Did Mitchell Get 'McCain Cheated' at Saddleback from Daily Kos?

Photo of Noel Sheppard.

As my colleague D.S. Hube reported, Andrea Mitchell on Sunday's "Meet the Press" suggested the Obama campaign felt John McCain "may not have been in the cone of silence" during Saturday's Saddleback Civil Forum, "and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were."

Although she claimed this was being "[put] out privately" by Obama's people, CNN is now reporting that his campaign is "not pursuing whether McCain heard any of the other questions," and that they're "assuming McCain had the same information they did."

So where did Mitchell get this idea from? Might it have been a Daily Kos blog posted at 9:22 PM PDT Saturday entitled "McCain cheated? proof he knew the questions ahead of time":

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The following is evidence that either McCain was NOT in a quiet room during Obama's interview OR that he indeed had the questions ahead of time. If Obama was not provided the questions as well, then McCain clearly cheated.

In a Church even, how brazen.

Yet, according to CNN:

Pastor Rick Warren said John McCain didn’t hear any of the questions in advance at Saturday night’s Civil Forum, even if the candidate was a little late arriving to the pre-arranged quiet room or “cone of silence.” [...]

Warren told CNN Sunday evening, “we flat out asked him” if he heard any of the questions. The McCain campaign “confirmed that McCain did not hear or see any of the broadcast” in the motorcade or after he arrived, Ross said.

When asked if McCain overheard anything, Charlie Black, a McCain adviser who was with him at the time, told CNN: "We were in motorcade until 5:30 p.m. ET; then a holding room in another building with no TV."

Warren said, “I trust the integrity of both” candidates, and said he “knew they would abide by the rules.” He joked McCain may not have been in the cone of silence, but “he was in the cone of a Secret Service motorcade”. [...]

For their part, an Obama spokesperson told CNN’s Mike Roselli they are not pursuing whether McCain heard any of the other questions. They say they [sic] assuming McCain had the same information they did.

Certainly, this isn't proof that Mitchell didn't speak to someone inside the Obama campaign who suggested McCain might have cheated, or that she got the whole idea from a Kossack.

However, as I haven't been able to find any media outlets that have corroborated Mitchell's claim the Obama campaign was "privately" floating this idea, one has to wonder where she got it from.

Maybe we'll never know.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.


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Of course McCain cheated...

no one can be wiser and more intelligent than their messiah!

It just isn't possible.

So what does it tell you?

The accusation that McCain must have cheated is an open admission that they knew their guy bombed. If Obama had aced the debate, no one would have anything to excuse.

Just like Hillary. The reason they portray him as inevitable is that they don't want anyone to take a close look ... because they, themselves, know that he doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

Lib Word of the day:

Lib Word of the day: McCheated

A more realistic word would

A more realistic word would be: O-Bombed - duh!

___________________________________ 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

Obama's MSM but-kissers now

Obama's MSM but-kissers now believe that anyone who can put a coherent sentence together without a teleprompter must have cheated?

This really shows how much confidence they have in their chosen candidate, doesn't it?

___________________________________ 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

Do you mean

that a candidate should frame a coherent reply when asked an unexpected question? I thought that all candidates and incumbants were taught to stammer stutter and obfuscate by answering a prefered stock answer instead of the answer to a question. Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Charles Schumer seem to do it constantly.

Obama is especially good at the stammering. I'd like to have a nickel for every umm, uhh, etc., or mindless answer that is spoken when Barak is off of the teleprompter.

dont forget about the

dont forget about the "thoughtfull" pause and crinkle of the forhead signifying deep thought before uttering his nuanced "um, u u umm"

Nuanced

Don't forget his answers were also "complex".

I ♣ my seal

Sphere of Stupidity

Andrea Mitchell is definitely stuck inside a Left-Spinning Sphere of Stupidity.

Will someone be kind enough...

to explain to me...how the hell can you cheat at a forum if both candidates are asked the same questions???

