While reporting that a top U.S. diplomat will attend an international meeting with an Iranian negotiator on Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," correspondent Bill Plante suggested such a meeting represented the Bush Administration moving toward Barack Obama’s goal of direct negotiations with Iran: "Absolutely a first and it's a sharp break from what has been the policy of the Bush Administration...Now official disclaimers aside, the fact that the administration is sending someone to this meeting is a very big deal. And since Obama has put it into the political debate it is sure to stay as part of the political discussion."
Following that report, co-host Harry Smith talked to political analyst Jeff Greenfield about the impact on the presidential campaign:
So interesting, this has been part and parcel of the political discussion of the two campaigns for several months now. Barack Obama says we should talk to some of these folks. McCain has long maintained, very much along the administration lines, we don't talk unless they stop enriching uranium. How does this reflect, do you think, upon the campaigns?
Greenfield responded by describing how the diplomatic meeting would help Obama: "But if your whole argument, and it was Senator Clinton's as well, against Obama is he's naive, he doesn't understand the world, and now to have the administration say, 'okay, the precondition we can set aside,' it tends to undercut the argument, which is going to be a key to Obama's critics, that he doesn't understand the world."
Smith went on to discuss the latest poll numbers: "Brand new CBS News/New York Times poll out. Fresh numbers in the last 24 hours. Looks like Senator Obama is maintaining his lead over John McCain among registered voters." Greenfield commented on how the poll gave Obama a slight lead among male voters: "If Obama can somehow keep men to an even number, he's going to win the election because women are going to vote Democratic." Smith added: "Yeah, and women, thus far, the lead is even more substantial."
Greenfield concluded his analysis by declaring:
To summarize, the reason why Obama's supporters are taking heart is all of the key battleground states that Democrats must hold -- Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin -- Obama's running well ahead. But in the states Republicans have to have, like Ohio, Obama's got a small lead. In Missouri it's pretty much even. In Virginia, very competitive. A lot of states Republicans must have, Colorado, the Democrats are now ahead...right now the terrain is tilting more to Obama than McCain.
Here is the full transcript of the segment:
7:00AM TEASER:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Shift in strategy. President Bush sends a top diplomat to meet with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
7:07AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: A major development in the effort to get Iran to back off its nuclear program. The Bush Administration is sending a top diplomat to an international meeting that will also be attended by Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. That's a first. CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante joins us live with more on that. Good morning, Bill.
BILL PLANTE: Morning, Harry. Absolutely a first and it's a sharp break from what has been the policy of the Bush Administration. And it comes at a time of tension between the U.S. and Iran. Just one week after Iran's saber rattling missile tests, the State Department announced that a top U.S. Diplomat will attend talks in Geneva this weekend on Iran's nuclear program. The move is a departure from the administration's long-held stance that it will not negotiate with Iran unless Iran first suspends uranium enrichment.
WILLIAM BURNS: We in the administration are fully committed to diplomacy with regard to the Iranian nuclear issue.
PLANTE: William Burns, the third highest ranking U.S. diplomat, will hear Iran's response to a package of economic and diplomatic incentives offered in June. It's hoped that the move will lead to talks like those that resulted in a deal with North Korea last month. President Bush approved the contact but stressed that it was a one-time decision and insisted the U.S. would be there only to listen, not to directly negotiate. The prospect of a nuclear armed Iran and what to do about it has spilled over into the presidential campaign.
BARACK OBAMA: I think Iran poses a significant threat to stability in the Middle East. So I think we have to talk to Iran directly.
JOHN MCCAIN: Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama's inexperience and reckless judgment.
PLANTE: Now official disclaimers aside, the fact that the administration is sending someone to this meeting is a very big deal. And since Obama has put it into the political debate it is sure to stay as part of the political discussion. Harry.
SMITH: Alright, thanks very much, Bill Plante, in Washington this morning. Joining us now is CBS News chief political correspondent Jeff Greenfield. So interesting, this has been part and parcel of the political discussion of the two campaigns for several months now. Barack Obama says we should talk to some of these folks. McCain has long maintained, very much along the administration lines, we don't talk unless they stop enriching uranium. How does this reflect, do you think, upon the campaigns?
JEFF GREENFIELD: Well, I'm sure the McCain campaign will say it's different to meet with an envoy than with a president, which is one of Obama's notions, 'yes, I'll meet.' [Cough] Excuse me. But if your whole argument, and it was Senator Clinton's as well, against Obama is he's naive, he doesn't understand the world, and now to have the administration say, 'okay, the precondition we can set aside,' it tends to undercut the argument, which is going to be a key to Obama's critics, that he doesn't understand the world.
