Hotline After Dark -- Bush Disapproves Of Bush

Barack Obama's announcement got plenty of TV time last night so other candidates popped up to get their share of it. Hillary Clinton appeared on all the network morning shows this a.m. Details on that will be in today's Hotline but she made no WH announcement. Now, on to Obama:

CNN's Bash: "Whether he can turn media attention into a credible candidacy is the question" ("AC 360," 1/16).

GOP strategist Mike Murphy: "I think his big problem is right now the people are in love with the idea of a Barack Obama, but they don't really know much about who he really is. ... The question is will it sustain in the reality he faces, which is the Democratic primary" ("AC 360," CNN, 1/16).

NPR's Liasson: "At some point he's going to become -- I won't say an ordinary candidate, but he will start coming down to Earth and I think the process is starting right now" ("Special Report," FNC, 1/16).

Washington Post's Robinson: "I don't think Barack Obama is Bambi, you know? I don't think he is some total naive who is unaware of the way politics is practiced. And I think he will reach out to the right people" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 1/16).

Newsweek's Alter: "He likes to evoke that Lincoln comparison, not just because he's from Illinois, but, as Obama says, if he were elected, he'd be the least-experienced president since Lincoln, who served one two-year term in the House of Representatives before becoming president" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 1/16).

FNC's Cameron: "Clinton, Obama and Edwards, a woman, and African American and a white southerner, lead the early pack, but each has their problems. Clinton's Democratic critics say the she's too polarizing. Obama's say he is untested and too young. And Edwards detractors say he had is chance back in 2004" ("Special Report," 1/16).

WE WANT TV TIME TOO

John Edwards was in the "Situation Room":

Asked if Obama has the experience to be POTUS: "Well, it won't be my decision to make. I think that it's a good thing to have good people in this race. If you're running for president for the right reason, it's because you want to serve your country, and you have decided it's the best way to serve your country. I have thought long and hard about that, and made that decision for myself. And I guess it will be for Senator Obama to decide in the next few weeks whether that's something he believes he should do."

More: "Speaking for myself, I'm not exploring. I have made the decision that this is the best way to serve my country. And we will just see what happens as the campaign goes on. I think we want good people in the race, because we desperately need new leadership in 2009."

Asked if he was talking about HRC in his NY comments on Iraq: "I wasn't ... thinking about anybody in particular. It was directed at members of Congress who, I believe, as a matter of conscience, should stop this president from escalating this war and from continuing in a long series of really tragic mistakes that he's made in Iraq. ... It's time for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle, by the way, not just Democrats, but those who know, in good conscience and principle, that this war should not be escalated, to speak out and to take action."

On Howard Wolfson's response: "Yes, it sounds a little oversensitive to me. ... I didn't speak about anybody by name. I talked about members of Congress" (CNN, 1/16).

Tom Tancredo was also in the "Situation Room":

CNN's Blitzer: "Are you doing this because you really believe you have a shot of winning the White House, or you're similarly looking for a platform to raise important issues, important issues to you?"

Tancredo: "Both. The fact is that I am convinced after having to talked to a lot of people in Iowa and all over the country, frankly, that the party's, first of all, looking for somebody that will articulate the issues that we care greatly about. And I say 'we.' I'm talking about the grassroots of the party. I'm talking about certainly securing the borders as one of those things. But it goes far beyond that, to the issues of fiscal responsibility, which they think have been abandoned, the idea of an energy policy that really and truly will move us away from dependency on the people who are trying to kill us, dependency on their oil. So there are a lot of issues that make me believe that my candidacy is viable" (CNN, 1/16).

On his GOP opponents: "They are going to try to create the illusion of being a rock solid conservative, because the theory they operate under is the old one, the old political axiom, in the Republican primary you run to the right and eventually move to the center. Democrats do it just the opposite" ("Tucker," MSNBC, 1/16).

Dennis Kucinich was also on "Tucker" to talk about the situation in Iraq.

THE SALES PITCH CONTINUES

Pres. Bush sat down with PBS' Lehrer:

On the reported Iraqi deaths: "Message is we better help this government stop the sectarian violence. I hear all kinds of different numbers, but the fact is that too many have died as the result of Shias killing Sunnis, Sunnis killing Shias and that I have made the decision that it is best to try to help this government stop this sectarian violence."

More: "But remember, some of these bombings are done by al Qaeda and their affiliates, all trying to create doubt and concern and create these death squads or encourage these death squads to roam neighborhoods."

Bush: "I want the Iraqis to succeed for our own sake."

More Bush: "I am frustrated with the progress. If you were to take it and put me in an opinion poll and said do I approve of Iraq, I'd be one of those that said, no, I don't approve of what's taking place in Iraq."

Bush: "I will sound defensive but some of my decisions actually have worked, like getting rid of Saddam Hussein and helping the Iraqi government form a unity government that is based on a novel constitution for the Middle East" ("NewsHour," 1/16).[EMILY GOODIN]