NBC Hypes Cain's Pause on Libya as 'Disqualifying Moment,' Dismisses Obama's 'Lazy' Remark
On Wednesday's NBC Today, co-host Ann Curry asked chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd about Herman Cain's long pause when answering a question about Libya: "How much do you think this new video is expected to add to Herman Cain's current slip already in the polls?" Todd proclaimed: "I think it's close to being the disqualifying moment for his campaign."
In a prior report, correspondent Kelly O'Donnell touted how "Herman Cain is finding out that in politics, silence may not be so golden." However, after playing a clip of Mitt Romney going after Obama for calling America "lazy," O'Donnell dismissed the gaffe: "Now, the President had used the word lazy when he was talking to CEOs, saying that the U.S. should have done more to try to attract business here....But the President's re-election campaign only responded to Romney saying that when he was CEO he was more concerned about out-sourcing than helping the middle class."
Curry introduced O'Donnell's report by declaring that Cain was defending himself from "a new controversy over who he'd like to see in his administration." O'Donnell played a sound bite of Cain making a tongue-in-cheek comment about asking Henry Kissinger to be his Secretary of State. O'Donnell skeptically followed: "Cain recently met Nixon's Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger is now 88 years old. Cain says he was just kidding."
In the segment that followed, Todd actually used the joke to bolster his argument that Cain had disqualified himself from the race: "...this moment on Libya and even this back and forth he had about Henry Kissinger, where you see him say one thing in the video and then this claim that it was a joke a day later. It just adds, and it's a cumulating effect....there are a lot of Republican voters who are going to look at that and say it's disqualifying."
Curry went on to ask Todd about the reason behind Newt Gingrich rising in the polls: "So is he the comeback kid of this race at the moment or is he just extremely lucky?" Todd used the question to portray the whole Republican primary race as chaotic: "Well, look, I think this goes to the fact that this is the wildest Republican primary maybe in a generation or two generations."
Curry followed up: "What is it that Republican voters are looking for that they're not getting, that's contributing to the wildness, as you describe, in this race?" Todd replied: "One is that they want some confrontation at President Obama....Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, they all have one thing in common, is that they seem to not be afraid to say politically incorrect things sometimes to really fire up the Tea Party base."
Here is a full transcript of Curry's November 16 discussion with Todd:
7:14AM ET
ANN CURRY: NBC's political director and chief White House correspondent Chuck Todd is traveling with the President in Canberra, Australia. Chuck, good morning to you.
CHUCK TODD: Good morning.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Pressing Pause; Will Cain's Libya Comments Hurt Campaign?]
CURRY: Let me get to the questions now. How much do you think this new video is expected to add to Herman Cain's current slip already in the polls?
TODD: Well, I think it's close to being the disqualifying moment for his campaign. He was already in a bad place. While he wasn't losing support, he was raising questions among undecided Republican voters, among those that weren't with him. His favorable ratings – unfavorable ratings started to climb. And then this, though, this moment on Libya and even this back and forth he had about Henry Kissinger, where you see him say one thing in the video and then this claim that it was a joke a day later. It just adds, and it's a cumulating effect and that's point we're in, in this race. And so, for Cain it is – it cuts to the core of being a commander in chief at this point. And at this – there are a lot of Republican voters who are going to look at that and say it's disqualifying.
CURRY: Meantime, at the same time, Newt Gingrich, who is now second in some national polls. So is he the comeback kid of this race at the moment or is he just extremely lucky, Chuck?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: The Gingrich Factor; Why Is Newt Rising In The Polls?]
TODD: Well, look, I think this goes to the fact that this is the wildest Republican primary maybe in a generation or two generations. And so, you know, we've probably got three or four more ups and downs on this roller coaster. But for Newt Gingrich we'll see. You know, the first time he popped he didn't survive but a week under the glare of the presidential spotlight. We know it is a very intense glare.
There's a report this morning from Bloomberg News, that this amount of money that he earned advising Freddie Mac wasn't just $300,000, it was up to $1.6 million and it was something that he began literally one year after he left Congress. And so the problem for Gingrich, the message that would work in a Republican primary right now is being an outsider, it's what Rick Perry said yesterday in Iowa, if you're an advisor, not a lobbyist, but an advisor to Freddie Mac, one of the ultimate government insider institutions, it is hard to sit there and make the claim that you're going to be a change agent in Washington.
CURRY: Besides being an outsider, what is it that Republican voters are looking for that they're not getting, that's contributing to the wildness, as you describe, in this race?
