Williams Hits McCain & Palin with Powell's Charge She's Unqualified

By Brent Baker | October 23, 2008 | 01:29

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Brian Williams, who was enamored with Barack Obama in two interviews this year in which he celebrated the liberal Democrat's achievements, in a Wednesday interview with the Republican ticket challenged the premises of their campaign. Recalling the woman in an audience who claimed Obama is Arab, Williams channeled left-wing efforts to discredit McCain: “Did this campaign get out of your control?”

When McCain raised Joe Biden's warning that Obama's election will precipitate “an international crisis,” Williams countered with how “Joe Lieberman said on Face the Nation quote, 'our enemies will test the new President early. And it has happened throughout modern history.'” Unsatisfied by McCain's explanation, Williams followed up: “When he says the new President will be tested, though, I'm missing how that's different from Senator Lieberman saying quote 'our enemies will test the new President early.'”

In the last question in the interview excerpt aired on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, Williams forced them to respond to Colin Powell as Williams cited his assessment Palin is unqualified:

Let me ask you both about what must have been a hurtful Sunday for you especially, you Senator McCain, Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama and Governor, respectfully, the heart of his quote, about Governor Palin, Senator McCain, "I don't believe she's ready to be President of the United States which is the job of Vice President. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made." When you heard those words from a man you've known for a long time, what was your reaction, saying basically we have little to judge these future leaders on except for the big decision of picking a running mate?

Williams had set up the segment by highlighting news that the RNC spent $150,000 on clothing for Palin and her family, followed by:

Then there are the polls out there, our own showing the GOP ticket ten points down with most respondents now saying Sarah Palin is not qualified to be President.

The most upbeat question from Williams noted how far McCain had come from carrying his own garment bag, but:

Here you are, you're down, you're down in money. How do you stay up?

Compare the tone of this interview session with his approach to Barack Obama, as recounted in “Williams Tosses Softballs to Obama, Empathizes Over Elitist Image,” my May 8 NewsBusters item:

Brian Williams, who slobbered over Barack Obama in their last interview in early January, did so again in a Thursday session conducted at Washington, DC's Newseum and excerpted on the NBC Nightly News. Back on January 7, Williams handed Obama a Newsweek with "Inside Obama's Dream Machine" as the cover story and wondered: "How does this feel, of all the honors that have come your way, all the publicity? Who does it make you think of? Is there, is there a loved one?" On Thursday, Williams didn't pose a single challenging question nor mention Jeremiah Wright in any of the ten questions aired, but pulled the same magazine stunt, this time holding up the new Time with a smiling Obama on the cover by the words, "And the Winner* Is..." Williams fondly recalled: "Last time we were together, I handed you a copy of Newsweek, it was the first time you'd held it in your hands with you on the cover. Have you yet held this in your hands?"

Obama said he had not, prompting Williams to remind him: "Last time you looked at it and you thought instantly of your mom." Obama effused: "She'd like that picture. She always encouraged me to smile more." Proceeding to cue up Obama for a long recitation on how he's not an elitist, Williams empathized: "You end up with people talking about your bowling score, gutter balls, wearing a tie, wearing a tie with farmers. And how have you dealt with that? Is there an operating theory that guides your life these days?"

All of the questions posed by Williams to McCain and Palin in the excerpt of the interview, conducted at an Akron-area high school, aired on the Wednesday, October 22 NBC Nightly News:

- Senator, I will begin with your observation on the tarmac. You came in today, there's not one, but two planes with your name on the side. You immediately started reminiscing about the depths of New Hampshire, it was you and your garment bag coming off the commercial flight. But here you are, you're down, you're down in money. How do you stay up?

- Did this campaign get out of your control? And here's what I mean: A lot of people who know you well saw you take that microphone from that woman in Wisconsin and for the first time in a long time they said, “there, that's John McCain.”

- You mention Senator Biden's comment the other day about, a new President and a test of the new President's mettle, one of your very closest friends in the Senate, Joe Lieberman said on Face the Nation quote, “our enemies will test the new President early. And it has happened throughout modern history.”

- Governor Palin, yesterday you tied this notion of an early test to a new President with this notion of preconditions that you both have been hammering the Obama campaign on. First of all, what in your mind is a precondition?

- When he says the new President will be tested, though, I'm missing how that's different from Senator Lieberman saying quote “our enemies will test the new President early.”

- Let me ask you both about what must have been a hurtful Sunday for you especially, you Senator McCain, Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama and Governor, respectfully, the heart of his quote, about Governor Palin, Senator McCain, "I don't believe she's ready to be President of the United States which is the job of Vice President. And so that raised some question in my mind as to the judgment that Senator McCain made.” When you heard those words from a man you've known for a long time, what was your reaction, saying basically we have little to judge these future leaders on except for the big decision of picking a running mate?