ground- conditions of security. [end clip] BASH: Now what this speaks to is only the difficulty that Senator McCain is having in trying to deal with reality in terms of the debate right now. *You do see him in some ways as the odd man out. *Obviously Barack Obama is supporting a 16-month time table for withdrawal and he got some big time support from the Iraqi government last week which said they also supported it. *You also have the Bush White House now talking about the idea of time horizons so what Senator McCain is trying to do is soften his tone just a little bit with regard to talking about a time table as not to seem like he's completely out of touch.* But what he's also trying to do is talk more and more about the military, the military commanders and how he stands on their side, which is the fact that they do want troops to come home, but not with, not without conditions on the ground. So you hear McCain talk about tat. There was some concern over the weekend that perhaps what he said to Wolf Blizer on CNN on Friday didn't necessarily help the big picture � a message that he's trying to get across. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYIL3dKRrAE> *Highlight #6* *Morning Joe Hosts Identify New McCain Buzzword For Attacking Obama: 'Understand'* (MSNBC 07/28/08) WILLIE GEIEST: So Harold we're watching this John McCain interview yesterday on ABC and we're very perceptive. So we think we've picked up on a theme for- we think we've picked up on a theme that they're going to use to go after Barack Obama. JOE SCARBOROUGH: Get out the thesaurus. GEIST: This is the word of the day we're talking about, listen to this: [play clip] JOHN MCCAIN: Senator Obama doesn't understand. He doesn't understand what's at stake here. I'm not questioning his patriotism, I'm questioning his actions. I'm questioning his lack, his total lack of understanding. He does not understand and did not understand and still doesn't understand. / I think that's a fundamental lack of understanding. / All I'm saying is, and I will repeat, he does not understand. MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Oh he understands. SCARBOROUGH: Pat Buchanan, I think we have a theme working up here. BRZEZINSKI: Understands� PAT BUCHANAN: I don't think Barack understands whats going on here. No that was not effective. Let me say this. I agree with Harold. Let me agree with Harold. Let me agree with Harold here. Harold is talking about these issues where Barack plays sit down with four aces so what does McCain got going? They got the guy shooting hoops when he should be in the hospital. Okay it is a hard ball, rough stuff, but if that's the only stick ya got, that's the one you use. BRZEZINSKI: Understand this: it was a good trip. I'm sorry. SCARBROUGH: I don't think you understand, ha.<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FKgemgpxJs> *Highlight #7* *MSNBC: McCain's "Nonplan" Faces "Bad News" in the Iraqi Timetable Debate *(MSNBC 07/27/08 9:23am) ALEX WITT: [In his] latest interview with Newsweek magazine [�] Sen. Obama was asked about his plan for a 16-month withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq Sen. Obama responded 'I do think that's entirely conditions-based. [�]' The McCain campaign says it's a shift in position from the 16 month timetable that Obama has been advocating. But here's what John McCain said Friday [�]: 'I think it's a pretty good timetable [...] But they have to be based on conditions on the ground.' [�] WITT: Who is more vulnerable to the criticism of shifting on the issues here? JONATHAN ALLEN: I think* if they end up with the same position here, that's probably bad news for Sen. McCain. Because in order for him to really get a lead here, he's playing on national security*. If Sen Obama has the same position as Sen. McCain, it leaves less of a reason for voters to look to Sen. McCain given the huge advantages that Sen Obama has on domestic issues. WITT: [�] Can they both be right? Can anyone argue, how about common sense here? JULIE MASON: [�] McCain has been so staunchly against any sort of timetable for withdrawal. But in the last week or so, we've seen President Bush and Iraqi president nuri al Maliki come out at sort of talking opaquely talking about timetables. *Which left McCain as the only one out there still advocating for a needs-based, sometime-in-the-future, aren't-going-to-talk-about-it withdrawal nonplan. [�] obviously he couldn't sustain that position politically. So he had to come over to the other side. * Obviously the campaign calculated that the benefits of his shifting his position far outweighed him being alone there still refusing to consider timetables. WITT: [�] It's like they are coopting each other's positions. [�] ALLEN: Military experts seem to agree that if you are going to withdraw, the way to do it safely would take 16 months from the time at which you decided started to start. [�] The disagreement has been on when do you start that and do you have a solid end date? The other question is about the residual force [�] What would the size of that force be? That is what seems to be dependent on conditions on the ground, under anyone's plan, whether it's McCain's or Obama's. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiRUoM--sH0> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---