TODD: Well, look, it's a couple of things. One is that they want some confrontation at President Obama. It's why that the candidates that have popped, when they've popped, the sort of the not Mitt Romney candidates, whether it was Donald Trump early, even a Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, they all have one thing in common is that they seem to not be afraid to say politically incorrect things sometimes to really fire up the Tea Party base.
So Republicans want some passion. Mitt Romney, that's not who he is. He's trying show a little bit of it. You see him trying to get some of that passion, but it's not there yet, it's not clicking. And that's what Republicans, at least the non-Tea Party Republicans, want. And so if one of these candidates can combine sort of brains, passion and money, they're going to win this nomination. At this point, it doesn't seem like any of the candidates can combine all three. Mitt Romney certainly has the intellectual heft and the money. Can he get the passion? And if anybody else can combine all three, that's the way to surpass him.
CURRY: Alright, Chuck Todd this morning. I'm not sure if you're up late or up early, but whatever it is, thanks so much for joining us this morning there in Australia.
TODD: Tomorrow or yesterday, I don't know.
- Kyle Drennen's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
whom ever gets the nod from the conservatives-
Submitted by JIMMY1660 on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 12:58pm.
to run against Obama-the task shall be enriched from the "gaffs" Obama has pulled while in office.
Tax the rich.
More regulations
More Taxes
More Taxes
more Taxes
Once presented to the American voter-the clear difference between Conservatives and obama's Marxist ways shall be ringing.
Elmer Fudd with the audio/video of Obama's Anti American ways would get elected.
America is tired of excuses-and that's all Obama has.
Able to get elected-unable to govern.
It is NBC
Submitted by John21 on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:02pm.
It is NBC, if Gandhi or Rev. King opposed the far left agenda even though in the past they may have praised them as icons of socialist thoughts, NBC and its accomplicies would follow the DNC talking points and try and to convince the limited viewership that they still have, that they are they devils spawn and whole corrupt personalities.
Scum like this are very predictable, but who would want to waste any time thinking about them. It like the stuff for the bottom of your shoe, you notice it when it happens and then you wipe you shoe clean and forget about it.
Ahhhhhhh
Submitted by donabernathy on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:05pm.
Ain't PRAVDA Grand
roflmao
Nothing is more threatening
Submitted by liberalsarefunny on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:05pm.
Nothing is more threatening to guilty white liberals than a black person who wanders off the liberal plantation and finally figures out that he can do just fine on his own, without his condescending white liberal overseers and their family destroying policies.
Therefore.......Herman Cain must be destroyed, at all costs!!
The Race Industry must be preserved, at all costs!!
Nothing new here for the MSM.
Submitted by KyWriter on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:08pm.
They dismiss every gaffe and find an excuse every mindless remark by Obama. However, they may be just as dumb and consider Hawaii to be in Asia themselves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=oFz_Rm4YnPU
Ann Curry especially was never known for an excess of brainpower.
plans for Hawaii
Submitted by Agnostic on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:12pm.
maybe they know about President Obama's plan to give Hawaii to Indonesia in repayment of making him the man he is today.
Well, I've been to Indonesia
Submitted by killa37 on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:09pm.
Well, I've been to Indonesia a few times, and it's in pretty bad shape. And there are places here that are in pretty bad shape, but we'd have to go down a few notches to get on the same level as Indo.......................but I don't think this would disappoint Boy Barry, since he doesn't have to deal with it, other than to say 'the folks are having a hard time out there'..............
Yoo hoo! Chuckie!!!
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:31pm.
Are none of these ↓ "disqualifying:?
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Silly girl; none are disqualifying...
Submitted by KyWriter on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:26pm.
...because The One is infallible.
Alert!
Submitted by Djinn1975 on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 1:35pm.
Henceforth, every word and action from Herman Cain will be crowed as a 'disqualifying moment for his campaign.'
Meanwhile, Midas Romney is marching from pedestal to pedestal.
We are within 365 days of America's next evolution and the MSM are killing it on campaign influence overtime.
Cain is building an image of a Presidential candidate who . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:06pm.
. . . doesn't follow foreign policy. Whether he was tired or not really doesn't matter. On camera, he looks disengaged.
This may be his Achilles heel. Only time will tell, but he's got to get better at responding to these questions.
Agreed. He really seemed to
Submitted by balboa on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:58pm.
Agreed. He really seemed to be floundering there.
