With puff pieces on Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and Nancy Pelosi, the mainstream media just can’t stop fawning over leading Democrats. Their latest is newly elected Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, who is scheduled to deliver the Democratic response to the president’s State of the Union address.
On Tuesday’s American Morning, reporter Dana Bash showed her love for this freshman Democrat teasing the Senator "I love what you’ve done with the place [his temporary office]." Laughter followed. After mentioning his son serves in Iraq, Bash asked the hardball question, "don’t you think that actually gives you a leg up in some way, that you really have a personal investment?"
With so much love crowding out this story, they fail to mention some of the rude comments Senator Webb made to the president. The entire transcript is below.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: "The Democrats have chosen a man to deliver their response to the president's address, a freshman senator. CNN's Dana Bash is live for us on Capitol Hill this morning. Dana, good morning."
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: "Hi Soledad. Well, it certainly is surprising. You know, the new Democratic majority could have chosen to showcase their new female House Speaker. They could have chosen the new Senate Majority Leader. Instead, they chose a senator sworn in just 18 days ago after winning a campaign in which he wore combat boots, combat boots of his son serving in Iraq."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): "The cramped temporary office reminds you he is a Senate newcomer, in office barely three weeks. So I love what you've done with the place."
[Laughter]
SEN. JIM WEBB, (D) VIRGINIA: "What can I say? I have a computer, that's a start."
BASH: "Yet Democrats picked Virginia's Jim Webb for a major role, responding to the president's State of the Union address. On one hand it makes sense. Webb's come from behind victory in November gave Senate Democrats their one-seat majority and the Republican turned Democrat has been against the Iraq war from the start."
WEBB: "There were reasons that the country decided to go in a different direction, and I will be someone who is able to put a face on those reasons."
BASH: "But Webb has not signed on to what Democrats call their unified Iraq position, begin troop withdrawal in four to six months. He says he's still looking for what he calls a responsible strategy."
WEBB: "We have to reach the point where American combat troops are no longer on the streets of Iraq. The question is how you do that."
BASH: "Webb wants Democrats to use their new power to restrict aid to Iraqis, but opposes blocking money for U.S. troops. The decorated Vietnam veteran became a Republican because Democrats cut funding while he was in combat."
WEBB: "At the end of the Vietnam War, the Democratic Party really did lose its bubble and its credibility on how to deal with national security issues."
BASH: "His ties to Vietnam are still strong. His wife was a refugee. He speaks Vietnamese."
WEBB: [ speaking Vietnamese ]
BASH: "Iraq is personal too. His son is a Marine serving there. Don't you think that actually gives you a leg up in some way, that you really do have a personal investment?"
WEBB: "The responsibility of a leader is to act as though there were someone there that they had a personal responsibility toward. My beliefs on this would be the same either way."
BASH: "Webb insists it's nothing personal, but he's looking forward to telling the country why he thinks the president's policies are wrong."
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: "Now, the White House says the president's address will be upwards of 50 minutes. Democratic leadership sources say Senator Webb will speak for about eight minutes, and while we are told, of course, he will give his blunt message on Iraq, he is going to start with another issue that he and other new Democratic lawmakers say was a winning one for them in the campaign, and that is economic fairness, the disparity between the wealthy, the middle, and working class Americans in this country. Soledad?"