I did not watch but if that is the case, again how the heck can you cheat?

"9 out of 10 doctors agree that flag burning is the number one killer of liberals."

Cheat = defeat

You "cheat" by defeating a liberal. It's as simple as that.

Yep...truth to power...and

Yep...truth to power...and all that jazz....

Problem is they are in DENIAL at the moment and can't handle the truth.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

HC

HC,

Only a few of the questions were previously disclosed to the participants. The majority were supposed to be a surprise at the moment they were asked. So, McCain was supposed to be in a silent room when Warren was speaking to Obama so that he couldn't hear the questions or Obama's answers. ns

Well so much for...

losing gracefully. Thanks NS. (and of course CobraMan/BT)

"9 out of 10 doctors agree that flag burning is the number one killer of liberals."

Andrea Mitchell + Brian

Andrea Mitchell + Brian Williams + Chrissy Matthews + Keith Olbermoron + David Scheister + Dan Abrams = 1 failed crop

Must be global warming

From the msm

From the msm stylebook

Rumors from the left = Credible concerns

Rumors from the right (even when Dems started them) = rumor mongering

Book critical of GOP = Exclusive inside look

Book critical of Dems = Smear

Dem responding to GOP statement = Responding to nasty campaigning

GOP responding to Dem statement - On the defensive

Oh well, could go on but you know the drill

gopsteve, Excellent

gopsteve,

Excellent observation! 

The MSM are abject hypocrits!

Nailed It...

Well done, very astute.

MSM = PR firm for the Democrat Party.

Who cares wheres a dumb

Who cares wheres a dumb media broad like Mitchell got anything? If they had anything like creative minds they would not have gone into the conformist, lockstep lib world of major media.

Mitchell

Does it really matter if McCain or Obama knew the questions ahead of time?  Their position is their position ,. Would Obama have become Pro Life had he known about the abortion question ? I am sure they practiced for every possible question anyway.

 

Dennis

Shut Your Lips

Andrea Mitchell needs to be put in a cone of silence.

She just needs a cone on top

She just needs a cone on top of her head. The vacuum would certainly hold it firmly in place.

Noel,business is booming!

Your earlier post on this subject is being linked all over the internets today and this evening.

 

"These people never fail to step in the excrement"---Rush

Media Already Crying Foul?

Obama is the presumptive nominee and already everyone is crying "foul"? Why not wait until after the nomination to whine that your Messiah isn't being treated fairly?

A couple of more days like

A couple of more days like yesterday and the messiah just might really regret allowing her majesty Hillary have her name put into nomination.

Stranger things have happened. I hear there are some really mysterious rumblings going on inside the Democrat party.

Hillary is sharpening the knife...

that she will plunge into Obama's back at the convention. 

45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm

Making fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.w

Thanks Mr. S...

I'll probably have nightmares! 

45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm

Making fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.w

My pleasure, CT... & RD Helm

Also, my little Obama poster:

 http://mr-shy.com/barack_empty.jpg

But yeah, something MAJOR is brewing, isn't it? Think... The Clintonista's have been totally keeping it on the DL (down low :p) since June, and with Bill's remarks, the O-Force One poll numbers going down, the great ads by the McCain camp, the poor performance last night, etc., they are just more emboldened. The C's and many in the Dem party I think have been worried about Obama for some time, since the snowball began rolling with Rev. Wright.

All the biggies in the DNC are indeed torn and probably considering an historic switch. If it happens, the D party is done not just for 2008, but for a long time to come, what with the racial divide, lack of leadership, no concrete values or vision.

Guess this is the inevitable fallout when wanting to embrace everything, coddle the masses, and glorify rock-star like politicians.

 

* * * SOCKS THE CAT '08 * * *
For REAL Change

MS, Lol-there out to be a law against posting something...

...that hideous on a blog.

Now I'm going to have to have my computer dropped in flea-dip.  :-)

-Dave.