DOES OBAMA
Submitted by ROSSMAN on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 5:14pm.
KNOW HIS AMERICAN HISTORY? 57 STATES, AUSTRAILIA IS IN ASIA!!
Hoping and wishin Libya is a happy fully functioning democracy.
Submitted by upcountrywater on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:08pm.
And the 5,000 Americans left in Iraq won't end up like the British during Siege of Khartoum.
That is the O'bama doctrine.." We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
You Didn't Build That.
....or Les Francais
Submitted by Blonde on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 5:48pm.
at Dien Bien Phu.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Or WW I
Submitted by ClarinetAndrew on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 9:28pm.
More geographically relevent: Kut al Amara, 100 miles south of Baghdad.
General Townshend was an idiot!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Kut
Lazy
Submitted by luckbfern on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:12pm.
Does that mean that it's wrong to call people lazy now? Or is it still okay to call some people lazy, specifically the millions and millions of people who aren't wealth?
sto'bought.
Submitted by kata on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:30pm.
.
Nope!
Submitted by almostacowboy on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 2:43pm.
Only white people can be called "lazy". Other wise, you're a raaaaaaacisssst!
Obama's disqualifying moments..
Submitted by greggy on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 7:27pm.
There are a number to choose from.
I'm going to pick his statement that "the U.S. Constitution is fundamentally flawed, because it's basically a charter of negative rights - it mainly says what the government cannot do to me, not what it MUST DO FOR ME".
That's right, Barack - and if you don't agree with that, how can you swear to protect and defend our Constitution against enemies foreign and domestic, when you have announced yourself as a domestic opponent of the central theme that runs throughout the document?
You say our nation's fundamental governing document is fundamentally flawed, and yet you promise to uphold, protect and defend it?
Where were the contemptible Ann Curry and Chuck Todd when that came out?
OBAMA'S SPEECH IN AUSTRALIA
Submitted by ROSSMAN on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 5:07pm.
THESE WILL BE OUR FIRST TROOPS IN ASIA. I WOKE UP TO HEAR THIS JUST PRIOR TO THE PRESS ASKING QUESTIONS. I AM SURPRISED NO MSM HAS REPORTED THIS GAFFE!!
HMMM!
Submitted by ROSSMAN on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 5:11pm.
WOULD 57 states be similar to Cains gaffe
NO
Submitted by trahantg on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 7:17pm.
George W. Bush made Eauxbama say 57 states.
Liberal Media
Submitted by countmein5050 on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 6:37pm.
can ASSUME all it wants to that its DOING ITS JOB IN DESTROYING REPUBLICANS. I don't intend to argue them down....but they'll get my message come election day.
Be fair and balanced - obama gaffes of stupidity....
Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Wed, 11/16/2011 - 7:37pm.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama’s Gaffes and Goofs
1. “The Bomb” that fell on Pearl Harbor
2. “The Middle East is obviously an issue that has plagued the region for centuries.”
