Yanking Our Chain?

In today???s National Review Campaign Spot, Jim Geraghty passes on an important exchange from the July 21, 2008, edition of CNN???s Anderson Cooper 360 between host Anderson Cooper and panelists David Gergen and Gloria Borger about presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who is making a whirlwind tour through Eurasia.

David Gergen said:

I think it was the first ??? Barack Obama made the first mistake of his trip, in my judgment, in releasing a statement in which he said exactly what Maliki had said in those conversations. We have a long tradition in this country that we only have one president at a time. He???s the commander in chief and the negotiator in chief. I cannot remember a campaign which a rival seeking the presidency has been in a position negotiating a war that???s under way with another party outside the country. I think he leaves himself open to the charge tonight that he???s meddling, that this is not his role, that he can be the critic, but he???s not the negotiator. We have a president who does that. So, I think the underlying facts support him, but I think it would be a real mistake ??? and I think it was a mistake ??? to get into these conversations and let it be used politically.

When Anderson Cooper asked Gloria Borger if she agreed with Gergen, she responded:

You know, it???s very interesting, I do agree with David. And Candy [Crowley], in her earlier piece, talked about walking the fine line between being this candidate and being presumptuous. And I think that he may just have crossed that, because, you know, it is a tradition. You don???t talk about these private conversations. And it???s not up to Barack Obama right now to negotiate troop withdrawals. It???s up to Barack Obama to be on a fact-finding mission, which is indeed what he has said he was on.

NOBAMA!!!

I think McCain's attempt to "steal Obama's thunder" is evident of the Senator Obama's success in dealing with foreign relations. McCain's camp attempted to goad Obama into going overseas in hope that Obama would make similar gaffes to that of his competitor. Instead, we have seen a shift in policy by the Bush administration and an Iraqi government asserting their independence---that is what the mission was after all, right? So now, Senator McCain's camp would rather play coy with the media in weak attempts to beg for attention rather than earn coverage by discussing real issues. McCain and camp cannot have it both ways; he can???t scream how unfair the media is in their coverage, but yet when given a platform to discuss issues and solutions (still waiting to hear him define victory, and since when is surrender turning the country over to a sovereign nation?), use that time to attack the opponent. The American people are tired of that crap on their televisions and newspapers day in and out; to think otherwise is insulting our intelligence. Even FIX News suggested that the televised town hall meeting was somewhat of a sham, because no real challenges were discussed and much of the audience was selected by the McCain camp. Instead of disingenuously blaming a candidate for gas prices, why not offer solutions, I thought McCain would be better than this, but obviously, the Straight Talk Express has taken a detour and the maverick we once knew is no more.

McCain is annoyed? Gee, I don't know why. Maybe it's the glaringly obvious favoritism shown for Obamessiah by everyone at Newsweek. You people have the objectivity of paid campaign staff -- stop pretending otherwise. What a disgrace you all are.

Funny how McCain's camp complains about Obama getting too much media attention, but even when the article is about their candidate, all McCain's supporters can talk about is Obama! What does this suggest to you?

It suggests to me that there isn't very much positive to say about thier candidate, so all that's left is to try to knock down the other guy.