I just saw Barack on Hardball (interviewed by David Gregory, not Chris Matthews) and a bit later on CNN with Wolf Blitzer. He was great. In both cases, they discussed 2 topics: the Imus issue and the Iraq funding.
I'll take the Iraq funding issue first. Many bloggers have skewered Barack for saying Dems would not "play chicken" with the troops if Bush vetos the current funding bill. He's been accused of capitulating to Bush on the matter of a withdrawal deadline before a veto has even occurred.
McCain even used the reported statement to invoke Barack in his own posturing: "I hope Democrats in Congress will heed the advice of one of their leading candidates for President, Senator Obama, and immediately pass a new bill to provide support to our troops in Iraq without substituting their partisan interests for those of our troops and our country. "
In his smooth and generous way, Barack stated his respect for Sen. McCain but said he was misquoted. Barack went on to clarify that he is commited to seeing the troops come home safely and that the president should adopt the plan sent to him by Congress. If Bush does veto the bill, Congress needs to ratchet up the pressure and craft a new bill containing other conditions to ensure a change in course and the safe return of our troops.
Bush is the one putting our people at risk if he vetos the bills. Barack reminded that the administration and its supporters like McCain have continually pursued the same course and have repeatedly claimed that success was just around the corner. It has never been true and it's not true this time either. We need a "surge in honesty."
He told Blitzer he did not support a complete cutoff of funds like some do. He referenced his meetings with families in Iowa and Illinois who have loved ones in Iraq and are concerned that their sons, daughters, spouses are properly equipped and supported until they get home.
I haven't stated it as eloquently as Barack, but I thought the interviews went extremely well.
The 2nd topic was Imus and his offensive comments about the Rutgers basketball team. I know some in this community did not agree with Barack's criticism of Imus, but here again I thought he came off very well in the interviews.
He does not feel this kind of commentary about a group of outstanding college students is right. Whether or not the Imus show is cancelled is up to CBS and MSNBC, Barack said, but Imus "wouldn't work for me." He cited his 2 daughters, who he hopes might someday play college basketball, and said he would hate to hear TV commentators talking about them that way.