Wow .... great picture. I

Wow .... great picture. I wonder what would happen if you gave each of them a typewriter and a thousand years?.......

Wow

Third row down, three from the left.

That is SO her.

Ct, Hillary might not have to do much of anything...

...as Barry-O might just implode all by hizzelf. :-)

-Dave.

CR,

..the messiah just might really regret allowing her majesty Hillary have her name put into nomination.

LOL-I'm guessing he already does. If he was smart, he would have minimized Hillary's role as much as possible, but this idiot decided to give the Clinton's two nights of the convention. That's like Caesar inviting Brutus to dinner on two consecutive nights.

How stupid is that?

As for the rumblings inside the dem party, I am hearing the same thing. Must be hell for them now that they realize they have purchased a lemon.

Imagine my distress.  :-)

-Dave.

From KOS to the teleprompter

National Barack Channel (NBC) has learned through Kamp Obama Stooges (KOS) that McCain was not in the 'cone of silence' and was getting the questions from someone on his shoe phone. Stay tuned.

Mr. Shy

Finally, rock solid evidence!

 

LOL... If the shoe

LOL...

If the shoe fits...

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Hmm, was it the cheating of

Hmm, was it the cheating of McCain that prevented Obama from being honest about his pro-abortion views, and that caused him to basically disqualify himself for the presidency when he said Clarence Thomas shouldn't have been appointed because of his lack of experience?

FLASH

Drudge report indicates the McCain campaign has sent a letter of protest to NBC over Andrea Hussein Mitchell's unethical spreading of rumors of McCain cheating in last night's 'debate' by hearing questions to Obammy prior to his turn.

The letter is somewhat scathing in content.

ITS ABOUT TIME the McCain crowd got off their a$$ and calls these Obammy shills what they are.

Arianna Mitchell

Didn't Mitchell used to be a journalist?

I ♣ my seal

CR, bet McCain fires the staffer who wrote it and apologizes to

...well, just about every dem in the country. 

It certainly wouldn't be a first for him, or anything.  :-(

-Dave.

Well maybe he won't start

Well maybe he won't start his apology with "my friends...." - that will teach them a lesson

CR, I was just being a little sarcastic. Okay, maybe a lot.

The thing is, if McCain were to to actually do something like this, it wouldn't suprise me in any way. 

-Dave.

I got your sarcasm.

I got your sarcasm. Unfortunately, up until recently you were right on point. McCain was operating in total wimp mode, apologizing for everything anyone on the right said and looking like a puppy who just got his nose rubbed in his pee puddle. Fortunately he has had a recent testicle transplant and is starting to act like a the man he use to be again. Now if it just weren't for that pesky Keating thing..... but on the other hand, Cindy is really hot.

 

CR, about McCain's recent testicle transplant....

I still do not trust him. This is a campaign year, and politicians on both sides will tend to say things they think will help them get elected.

McCain has literally run out of daggers from stabbing conservatives in the back over the last eight years.

It will take far more than one appearance in a church forum to convince me that McCain deserves my vote.

-Dave.

Dave... His pick for VP

Dave...

His pick for VP is going to matter tremendously.

He better not have another dagger to stick the conservatives with....if would or could be futile to him.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

bt,

Nobody votes for the VP on a POTUS ticket.

And even if McCain is a self-imposed one termer, it still won't matter, as most voters will only be concerned with the next four-year cycle.

-Dave.

Dave.... Generally I

Dave....

Generally I agree with you about VP not mattering all that much....this election it does to a heck of a lot more of a voting base out there than I think you realize.

Just my opinion.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

How much will it take for

How much will it take for Obama to convince you to vote against him?

McCain is far from my first choice for the office.  Observing there are only two possibilities with any realistic chance of election, and that one of these possibilities will be a catastrophe for the principles I hold dear, I will hold my nose and vote for McCain.... and pray that he both selects a true conservative as VP, and that nature should take its course.

NL207, I voted for Harry Browne in 2000.

