CBS's 60 Minutes led Sunday night with a taped interview with the Democratic ticket and in the piece Steve Kroft, who couldn't resist labeling Sarah Palin as a “conservative” while never tagging Joe Biden, presumed as fact that Palin “has less experience” than Obama and cued up Obama to agree with his own campaign's rhetoric about how Palin undermines McCain's experience argument:
Does the fact that he chose as his Vice President someone who has less experience than you take that weapon out of his arsenal?
On Sunday's NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams pursued the same media narrative as he pressed McCain about how as “a 72-year-old cancer survivor” he chose “a not yet one full term Governor of Alaska. Is she the best person to be literally a heartbeat away from the presidency, Senator?” McCain rejected the premise and, without even knowing it, countered Kroft:
She's been in elected office longer than Senator Obama. She's been the chief executive of the state that supplies 20 percent of America's energy, she has balanced budgets. She's had executive experience as Governor, as Mayor, as a city council member and PTA. So she was in elected office when Senator Obama was still a quote “community organizer.”
Williams, however, remained unconvinced: “But you know the question, Senator, given the field, given all that we know, is she the best person to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?”
Palin was first elected to the Wasilla city council in 1992 and has held statewide office since 2003 (chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission before becoming Governor in December of 2006). Obama assumed his state senate seat in 1997 and, though a U.S. Senator since 2005, he soon after launched his presidential run and has hardly been working as a Senator.
Bottom line: As traditionally measured for politicians, neither has all that much experience, especially compared to McCain or Biden, and while whose life experience makes them better-qualified to become the #2 or #1 can be debated, it was ridiculous for Kroft to assert as a fact that Palin “has less experience” than Obama, especially since he's going for the top spot.
Kroft also, as noted above, never applied an ideological label to either Obama or Biden, but didn't hesitate with Palin:
Senator McCain tried to steal the Democrats' thunder by announcing that Alaska's conservative first-term Governor, 44-year-old Sarah Palin, would be his running mate.
Kroft set up the lead piece, the only one that was not a re-run, on the Sunday, August 31 60 Minutes, by proclaiming Obama had succeeded in all his goals in Denver:
Senator Obama went into the Democratic convention locked in a dead heat with Republican rival John McCain, and needed to do three things: Introduce his running mate, Joe Biden, to the country; draw sharp distinctions between himself and his Republican opponent; and unify a Democratic Party badly split by a bruising primary campaign against Hillary Clinton. By most accounts, he accomplished all three. He attracted 84,000 people to Invesco Field in Denver, and another 40 million to their television sets all across America. More Americans saw the speech than watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
From near the top of the interview taped Friday in Pittburgh:
KROFT: Senator McCain tried to steal the Democrats' thunder by announcing that Alaska's conservative first-term Governor, 44-year-old Sarah Palin, would be his running mate, a move widely seen as an attempt to try and siphon disaffected supporters of Senator Clinton and blue-collar voters in battleground states where Obama has been the weakest. A few hours after the announcement, Senators Obama and Biden seemed as surprised as everyone else.What do you think of Senator McCain's vice presidential choice?
OBAMA: She seems to have a compelling life story. Obviously, she's a fine mother and an up-and-coming public servant. My sense is that she subscribes to John McCain's agenda.
KROFT: Does the fact that he chose as his Vice President someone who has less experience than you take that weapon out of his arsenal?
OBAMA: Well, you know, I think that's a good question to address to Senator McCain. Of course, the issue of experience is going to be relevant. And if I were running against me, that's something that I would try to make an issue of as well, particularly if I had been in Washington as long as John McCain has.
KROFT: She's a lifelong member of the NRA. She's a hunter. Her husband's a member of the United Steel Worker union, blue- collar guy. Got a son on the way to Iraq. It seems like just the kind of person who would appeal to voters in states that you absolutely have to win and they have to win.
CBSNews.com online version of the story.
From the second half of the NBC interview, taped in St. Louis and which began which questions about changes to the GOP convention because of Hurricane Gustav, as aired on the Sunday, August 31 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: You've heard the commentators I know, and by repeating it I mean no disrespect, a 72-year-old cancer survivor picks a not yet one full term Governor of Alaska. Is she the best person to be literally a heartbeat away from the presidency, Senator?JOHN McCAIN: Well, let me just point out, facts are funny things. She's been in elected office longer than Senator Obama. She's been the chief executive of the state that supplies 20 percent of America's energy, she has balanced budgets. She's had executive experience as Governor, as mayor, as a city council member and PTA. So she was in elected office when Senator Obama was still a quote "community organizer." He's never had one day of executive experience. I think it's almost ludicrous to compare her experience in elected office and as a leader of one of the most important states in America, certainly the largest, and compare her experience with his. It's no contest.
