Is George Stephanopoulos worth his salary, worth our time?
Here are the gory details from his questions last night. By my count, about 50% are wasted time.
Q1. He's essentially asking Hillary if she is ready to concede. Why else would anyone's opinion about their opponent's electibility matter to voters, given the obvious bias of the respondant? This question has been asked and answered ad nauseum. It's a waste and a waste of time - except, he got Hillary to bite, so ...
Q2: This question is just ludicrous and the best reply would be to point it out: "George, I don't understand your question, because I'm more patriotic than you, right?" Less flip, "As a public figure, I have thousands of contacts and associations. I really don't conduct myself by walking around asking whether I am more patriotic than they are - and I do not recommend it."
Q3: This is a replay of the New Hampshire quesiton, in which Hillary was asked how she felt about polls that people don't like her. She answered both head on, but did we find out anything other than that she can handle difficult questions well, which of course, we already knew.
Q4: This question lacks specificity. Obama might have used that to his advantage: "We've suggested that, because we've released our tax records, that Hillary do so as well; and she has. The voters now have the kind of transparency that we are campaigning for. We are already getting results, and we do not even have the nomination, quite yet." Otherwise, is this question just an attempt to separate Obama from his campaign?
Q5: Geprge asks how do you respond to the latest guilt-by-association? Obama answered well enough, right? He's right to continue to re-set the agenda. He needs to find the Presidential Voice, still, however. And soon. McCain, for all his faults, often speaks with no uncertainty.
Q6: An interesting question about Iran that really requires the respondent to re-frame the whole issue in order to give a smart response that doesn't (a) buy into the notion that Iran is about to attack, unprovoked; and (b) buy into the notion the American foreign policy vote should be decided based on who pledges to "kick ass" the most.
Q7: Tax pledge - this is a tough question but it's a view of politics that's crass. Tough because it is a lose-lose question, a real political choice-to-be made.
Q8: Gun ban in D.C. This is another tough question, because it is also lose-lose, a real political take-a-stance or do not. At the same time, it is not representative of what is a major policy proposal for either campaign - it's a question for localities, right?
Q9: Affirmative action for the wealthy - another tough question, a foreshadow of GOP positioning. Both candidates need to be able to talk about this, to some degree. Bill Clinton had to, right? All the same, how much is this a pivotal, defining national issue in 2008 or a continuation of exaggerated dividing lines? In other words, even if this were a serious injustice, how does that weigh among things like fiscal responsibility, war/peace, torture, and more? How does it make the cut, to the top-ten issues, on George's scorecard?
Q10: How to make "use" of President Bush - this is a stupid, throw-away question. Many Americans are interested in how Mr. Bush and crew are going to be investigated and whether a truth commission that covers the last seven years is in order. Neither candidate caught the tenor of the electorate in their responses.
From the transcript:
Senator Clinton, when Bill Richardson called you to say he was endorsing Barack Obama, you told him that Senator Obama can't win. I'm not going to ask you about that conversation. I know you don't want to talk about it. But a simple yes-or-no question: Do you think Senator Obama can beat John McCain or not?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But the question is, do you think Senator Obama can do that? Can he win?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, do yo think Senator Clinton can win?
2. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator, two questions. Number one, do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do? And number two, if you get the nomination, what will you do when those sermons are played on television again and again and again?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: You've disowned him?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But you do believe he's as patriotic as you are?
3. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Clinton, we also did a poll today, and there are also questions about you raised in this poll. About six in 10 voters that we talked to say they don't believe you're honest and trustworthy. And we also asked a lot of Pennsylvania voters for questions they had. A lot of them raised this honesty issue and your comments about being under sniper fire in Bosnia.
Here's Tom Rooney from Pittsburgh.
Q Senator, I was in your court until a couple of weeks ago. How do you reconcile the campaign of credibility that you have when you've made those comments about what happened getting off the plane in Bosnia, which totally misrepresented what really happened on that day? You really lost my vote. And what can you tell me to get that vote back?
4. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, your campaign has sent out a cascade of e-mails, just about every day, questioning Senator Clinton's credibility. And you yourself have said she hasn't been fully truthful about what she would do as president.
Do you believe that Senator Clinton has been fully truthful about her past?
5. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator, if you get the nomination, you'll have to -- (applause) -- (inaudible).
I want to give Senator Clinton a chance to respond, but first a follow-up on this issue, the general theme of patriotism in your relationships. A gentleman named William Ayers, he was part of the Weather Underground in the 1970s. They bombed the Pentagon, the Capitol and other buildings. He's never apologized for that. And in fact, on 9/11 he was quoted in The New York Times saying, "I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough."
An early organizing meeting for your state senate campaign was held at his house, and your campaign has said you are friendly. Can you explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem?
6. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, let's stay in the region. Iran continues to pursue a nuclear option. Those weapons, if they got them, would probably pose the greatest threat to Israel. During the Cold War, it was the United States policy to extend deterrence to our NATO allies. An attack on Great Britain would be treated as if it were an attack on the United States. Should it be U.S. policy now to treat an Iranian attack on Israel as if it were an attack on the United States?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: So you would extend our deterrent to Israel?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Clinton, would you?
7. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Let me turn to the economy. That is the number one issue on Americans' minds right now.
Yesterday, Senator McCain singled that the number one issue, in the general election campaign on the economy, is going to be taxes. And he says that both of you are going to raise taxes, not just on the wealthy but on everyone. Here's what he said in his speech yesterday.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): (Pre-recorded remarks.) All these tax increases are under the fine print of the slogan: hope. They're going to raise your taxes by thousands of dollars a year. And they have the audacity to hope you don't mind.
(Laughter.)
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Clinton, two-part question.
Two-part question: Can you make an absolute, read-my-lips pledge that there will be no tax increases of any kind for anyone earning under $200,000 a year?
And if the economy is as weak a year from now as it is today, will you -- will you persist in your plans to roll back President Bush's tax cuts for wealthier Americans?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Even if the economy is weak?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: An absolute commitment, no middle-class tax increases of any kind.
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Would you take the same pledge?
8. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Clinton, you have a home in D.C.
Do you support the D.C. ban [on guns]?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But what do you think? Do you support it or not?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Is the D.C. ban consistent with that right?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: But Senator, you were for that when you ran for Senate in New York.
9. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Senator Obama, last May we talked about affirmative action, ad you said at the time that affluent African Americans like your daughters should probably be treated as pretty advantaged when they apply to college, and that poor white children -- kids -- should get special consideration, affirmative action.
So, as president, how specifically would you recommend changing affirmative action policies so that affluent African Americans are not given advantages, and poor, less affluent whites are?
MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: Even if they're wealthy?
10. MR. STEPHANOPOULOS: We're running out of time for this segment. Very quickly, for each of you, 30 seconds. Senator Clinton, you've said that you believe in using former presidents. How would you use George W. Bush if you were president? (Laughter.)