SMITH: Yeah. Brand new CBS News/New York Times poll out. Fresh numbers in the last 24 hours. Looks like Senator Obama is maintaining his lead over John McCain among registered voters. Let's talk first about men, though.
GREENFIELD: Really interesting that he would be leading even marginally among men because Bush beat Kerry by some 11 points among men. That's a traditional gender gap. If Obama can somehow keep men to an even number, he's going to win the election because women are going to vote Democratic.
SMITH: Yeah, and women, thus far, the lead is even more substantial.
GREENFIELD: Yes.
SMITH: Yeah, yeah. As we look at this, race is an interesting aspect, and one of the headlines in The Times this morning was it didn't look like Obama has particularly strong support among white voters. But neither does McCain for that matter.
GREENFIELD: Well, the last Democrat to carry the white vote was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. The question is how much do you lose them and it's true that more whites view Obama unfavorably than McCain but you can also translate it into partisanship. Whites tend to vote Republican a little more than Democrats and blacks vote Democratic very heavily. And by the way, in this CBS poll Hispanics are breaking for Obama right now about 2 and a half to 3-1. McCain needs some 40% of the Hispanics to win.
SMITH: Alright, let's get away from those giant national numbers and let's get down to the real stuff. Electoral college and how does the map look like -- what does it look like for McCain and Obama right now?
GREENFIELD: To summarize, the reason why Obama's supporters are taking heart is all of the key battleground states that Democrats must hold -- Michigan, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin -- Obama's running well ahead. But in the states Republicans have to have, like Ohio, Obama's got a small lead. In Missouri it's pretty much even. In Virginia, very competitive. A lot of states Republicans must have, Colorado, the Democrats are now ahead. Now look, it's July, everybody has to take the decaf this morning and for the four, three and a half months. But right now the terrain is tilting more to Obama than McCain. That's why we have campaigns, though, Harry.
SMITH: Yeah and they -- actually they -- people vote and then the results are often -- so often different.
GREENFIELD: Here's our motto. Let somebody vote before we predict.
SMITH: There you go, 16 weeks to go. Jeff Greenfield thank you so much. Do appreciate it.
—Kyle Drennen is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.




















Editor at Large
Comments Policy
We've always had these type
July 16, 2008 - 14:27 ET by Free ThinkerWe've always had these type of low level meetings. I don't know if this duo doesn't know that or if they are trying to mislead in an effort to help Osama. What's different in the two policies is that Barak has said he would sit and meet with the leader if he is President. President Bush realizes the magnitude of his office and is staying true to his word that he will not reward Achmadinajob with a meeting.
And what is this about
July 16, 2008 - 14:43 ET by HermanoAnd what is this about taking the preconditions off the table? I do not see any indication that there is any change in policy here.
Right FT.
July 16, 2008 - 15:01 ET by motherbeltRight FT.
The Bush Administration is sending a top diplomat to an international
meeting that will also be attended by Iran's chief nuclear negotiator.
Sending a diplomat to an international meeting, and an Iranian will be there too????
That's not even on the same planet as Obama's plan to speak directly with Ahmedinejad without preconditions.
I'm just waiting for Obama to say that what he meant was that he wouldn't allow Ahmedinejad to set preconditions (such as "no talking about my nuclear program!") LOL!
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
I love how the Obamassiah
July 17, 2008 - 08:06 ET by pbanks7I love how the Obamassiah changed this from "I'll talk with Achmad-in-a-jihad without preconditions" to "we need to engage them," as if we weren't already engaging them now. And the MSM gleefully covers the truth up for Him [sic].
"So I've made it clear for years that the threat from Iran is grave." You can be sure the Obamassiah has just flip-flopped when he starts a sentence with, "I've always said...."
This guy has had more flip-flops than Wal-Mart.
MSM - shaping all the perceptions you need to believe, then confirming it with a poll.
Free Thinker
July 16, 2008 - 14:56 ET by Jerry MackThese 2 are doing what all campaign workers continualy do. Help their candidate. I was watching the debate when he said that he would meet with Alphabet, Chavez and Castro without any preconditions. He has back peddled but never completly said anything different.
What if the Iranians budge?
July 16, 2008 - 20:44 ET by KC MulvilleJust because we're not talking doesn't mean we're not listening. We've always maintained that if Iran changes, we'll be glad to respond. The difference is that Obama wants to respond even if Iran doesn't change anything.
And let's put this into perspective. Despite our suspicions about what Iran might do ... we want to resolve this diplomatically. I mean, the whole idea of walking out of a negotiation is to put pressure on the other side to make concessions. Well, we want Iran to make concessions. I mean, that's the plan.