Four years later, I pinned my nose with a clothespin and voted for GWB, primarily as a vote against Kerry.

During the succeeding seven years, GWB, with no small amount of help from a republican congress, managed to DOUBLE the size and scope of the federal government.

Hell, McCain is even further to the left than Bush, who I consider to be a liberal.

Care to guess what I think of the former?

Sorry, but I am fresh out of clothespins.

-Dave.

I still don't see myself voting for McCain

I still don't see myself voting for McCain, either. Even if McCain picks a Conservative V.P., I'm just not sure it's enough.

"They're both doofuses!" --Mark Levin (speaking of Obama and McCain)

If Obama is permitted to

If Obama is permitted to make two or more appointments to SCOTUS, you will need far more than clothspins. 

As bad as the Republicans were when in power, the Dems are worse.  If they capture all three branches, we will see the roots of true tyranny spead far and wide. 

  • The Fairness Doctrine will be back on the broadcast airwaves and more, it will be applied also to the Internet and Cable.    That by itself is worth opposing Obama.
  • If Obama cannot apppoint enough new Judges to strike down the Second Amendment through the Courts, he will lead an effort to seek its amendment out of the Constitution. 
  • Income taxes will be increased.

All these are a small taste of what you will get from the Dems.  think about the opportunities for them to join a Kyoto-like agreement to regulate carbon.

NL.... McCain is for the

NL....

McCain is for the Kyoto type agreements too....

So far anyway....he may flip on that also before it's over....I hope he does.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

The science is settled

...Kyoto is a failure.

I'm with ya BT, I hope McCain flips and flops like a dying fish on this one.

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

R1.... ...then we could

R1....

...then we could progress forward and hope for ANWR, Amnesty, carbon credits/global warming right here let alone Kyoto......Gitmo....gun sales loop hole...torture....

....ah heck....just kidding.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Baby steps BT. Hopefully

Baby steps BT.

Hopefully we'll have at least four years to set him straight. Maybe eight, unless a better candidate comes along. It would be hard to get any republicans to run against a seated president.

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

NL207, and McCain's SCOTUS picks will be any better?

After all, his nominee(s) will be going up against a dem Senate, which just happens to be controlled by Teddy K., who is one of Juan McCain's bestest buds.

Sorry, but McCain should have changed parties when he had the chance.

Not only that, but he was essentially hand-picked by the very same liberal MSM this very site was founded to combat, yet you are telling me that his SCOTUS picks are going to somehow be conservative.

Hardly.

McCain is a liberal. Get used to it.

-Dave.

Dave

McCain was quick to say Ginsberg, Sooter, Breyer should not be on the SCOTUS.  Did you see his answer during the forum?

Obama will be looking to clone the three SCOTUS legislaters

"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission" 

botg - didn't McCain say

botg - didn't McCain say (some time back) that he didn't like Alito ? Does that mean that even though he won't appoint a Darth Bader Ginsberg, but would appoint a Kennedy or an O'Conner ?

 

"They're both doofuses!" --Mark Levin (speaking of Obama and McCain)

free

he's also said he likes Roberts who i'd take any day over any Obama appointment.

"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission" 

Fair enough. That Alito

Fair enough.

That Alito comment of his got alot of coverage (especially by Mark Levin) and I was already sour on McCain to begin with.

 

"They're both doofuses!" --Mark Levin (speaking of Obama and McCain)

me too Free

but the SCOTUS is way too important to just give to Obambi, as long as there is a chance with McCain i need to take it.  I'm not willing to quit, (and i don't have kids) because the kids need us.

"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission" 

  I have to go on

 

I have to go on record: it's easy for me to say I won't vote for
McCain when I know full well that New Jeresy will go Obama, large,
because of all the Libs that have been moving in from Philly & NYC
over the last 30+ years. New Jersey hasn't gone GOP since '88, and
we've only been inflicted with more libs since then.