WILLIAMS: But you know the question, Senator, given the field, given all that we know, is she the best person to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?
McCAIN: Oh, sure. In every way. In every way that I know of. She has experience. She's been an executive. She knows how to balance budgets. She knows how towns and cities work. And in all due respect to every American, I think the example that she has set of home and family and service and putting our country first, I think, frankly it inspires me.WILLIAMS: It's been reported in today's papers, without diminishing Governor Palin, you really wanted Joe Lieberman and some conservative state chairs threatened a floor fight over that?
McCAIN: I have no knowledge of that. Look, the close relationship I have with my beloved friend Joe Lieberman. The last words he said before I made the selection, he said “John, I want you to do what is best for this country and I'll be at your side.” And I was very touched by that.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
I wonder why Palin wasn't
August 31, 2008 - 21:39 ET by RainsfordI wonder why Palin wasn't there. She needs to get her name out there as soon as possible before the MSM really starts comming at her.
An antidote
August 31, 2008 - 21:42 ET by UnsaneYep. The VP candidate, that can be groomed, has less experience than the Presidential candidate who will require on-the-job training.
Actually, check that. Palin still has more executive experience than Obama. And, to beat a dead horse, she visited her National Guard troops in the AOR, while the United States Senator had to be dragged there kicking and screaming.
Whoever casts a vote for Obama-Biden is nothing more than a common thief. Whoever fails to vote against them is nothing more than a moral coward.
The good news is that in
August 31, 2008 - 21:45 ET by Captain RepusThe good news is that in about 65 days Kroft, Williams, and all the other left-wing pseudo journalists, and their networks are going to fade into obscurity for a generation when McCain/Palin wipe the table with Obammy/Plugs.
Given the golden opportunity to grasp total control of all branches of our government, the democrats and the media simply couldn't control themselves and wildly over-reached at all levels. Their media helpers have made total fools of themselves and destroyed any possibility of ever again being respected by the public.
Other than high winds and water, life if very very good.
GOP's best friends
August 31, 2008 - 22:25 ET by KC MulvilleJust my opinion, but this is what keeps all these weasel GOP hacks in business ... the knowledge that they have little competition from the Democrats. I mean, really, how much advantage do you have to give to the Democrats before they completely blow it? Give them a mile and they'll take an inch.
We need a conservative party. Not a party that pays lip service to conservatism and then goes "moderate" at the first sign of trouble. That's why Palin, for all the possible drawbacks, makes me feel a little better about things. She's a conservative, but she actively opposes the Ted Stevens/Don Youngs of the party. My kind of woman.
The GOP will have to do, for now. We have to keep them honest.
When you think about it,
August 31, 2008 - 22:53 ET by Captain RepusWhen you think about it, its almost a fair fight.
The Dems have CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, every major daily in the country, almost every major weekly/monthly news magazine, Hollywood, ALL of MA, NY, CT, NJ, VT, IL, MN, MI, WA, OR, and CA., 98% of blacks, 70% of Mexicans, 98% of homosexuals, 99% of feminists, and ALL of old Europe.
The Repubs have 51% of Fox News, 95% of military families and talk radio (until the fairless doctrine comes back).
Kind of like David and Goliath without all the glitter.
I like the futile lead in by the MSM.."does the Fact"...
August 31, 2008 - 22:03 ET by JayTee" Does the fact that he chose as his Vice President someone who has less experience than you"......and he is talking to Obama ? ?
Geez, this is stupid funny.....the MSM is really reaching, their candidate of choice BHO can't even get a Bill presented in Congress that anyone can recall, remember, or document....and they're bad mouthing a Governor.?? McCain's response made Wiliams look like an Un informed fool.
Stay in the shallow end of the pool Brian....you can't tread water in the deep end.
The Republican Revolution will not be Televised
Cruel McCain ...
August 31, 2008 - 22:04 ET by JoggerNotDemands that you stand. I require only that you kneel.