3. 10,000 People (A Whole Town!) Died in Kansas ~ Oops, Overstated by 9,988
4. Admits His Plan would Necessarily Cause Energy Prices to Skyrocket
5. Air Raiding Villages a la Yankee Air Pirates: Destroys Whole Afghan Villages!
6. Another Senior Moment
7. ATMs Cause Unemployment
8. Blames Hugo Chavez’s Election on (ta da) BUSH! Oops.
9. Blows off the Salute To Heroes (MOH) Inaugural Ball
10. Botched Toast ~ Babbles over “God Save The Queen”
11. Bowls like a Special Olympian
12. Bows to the Chicom President
13. Bows to the Emperor of Japan
14. Bows to the Saudi King
15. Burns up 9,000 gallons of Jet Fuel on Earth Day
16. Can’t Keep MOH Recipients Straight
17. Can’t Remember His Own Wife’s Name
18. Celebrates the Fifth of the Fourth
19. Claims to be the only President in History to Try to Eliminate Unnecessary Regulations
20. Confuses “his” Christianity for “his Muslim faith”
21. Congratulates the FBI’s First Hundred Days
22. Constitutional Principles on Judiciary Written 20 Centuries Ago
23. Cops Acted Stupidly (@ 1:30)
24. Date Nights at a Quarter of a Million a Pop
25. Did He REALLY just call Palin a “Pig”??????
26. Disrespects the Flag and the National Anthem
27. Dr. Obama on the Causes of Autism
28. Doesn’t Know How Old His Daughter Is
29. Exaggerates about Military Small Unit Methods, Weapons, and Tactics in Afghanistan
30. Expects to be President for “Eight to Ten Years”
31. Faux White Sox Fan Can’t Name Favorite Players, Loves “Cominskey” Park
32. Flippantly Answers the “When Does Life Begin” Question ~ Above His Pay Grade
33. Flips Off Her Royal Clinton
34. Flips Off John McCain
35. Flubs Town Hall Hosts’ Name
36. Forgot to Duck ~ Too Busy Waving
37. Gins up the Reason for his Birth In Selma (Bonus…Jive Accent)
38. Gives a Shout out to MOH who Isn’t
39. Gives the Queen an iPod
40. Gives Thoughtless Gifts to Brit PM Brown and his Children
41. Had an Imaginary Assignment to the Senate Banking Committee
42. Had an Uncle who Liberated Auschwitz
43. Har, Har, Har, $800 BN Wasn’t As Shovel Ready as We Thought ~ Hilarious!!!!!
44. Has Visited 57 States
45. Harvard Degree ~ Mechanical Engineering? No, Definitely NOT!
46. Hates Old People
47. How to Keep All Those Wars Straight?
48. Identifies a Whole New State (Eau Claire)
49. If I Can’t Dazzle Them With Brilliance, I’ll Baffle ‘em With BS
50. If Asking A Billionaire to Pay the Same Tax Rate as a Jew ~ Anti Semitic? (Shrink friend calls it the Amytal Interview)
51. (a) through (m) I’m Just Freakin’ Perfect Every Day, In Every Way. If You Don’t Believe it, ASK ME!!!!
52. Inhaled Frequently. That was the Point.
53. Insults French President Sarcozy ~ “Hope Your New Kid Isn’t Ugly Like You”
54. Israel is a Strong Friend of Israel’s ~ Whilst being Perfectly Clear
55. Makes a Nasty Joke about Nancy Reagan and Seances
56. Medical Genius (Off Prompter)
57. Mistakes a Window for a Door
58. Mocks Joe the Plumber
59. Navy Corpse Man
60. Oaf of Office
61. Ogles La Derriere Like a Frenchman
62. Oh Wait…Robots Create Jobs with Unions (@ 1:35)
63. Panders to Hispanics…Rewrites History Again
64. Pesky Infrastructure Terms Like “Intercontinental” Trip Him Up
65. Pitches Like a Girl Whilst Wearing Mom Jeans….Wheeeee!!!!!
66. Promotes Canada’s Prime Minister to a President
67. Refused to Visit the Troops Because No Media Was Allowed
68. Reporters with Foreign Policy Questions are SOOO Annoying!
69. Scares the Crap out of New Yorkers
70. Scares a Marine Guard by Shaking His Hand
71. Screw Our Allies ~ I’m going with Hugo and Ortega on This One
72. Seeks Greater Inefficiencies in the Health Care System via Obamacare
73. Sees Dead People
74. Shankopotomus (watch the Crackberry go flying)
75. Signs the Wrong Year in Guest Book at Westminster Abbey
76. Snubs Brits by Returning the Bust of Winston Churchill
77. Someone Waging a KMA can’t Spell “Libya” (h/t our own Warner Todd Houston)
78. Staff Incompetence ~ Obama’s Limo Gets Stuck
79. Staff Incompetence Part Deux ~ Obama’s Ignorance of Geography is Apparently Virulent
80. The Time has Changed for Come
81. Thinks “Victory” is a 4 Letter Word
82. Thinks Austrian is a Language
83. Thinks Europe is a Country
84. Throws Out the Honored Guest with the Trash
85. Wants to Halt the Rise of Privacy
86. Waves Like Alfred E. Neuman (h/t El Rushbo)
87. Waves Again ~ Speak to the Hand Part Deux
88. We are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For
89. We Can’t Balance The Budget…w/o Tax Increases ~ Um, Bernanke Disagrees
90. When in Ireland, Do as the Irish Do….NO WAIT….BYOB (non-alcoholic)
91. Will Halt The Rise of the Oceans
92. Wouldn’t “Punish” His Daughters with a Baby AND Equates Pregnancy to an STD
93. WTF of the Day
94. You Might be a Filthy Rich Cretin If….Oh Never Mind, the Math Doesn’t Really Work
ORIGINATOR: http://www.newsbusters.org/forum/topic-discussion/handy-reference-guide-...