Appearing on PBS's Charlie Rose Tuesday night following President Obama's State of the Union address, Bloomberg View columnist Al Hunt praised it as "one of the best speeches of his presidency" and "remarkably effective," before admitting: "I don't think he's going to get much done....This is not a cycle where you get much done. He may get a little stuff on trade and infrastructure."
Rose interjected: "So then the point is to reassert the debate." Hunt replied: "The debate is going to take place over the next two years leading up to the presidential election and I think he set the predicate tonight that was very advantageous for Democrats."
In stark contrast, while interviewing Republican Colorado Senator Cory Gardner on the January 14 broadcast of the show, Hunt criticized the GOP for the exact same thing: "Some of your Republican colleagues, Ted Cruz in the Senate, those twenty-four House members who voted against Speaker Boehner, they're not interested in getting things done as much as they are in putting down markers. Isn't it more likely there'll be a series of confrontations rather than any kind of collaboration?"
When Obama is "putting down markers" it's "remarkably effective," but when the GOP does it their just causing "confrontation."
Here are transcripts of Hunt's quotes from the PBS program:
(...)
01/20/15
AL HUNT: I don't think he's going to get much done....This is not a cycle where you get much done. He may get a little stuff on trade and infrastructure.
CHARLIE ROSE: So then the point is to reassert the debate.
HUNT: The debate is going to take place over the next two years leading up to the presidential election and I think he set the predicate tonight that was very advantageous for Democrats.
(...)
01/14/15
HUNT: Some of your Republican colleagues, Ted Cruz in the Senate, those twenty-four House members who voted against Speaker Boehner, they're not interested in getting things done as much as they are in putting down markers. Isn't it more likely there'll be a series of confrontations rather than any kind of collaboration?
(...)