Now that the plan is working as expected, CBS is portraying this as a change that Obama created. You know what that means? If nothing else, it means that neither Obama nor CBS ever understood the plan in the first place.
Define 'Policy'
July 16, 2008 - 14:34 ET by AmericanEnergistA head of state and the country he/she represents have a policy. A candidate for President only has a 'position'.
Mr. Obama has been watching too many reruns of Ms. Pelosi's trip to Lebanon.
www.ArmchairEnergist...
The phrase grasping at
July 16, 2008 - 14:42 ET by MassConservThe phrase grasping at straws comes to mind.
Totally incomparable situations, but they'll do anything to try to make BHO seem savvy with regards to international policy.
Great Obama Campaign Piece
July 16, 2008 - 14:43 ET by DoktorFrankenAll I got out of this was that CBS is trying like heck to make Obama look qualified - a daunting task on a regular day.
''But if your whole argument, and it was Senator Clinton's as well,
against Obama is he's naive, he doesn't understand the world, and now
to have the administration say, 'okay, the precondition we can set
aside,' it tends to undercut the argument, which is going to be a key
to Obama's critics, that he doesn't understand the world.''
Yeah, well, I'm going to say two things about that. 1.) I don't think the situation is exactly the same as how Obama originally framed it, and 2.) Obama really doesn't understand the world. This just happens to be one of those ''broken clock'' moments for BHO.
naive ????
July 16, 2008 - 14:58 ET by tejanodiabloand now obambi says he's going to rid the world of nuclear weapons ?? you got to be kidding me ..
never look a gift skunk in the tail ..
And don't forget turn back
July 16, 2008 - 15:02 ET by motherbeltAnd don't forget turn back the oceans!!
Shoot 'em all; let God sort 'em out! - Marge Simpson
...reverse global warming,
July 16, 2008 - 15:15 ET by Hermano...reverse global warming, end world hunger and put the genie back in the bottle.
Let's don't forget...last
July 16, 2008 - 18:10 ET by bigtimerLet's don't forget...last not least...Planetary Emergency!
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
How much did it cost Obama
July 16, 2008 - 15:38 ET by athoughtor2How much did it cost Obama to run that commercial? Oh that;s right it was free thanks to CBS.
It's not even close to the same thing. Is Bush meeting with Amaahole? Nope. Not sure of the "ranking" of our diplomat, but he/she will be no better than 4, Bush, Cheney and Rice are not participating.
Dan Abrams tried to run with the same thing last night on the Verdict. I stopped on it for a minute and just got sucked in by his absurb statements.
The Osama Bama bandwagon continues...
July 16, 2008 - 21:24 ET by goldenthroatat2,
Osama received more free advertising on CNN this evening when his excellency, the pompous and arrogant Wolfy-Boy Blitzkrieg during his non-awarded winning "Situation Room" was regurgatating the same garbage that CBS did earlier in the day!
The left-coast, bleeding-heart, 'do as I say, not as I do' liberal MSM has now adopted the slogan "our minds are made up - don't confuse us with the facts". It boils down to just more of Osama Bama's classic flip-flopping - and these morons just don't get it.
"How can you be in two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?" - Firesign Theatre
Obama doesn't understand the
July 16, 2008 - 16:09 ET by marvlObama doesn't understand the world, that is obvious. The MSM understands the world even less, and that is even more obvious. None of these people have been picked for their intellect, only for how well they appear in front of the camera. What a bunch of nimrods and imbeciles.
Well, mabye Bush did move towards Obama's view:
July 16, 2008 - 17:11 ET by Gary HallWell, maybe Bush did move towards Obama's view - (teasing, of course). Obama is simply looking to President Bush for guidance. Other than political rhetoric, Obama actually seems to favor pressure, sanctions, more sanctions if the pressure doesn't work, some negotiations (Bush has done that as well - even Bill Clinton is on record saying we have to very careful, you cannot I'll meet with him), and if they continue with their nuclear program - all options are on the table (my bold):
Chicago Tribune 9/24/04
Obvioulsy, the media seeks only to push their agenda; make it Obama's and then project that Bush is following the visionary leader. What Obama would actually do when it hits the fan, is anybody's guess, of course. That is the risk here. Oh, help us.
Once again, CBS
July 16, 2008 - 18:47 ET by ConservativeRexOnce again, CBS intentionally distorts what everyone else can see. Propaganda, puredee propaganda by CBS. They know there is a sea change difference between what Obami wants to do, and what President Bush is doing. Those lousy buggers.
But CBS is trying as hard as they can to make sure the Obamabots fall for this crap as easily as they fall for what the original shuck and jive man spouts out of his pie hole.