 

"They're both doofuses!" --Mark Levin (speaking of Obama and McCain)

Bruce - plus McCain was instrumental in getting Alito nominated

he didn't say he didn't like him that I know of, he said he wears his conservativeness on his sleeve in a negative sort of way, but he voted for him and broke the filibuster on him. He wouldn't be there if it weren't for McCain.

I said to BT in a comment yesterday that I think someone who turns down release from a prison camp because of honor is less likely than a normal politician to break his promises. I think he will do his best to nominate conservative judges.

He will do many things we don't like, but I don't think he will be honorable about judges.

btog & Free,

I respect you both in a really huge way, but this supposedly "conservative" SCOTUS has erred right badly.

And with a dem-controlled Senate, anyone with less talent than Ronald Reagan himself would be wholly unable to get a real conservative justice approved.

Given this, McCain is hopeless, as he is about as conservative as Billy Jeff.

-No joke.

-Dave.

 

Dave

sometimes the best offense is to limit the other team to a field-goal.

allowing Obambi in is giving them a TD and the ball.

"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission" 

RD,

This is what McCain has said concerning judicial appointments.

"To remedy this, McCain said, he will appoint jurists like Roberts,
Alito, and 'my friend, the late [former Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court] William Rehnquist.'"

Edit: Ooops. This reply was to Free.

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

RD,

McCain has said that he will nominate strict constrictionists to the bench. Do you think he is not a man of his word? You may not like everything he says, but he says what he means, and means what he says. Even when we disagree with him. He has not lied.

Obama has done nothing but lie, probably his entire life.

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

restless===

McCain---professional politician

Do professional politicians lie??

Do they keep their word??

Do they support the wishes of their constituency???

Is he CFR??? Is he pro-amnesty???

Will he bring peace or war??? (Georgia/Russia).

Is he pro-globalization???

 

Will a President who is pro amnesty, pro-globalization select strict constructionist, constitution supporting judges???

Or will the Prez pick judges who support HIS?HER intentions???

The answer , my friend , is blowing in the wind.

Perhaps, McCain will ask his advisor , dual citizen.  Mexico and Americxa, Juam Hernandez who to pick for the SCOTUS.

I am not the least bit confused. They both suck and will destroy America. We merely have to decide if we want to die through socialism/marxism/islam or through another war and open border and a New World Order...

 

Some f---- choice!!!!!!!!!!

I am voting 3rd party.

Bill,

Vote third party if you wish. Your griping about an obama presidency will have little weight though. Those who vote third party are knowingly allowing what will happen to this country if obama is elected. If you can live with that, then so can I.

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

R1, a vote for either Obama or McCain...

...will essentially have the same outcome in the end, as the real differences between the two can be literally counted on two fingers, and that is on a good day.

I was in some ways goaded into voting for GWB in '04, who is more conservative than even Juan McCain.

I then agonizingly watched as GWB and his republican congressional cohorts essentially doubled the size of the federal government within six years.

I no-longer have any illusions that voting for the lesser of two evils is somehow going to correct the leftward slide that the republican party has been engaged in over the last fifteen years or so. 

I have been told that my voting for GHWB, BD, and GWB (once) was the best course of action.

All I can say is, never again.

-Dave.

vote Perot is not the

vote Perot is not the answer

"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission" 

NL207,

As bad as the Republicans were when in power, the Dems are worse.

Really?

Name one consecutive six year period where the dems doubled the size and scope of the federal government as the republican-controlled congress did, and with the apparent blessings of GWB.

Hell, even ol' LBJ himself could not have conceived of that in his wildest wet dreams.

The republicans have utterly failed us.

-Dave.

Unless by some miracle of

Unless by some miracle of miracles....the repubs take control, there is no way a conservative SC judge nominee will ever....and I mean ever make it through the Judiciary committee....let alone the Senate.

I want no mistake to be made here though....I do not want Obama to win, not at all...I just can't bring myself to vote for McCain....my husband changed his mind after the Saddleback thing Saturday night...I think a lot of people may have....

