I think the interview has been a success so far, but we’ll see how things pan out next week (although the interview was taped in one sitting on Thursday afternoon, the folks at Fox have decided to air it over four days). Obama didn’t blink when O’Reilly went after him on the surge and Iranian diplomacy, although I wish he’d taken it to O’Reilly a bit more on his overly simplistic interpretation of Obama’s stance on both issues. It does bode well for Obama’s debate performance though; his answers need to be a bit more concise and soundbite-able, but the substance is there.
It is important to frame Obama’s performance in context; this is a somewhat-hostile audience (Republicans and conservative Democrats), so any inroads he makes here is progress at John McCain’s expense. Also, Thursday’s Factor had the shows second greatest ratings to date, so it is an enormously large somewhat-hostile audience.
…is what Joe Biden’s going to be from now until November.
He’s pretty damn good at it. This is exactly the kind of rhetoric Democrats need this year, and there’s no better messenger than the senior Senator from Delaware.
When asked to respond to the escalating conflict in Georgia, John McCain took a much harder line on Russia than Obama, the Bush Administration, Europe and The UN:
While Obama offered a response largely in line with statements issued by democratically elected world leaders, including President Bush, first calling on both sides to negotiate, John McCain took a remarkably — and uniquely — more aggressive stance, siding clearly with Georgia’s pro-Western leaders and placing the blame for the conflict entirely on Russia.
This is not the first time John McCain has taken a curiously confrontational stance on Russia; his calls for The Federation to be expelled from the G8 is particularly alarming (especially considering that no other G8 nation has any intention of complying with McCain’s proposal, and as such must be construed as an example of personal animosity rather than a well-reasoned political maneuver or posture). Someone needs to let McCain know The Cold War is over.