Obama Terrorists in Minnesota
August 31, 2008 - 22:06 ET by Lame CherryI thought people would be most interested in a Minneapolis story which is speaking of anarchists who were arrested in trying to disrupt the RNC this week, but these people are pure terrorists and the story does not do justice to the piles of tire spikes, human urine, fire bombs, slingshots and crossbows the police raided.
As they did not show up in Denver, these are Obama supporters.
My question is when are the FBI going to start holding the Obama campaign criminally responsible for all of the internet stalking, data mining, political prisoners and now the invasion of private medical records of Gov. Palin their operatives are terrorizing Americans over in this jihad?
This story does not do justice to the weapons this group had. They were going to crash cars into crowds by spiking tires and had human urine which in an aids world is a lethal weapon.
http://minnesota.pub...
Police conduct raids in preparation for RNC
by Tim Nelson, Minnesota Public Radio,
Sea Stachura, Minnesota Public Radio
August 30, 2008
Authorities have searched several homes in Minneapolis and one in St.
Paul Saturday ahead of the opening of the Republican National
Convention.
St. Paul, Minn. — Police said the raids were the result of a long-term
investigation into a group of more than 30 anarchists that call
themselves the RNC Welcoming Committee.
They said there
were other groups, including Food Not Bombs, that were affiliated with
the group, but those groups were not targets of the raids.
"We're not just imagining an attack on the transportation plan. Now we can see that its real."
- Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher
The searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies
coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police
departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Authorities
said that the RNC Welcoming Committee had been planning and training to
block delegates from getting to the convention in downtown St. Paul, to
attack police lines and even break into the Xcel Energy Center, where
the convention is scheduled to open Monday morning.
Demonstrators
have allegedly been gathering from dozens of cities around the country,
preparing to converge on St. Paul for the convention.
People at the
scenes of the raids said police arrived unannounced and detained dozens
of people for identification and questioning.
Most, like
Thomas Greiling, were quickly released. Greiling lives at a home
searched on 23rd Ave. in Minneapolis. He said it was the second time
police had questioned him in 24 hours.
Police show a search warrant to Sarah Coffey
He'd been at a gathering in St. Paul raided Friday night, and Greiling
said there was no reason for authorities to come to his home, too.
"It's just a
pain in the ass, cause there's nothing going on here that's illegal.
I'm not worried about it, it's just, it's just annoying," said
Greiling.
A few blocks
away, Dave Bicking says his daughter, Monica, was one of the five
people arrested in the raids. He said he thought police were trying to
discourage people from legitimate expression outside the convention in
St. Paul, rather than fight crime.
A "caltrop" device, meant to puncture tires.
"You know they're intimidating people from even coming to the
demonstrations, so they're intimidating everybody, not just, you know,
the anarchists or the whatever," Bicking said. "They're intimidating
everybody when this news gets out from coming downtown to engage in
even legally and permitted marches and the whole thing."
But Ramsey
County Sheriff Bob Fletcher showed off a wide array of what he said
were makeshift weapons and devices meant to disable buses, block
traffic and provoke violence.
There were
piles of high security bike locks, tire spikes made from bent sheet
metal, a bow and arrow, slingshots, ropes, baseball bats, piles of
literature and a giant color-coded relief map of downtown St. Paul.
Fletcher lifted
up one of three plastic pails partially filled with urine that he said
anarchists had planned to pour into bags and balloons to throw at
police in coming days.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher
"Our job is to take every dangerous item out of their hands, so they
can't utilize them. We have extensive investigative work, complete with
a number of confidential reliable sources that have worked inside this
area, this anarchist area," said Fletcher. "We know these items were
going to be used, because we had sources that were working inside this
organization."
The raids,
though, sparked widespread legal debate. Geneva Finn, with the National
Lawyer's Guild, was outside a home in Minneapolis cordoned off by
police. She said legal challenges to the raids are already in the
works.
"It looks like
the Minneapolis police are going to attempt and shut down this house on
code violations, like they shut down the convergence space in St.
Paul," said Finn. "We are going to attempt to prevent that. We're going
to attempt to reopen the convergence site. You don't get to just remove
people from their houses and board them up, because the police don't
like what you're doing inside there."
Raid results
But other legal experts called the effort good police work.
Notre Dame law professor G. Robert Blakey wrote the anti-racketeering law called RICO. He says
most states have laws against riot, which means two or three people get together and engage in a disturbance.
Blakey adds it's important to keep in mind that when a group of people
get together to commit a crime, that agreement can be a crime in
itself, and riot is one of those crimes.