I just watched McCain do too many destructive things to us out here in the real world for too many years....including stopping ANWR, he is just as responsible and beholden to he environs as the dems are for our gas prices and the predicament we all are in.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

bt my friend, I, too, have seen too much treachery by McCain.

Far too much to be canceled out by one somewhat "decent" showing on a forum run by a "pastor" of less-than-stellar reputation.

What is more, McCain's voting record of the last eight years has been utterly abysmal.

Sorry, but McCain hasn't even begun to atone for his sins.

-Dave.

hang on to your hats----

hang on to your hats----I am helping out at Barr's Smyrna GA location. I do some data entry for them.

If there ever was a Barr/Baldwin ticket, and if the damned naysayers and the belief that 3rd party voting is a "waste". Then we would have two strict Constitutionalists in office.

I believe that a 3rd party can win. I want an American for America candidate. I want the 14th amendment interpreted correctly. I want the Constitution upheld.  I want to be sure that any involvement in any conflicts are purely and truly for the good of America and not some special interests. (No accusation here, just a wish to stay as pure and American as we can be.) I want employers fined and have their license suspended for knowingly hiring illegals. I want Mexico to close 35 of their 56 consulates in America. I want Mexico to stop interfering in the sovereign matters of America.

I beliee that Attrition through Enforcement works. It seems to be working now, although at a low level.

I voted for Bush twice. He has done a terrible job and continues being bad. He is an open borders advocate. He is such a weenie that he can get people to accuse him of blowing up the WTC and getting a bunch of moonbats to believe it.

I haven't seen anything on this site , but I have read lots about the Russia/Georgia issue and there are some things that smell there, (on our partas well as the Russians).

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He has a very interesting article at:

http://the-peoples-forum.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=3445

 

PS Not attacking anyone, just an observation. Compared to 4 other sites I read regularly, NB appears to be a stronghold of Bush defenders. Most support his Iraq stance but little else and most, on the other sites, find him inept and a globalist.

You have a short memory. 

You have a short memory.  The Great Society and in particular, the New Deal most certainly did this as well. 

Put this problem in perspective.  The exponential growth in the National Debt traces its origins to the beginning of the Great Society.  The Republicans have not done any differently than the Dems in this regard because to do so means to reform zero-based budgeting and to repeal the Great Society social programs.  There are not enough perceived votes regardless of who is in power to get either one of these actions through Congress.  This is the root of the fiscal problem:  The Great Society must be repealed.

In a few short years bankruptcy will impose an end to these destructive programs.  And when it does there will be Hell to pay.

NL207, the republicans had 12 years to correct this...

...and they did absolutely f'ing nothing.

And LBJ's "great society" (as bad as it was) came nowhere near to doubling the size of the federal government within a six year period.

Not even close, as this country reached its economic peak in the 1960's, and has been borrowing money ever since.

Continue to believe that the Bush-controlled republican party is somehow conservative if you wish, but I got over that a long time ago.

 

-Dave.

The lies, inconsistences,

The lies, inconsistences, and contradictions of liberals will always be presented as "nuances", and the direct answers of conservatives presented as cheating.

McCain cheated

Of course he cheated.

When asked about adoption, he jumped into the Wayback Machine and quickly contrived adopting a baby (with Mother Teresa in on the scam of course)

Gut wrenching decisions? Well, truth be told, Old John was getting off on that prison camp torture so much, it was gonna take some serious arm twisting to get him out of there.

It's that silver spoon upbringing that made John McCain so adept at making his life experiences seem larger than life.

Yeah, Wright? (Oops, did I spell that wrong?)

I ♣ my seal

McCain should of rid

McCain should of rid himself of Weaver long ago and put in Davis....

Here is the response about all of this from McCain to Andrea's BS talking points....I love how they put in following the lead of msnbc, when they are talking about NBC if memory serves me right on this letter he sent to NBC....

N