’)From his interview with Charles Gibson.
GIBSON: Change the subject for a moment. John McCain has unloaded on you in the last 72, 96 hours as has Sarah Palin. McCain is saying, essentially, we don’t know who Barack Obama is, where he came from. I’m an open book, he’s not.OBAMA: Right.
GIBSON: Were you surprised, A, that he didn’t bring it up last night at the debate and use that line of attack? And, B, since you must have prepared for it, what were you going to say?
OBAMA: Well, I am surprised that, you know, we’ve been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days that he wasn’t willing to say it to my face.
But I guess we’ve got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that — that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.
The notion that people don’t know who I am is a little hard to swallow. I’ve been running for president for the last two years. I’ve campaigned in 49 states. Millions of people have heard me speak at length on every topic under the sun. I’ve been involved now in 25 debates, going on my 26th. And I’ve written two books which any — everybody who reads them will say are about as honest a set of reflections by, at least, a politician as are out there.
So, you know, I think that, you know, Senator McCain’s campaign has been focusing on me primarily because they don’t want to focus on the economy. And they’ve said as much. I mean, you’ve had their spokespeople over the last couple of days say if we talk about the economic crisis, we lose.
I mean, you can’t be much more blatant than that. They want to change the subject. And I understand it because the fact is that John McCain has subscribed, for the most part, to the same economic philosophy as George Bush, the same economic philosophy that has governed over the last eight years and has helped to get us in this mess.
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It’s clear from this exchange that Obama is in McCain’s head, and he knows it.
Last night, he was daring him to bring up the attacks. When McCain was talking trash last night, check out Obama’s body language — smiling, staring right at McCain, even leaning forward a little bit.
And McCain blinked. Every single time. He didn’t have the courage to bring up the attacks to Obama’s face.
John McCain is a coward.
I realized during the first debate that John McCain is a coward. He could not look Obama in the face! Now I understand why he does not want to meet with dictators and our “enemies”, because he is afraid! How sad!
I agree. And by “coward”, I mean “pussy.”
It won’t happen because (sigh) one just doesn’t speak this plainly and truthfully in politics. But I would dearly love to see Obama turn McCain, look him right in the eye and say something like “You’ve been running ads accusing me of teaching sex to kindergarteners. You and have laughed when your followers yell for my death and have made speeches essentially calling me terrorist. If you really think that’s what I am, John, why don’t you say so to my face?”
McCain would stumbled and deny it and try to change the subject and when he does Obama should just quote his own words back at him and wait for an answer.
Won’t happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if someone just got fed up enough with the false civility and just said let’s call desperate mean-spirited old man what he is?
It’s pretty clear that McCain’s is hearing *many* voices in his head, not just Obama’s…
[...] throw lots of stuff out there, but McCain wouldn’t bring it up when he was face to face with [...]
I agree. And by “coward”, I mean “pussy.”
I also agree. And by “pussy” I mean big frikkin’ liar.
My friends.
Notice the attacks from Cindy McCain today. This is very smart and very calculated(so they think). This is a ploy to try to bring Michelle Obama to her husbands defense which will be “angry black woman” vs. “demure white damsel”.
This is so clear to me, it is as clear as day. Michelle Obama is such a hot button issue for the base of the “right” that if she says anything at all it will fire them up royally.
I think Obama needs to do what Eminem did in 8-Mile where in the last battle rap he took all of his opponents attack lines and used them himself to let them know that he knew what they were going to say.
I say Sen. Obama should come out and say emphatically, boldly that I am Barack Hussein Obama and I am not ashamed of my name, I am not ashamed of my mother, and I am not ashamed of my father. They made me, they made me a man, they made me a strong man, they made me a proud man, they made me…an American.
“My friends.”
I hated that line. As I said on another site, he sounded like a used car salesman trying to sell me a lemon.
An Obama volunteer told me today she was in Nashville yesterday for the debate, holding an Obama sign up outside the debate center. She indicated it was a real family atmosphere, young, old, and in between…except for ONE McCain supporter whose sign said “Obama is a Pussy” – SAD!!! The Obama ADULTS finally shamed the guy into leaving.
When you have nothing else intelligent to say, people use vulgarities. I don’t think this approach will fly with Americans who are hurting so badly.
McCain’s a bedwetter catering to other bedwetters
[...] I mean, you can’t be much more blatant than that. They want to change the subject. And I understand it because the fact is that John McCain has subscribed, for the most part, to the same economic philosophy as George Bush, the same economic philosophy that has governed over the last eight years and has helped to get us in this mess. [source] [...]
[...] McCain Can’t say it to my Face Posted on October 9, 2008 by chamay0 Obama had a discussion with Charles Gibson today about McCain being a back stabber. No Obama did not call McCain a back stabber, I did. [...]
[...] Oliver, this snippet from an Obama interview with Charlie [...]
jr wins the thread. That’s even better than Kevin Drum’s comparison to the inmates of Arkham Asylum.
FYI re: John Murtagh, the guy the McCain campaign is promoting to push the idea that Obama is buddies with bombers — he’s a Republican Yonkers City Councilman running for the New York State Senate and has his 83-year-old mom collecting signatures for his petition but doesn’t want her bothered if those signatures are challenged.
Judge John Murtagh Sr. seems to have been a decent guy even if you disagree with his verdict in Lenny Bruce’s bench trial. From what I understand, he conducted the Black Panthers jury trial about as fairly as possible given the prosecutors — he did not allow the laundry list of charges without any evidence to stand, and he gave a solid jury instruction.
[...] Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Jump to Comments Oliver Willis excerpts part of Charlie Gibson’s interview with Barack Obama (emphasis in [...]