"When you
conspire to do that, it's an agreement beforehand to do it, the
agreement itself is criminal," said Blakey. "It's often what they get
drug dealers for. It's often what they get organized crime figures for
-- conspiracy, a separate and independent crime."
Authorities said there may be more actions as the Republican National Convention proceeds.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
"On Sunday's NBC Nightly
August 31, 2008 - 22:07 ET by ckc1227"On Sunday's NBC Nightly News, Brian Williams pursued the same media
narrative as he pressed McCain about how as “a 72-year-old cancer
survivor” he chose “a not yet one full term Governor of Alaska. Is she
the best person to be literally a heartbeat away from the presidency,
Senator?"
As opposed to your guy, who has zero executive experience, being the heartbeat IN the presidency? Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to make that argument? I guess it's hard to see clearly when you're blinded by partisanship, huh Brian?
The Dems Are Just Asking For A Side-By-Side Comparison Ad
August 31, 2008 - 22:25 ET by Intellectual HonestyAt some point a comparison ad between Palin and Obama will be inevitable. It could literally be a year-by-year comparison or, more likely, five year increments. Mayor that cleaned house vs. State Senator that voted present over 100 times. Ethics Commissioner that took on her own party with stunning success vs. state senator gearing up for US Senate run by getting allies to release divorce records of main opponent (drops out). Successful run for Governorship by beating incumbent from own party, cleaning house, shooting down bridge to nowhere, getting passed bill to build pipeline that had been stalled for 30 years vs. a US Senator that immediately began the footwork/statements that eventually led to running for president officially two years later.
So much could be done but it would probably need to be a minute ad.
the Luntz question
August 31, 2008 - 23:13 ET by mom_roxIH - I like that ad idea, but just focus on the positives. Uh, I believe, uh, that one side, uh, would look rather blank.
During the primaries, pollster Frank Luntz would ask his focus groups to list accomplishments by the candidates. The group could always list several for the Republican candidates, but could never list a single accomplishment for Sen. Obama.
I bet that is still the case. As well, I follow politics more than the average person, but I can't tell you what Sen. Biden has done in the Senate except talk during his portion of questioning judicial candidates.
A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw, 1944
Is the beloved MSM going
August 31, 2008 - 22:36 ET by GregEIs the beloved MSM going to talk this up?
http://www.courant.com/news/politics/ats-ap-cvn-biden-vietnamaug31,0,2934547.story
Surely they will, as was done to Dick Cheney. Cheney...VP. Biden....VP. Let America hear about it, MSM.
You know, this is really
August 31, 2008 - 22:52 ET by obxrayYou know, this is really starting to get to me.I think I might need to stop reading and seeing this media freak show going on.Just watch and see how they treat McCain&Palin if they go on 60 IQmin.Folks we really need to figure out how to fight this damn media.Sad thing is,there are alot of people that still don't have cable and Fox is about the only news network that can inform some people out there.The only thing that makes me nervous about this election is the freak media and voter fraud.This is going to be the biggest voter fraud election in our lifetime.These dems. have most of the election boards in counties across this country.Illegals will be voting and don't forget about dead dem. votes.Lets not forget that this freak is out of voter fraud heaven Shitcogo.
You mean she is not part of the Washington Power Elite?
August 31, 2008 - 22:55 ET by buzzbeeThis is one reason my College Educated Wife and I will be voting McCain. She is a lot closer to dealing with what the average get up and go to work and take care of your family American deals with every day.
Drill here, Drill Now!
The Lefties are smearing Palin...
August 31, 2008 - 23:17 ET by wnaegele...because they are scared as hell [for good reason].
Palin and typical Leftist reaction
September 1, 2008 - 06:01 ET by Unsane...and because the Left is and has been intellectually bankrupt. When you lack ideas, this is what you do.
Can't wait to see Palin get out there and make a speech or two...
Whoever casts a vote for Obama-Biden is nothing more than a common thief. Whoever fails to vote against them is nothing more than a moral coward.
Sad
August 31, 2008 - 23:40 ET by TheCynicSo sad to see 60 Minutes becoming a mouthpiece for the liberal movement along with the rest of the media. I like how he asked McCain the same question twice because the first answer was so good, it couldn't even register on his brain.
experience
September 1, 2008 - 07:39 ET by rick007Isn't it funny how the Dem's have to equate the experience of their # 1 to the Rep's # 2.