Larry King to Brokaw: Does Rush Support McCain Because He's White?

NBC’s Tom Brokaw, CBS’s Bob Schieffer, and former NBC reporter Maria Shriver were all on CNN’s Larry King Live on Monday night. Shriver effusively described her support for Obama: "I think he'd be great not just for this country, but I think for the whole world and for America's standing in the world. I think he is a thoughtful man, a deeply reflective man, smart, inclusive." But the stand-out moment of the hour came in the first segment, when King underlined Rush Limbaugh’s assertion that Colin Powell’s endorsement of Obama was all about race. King asked Brokaw in response: "Does that mean, Tom, that Limbaugh's endorsement of McCain was because he was white?" Brokaw snapped: "No. I don't want to go there. But what I would say is that Rush Limbaugh is going to match his credibility up against Barack Obama and a lot of people would like to have money in that pool."

Brokaw added:

If he didn't listen carefully to what Colin Powell had to say as he ticked off the many reasons that he was supporting Barack Obama and his concern about what's happening to the Republican Party, in which he has always been a stalwart member -- we even played some of the tapes from the 2000 convention, in which Colin Powell said that President Bush and Vice President Cheney would heal the racial divide in this country.

Was race an element? It could have been in some small fashion. But I think anyone who has watched Colin Powell over the years and talked to him about his concerns or heard him at conferences or heard him speak knows that there are so many issues out there that he thinks that need to be addressed. And he feels that they're not being addressed adequately on the Republican side in this campaign.

Brokaw made no attempt to explain what precisely the McCain-Palin campaign has done that is harshly forcing apart the racial divide in America, except perhaps daring to oppose Obama, or mocking community organizers, or calling Obama "that one." CNN also failed to question how precisely Powell fits the definition of "always" being a "stalwart member" of the Republican Party.

Brokaw and Schieffer also repeated talking points from earlier interviews. Brokaw praised the powerful eloquence of Powell: "In the midst of that long windup to what he had to say, which many people found very powerful and very eloquent -- even Republicans, by the way -- I didn't know whether, at the end of it, he would say I'm going to vote for Barack Obama or whether he would say, so I do believe that he's qualified to be president. I was prepared to try to pull it out of him, but he volunteered it on his own."

Schieffer repeated that Powell speaks for many Republicans: "I think this is -- this was a very important thing. I think, when you stop and think about it, what Colin Powell did on Sunday was he said aloud what I have heard a lot of Republicans tell me privately. He expressed their frustrations."

Powell also came up in the Maria Shriver interview at the end of the show:

KING: Colin Powell used the Palin nomination as an example of why he is opposed. What do you make of this?

SHRIVER: I thought his statement was obviously very thoughtful, very careful, and he had done a lot of soul searching. I think this has been a year where people have done so much soul searching to come to the conclusions that they came to. Women, I think in particular, during the primary and now I think there's been much debate about Sarah Palin by women and by men. But I think, overall, it's been an extraordinary political career -- political year.

KING: Does Colin help a lot, do you think?

SHRIVER: I think he does. I think he's certainly well respected, and I certainly think he gets rid of that argument whether he's ready to lead or not.

KING: As a woman, what did you think of the Palin nomination?

SHRIVER: I wasn't surprised that John McCain picked a woman, but I thought it might be a different woman. I think it'll be up to men and women whether they think she is capable of being in the second most powerful position in the United States of America.

KING: Even though you're a liberal Democrat, is there some appeal to you having a woman on the ticket?

SHRIVER: Well, I think it's been, you know, interesting all year long to watch Hillary Clinton, who I think was extraordinary. And I think it's been very interesting to talk to other women about Sarah Palin. It's not a woman I would support, but I think it's good for women to have women out there, whether it's on the Republican ticket or the Democratic ticket.

KING: Do you think Senator Obama will win?

SHRIVER: I do. Absolutely, I do.

KING: Are you out campaigning for him?

SHRIVER: I haven't been. I was when he was here in California. If he asked me to join him, I'd be happy to. I think he'd be great not just for this country, but I think for the whole world and for America's standing in the world. I think he is a thoughtful man, a deeply reflective man, smart, inclusive. I think a lot of what Colin Powell said is what a lot of people believe. And I think he's hopeful. I looked at the picture of 100,000 people coming out for him in St. Louis the other day. And I just sat at my kitchen table and looked at that picture, and thought, I was so grateful to be alive to see that, and I'm so proud that I have a child who is going to vote for him in this election. I think it's an incredible thing to be able to witness.