Hotline After Dark -- '08ers React
Here are some quick reaxs to Pres. Bush's SOTU. More to come in today's Hotline:
FNC's Cameron: "A surprising shortage of reactions from a lot of these presidential candidates in the early stages after the speech, normally we're peppered with news releases" (1/23).
Rudy Giuliani: "It did what the president had to do, which was to get us kind of beyond Iraq, meaning there are a lot of other things we have to concentrate on. There are a lot of things that are very important to us, including Iraq, and the president spoke mostly about those things."
On WH '08: "I'm afraid that 2012 election may start before this one is over. These things are really happening very quickly. You just have to adjust to it, and deal with it. And I'll make a decision, you know, as quickly as I can about whether it is the right thing to do. But we're exploring it, we're putting together people, we're getting a great deal of support."
On HRC: "She has the kind of lead on the Democratic side that really no one on the Republican side has. I mean, we're sort of pretty close together, particularly John McCain and I" (FNC, 1/23).
Hillary Clinton: "I'm a realist. And I get up every today and try to figure out what we are going to get done today to move the ball forward. So, I'm ready to, you know, work with anybody. I'm not interested in scoring partisan or ideological points on some imaginary board in the sky. Let's try to get something done" (MSNBC, 1/23).
Barack Obama: "The writing reflected the fact that there's a lot of confusion -- not just in the country, but I think in the White House, as well -- about how to proceed, particularly on the foreign policy front. You know, frankly, the strongest responses that the president received were right at the end, when he was talking about the four wonderful stories of the individuals that were in the galleries. That's normally something that you put up front in a speech. That's not how you would end. And I think that indicates that, you know, the overall approach on foreign policy is not one that I think really sold tonight" (MSNBC, 1/23).
Obama, on the stories about his schooling in Indonesia: "You know, when I ran for the United States Senate, right after I won the primary, there were some political operatives that put up a web site that superimposed my face over bin Laden. And you know, full with the beard and the turban. We ended up winning that race 70 percent to 30 percent. The American people are smarter than that. ... And so if I go ahead with the presidential race, what they're going to be listening for is a message of change, a message of leadership. If they think I've got a vision for the country that can help them secure a future for themselves and their children, then I think I'll do fine" (CNN, 1/23).
John Edwards: "I was really disappointed not to hear him talk about what I would describe as the struggles of working men and women in this country, and particularly in New Orleans, which he made a big deal about a year ago and said, you know, he would stay with it until problems in New Orleans were solved. Well, he hasn't stayed with it and the problems aren't solved" (MSNBC, 1/23).
More Edwards: "He talked about some really important issues, not just Iraq, but energy and health care. He made some proposals, which I was happy to hear. Those proposals where mostly small, baby steps instead of the big transformation to bold things that I think are necessary to deal with those issues" (FNC, 1/23).
Edwards, on Iraq: "What's missing here is the president is basically and fundamentally wrong. He seems to think that somehow if we put more troops behind what has been failing time and time again, that it will make it work. And I just think he's wrong" (CNN, 1/23).
AND THE PUNDITS SAY ...
NBC's Williams: "There were some issues that didn't even get the courtesy applause, the polite, the civilian corps idea for the U.S. military got no reaction from the Joint Chiefs in the front row. At that point, it was, slide down the ice, get to the tributes in the gallery, which were the winning high point. If you can't win with a guy who throws himself under a New York subway train, it's time for a new speechwriter" (MSNBC, 1/23).
New York Times' Brooks: "You saw people can have their really serious disagreements about Iraq, but put that to one side and at least applaud, at least have the spirit of good atmosphere in the room, despite all that. And that leaves the opening, at least, for the possibility that on some of these issues" (PBS, 1/23).
Mark Shields: "I thought it was civil. I thought it was polite. I thought there was a polite feeling in the room, that the fellow's down. I disagree with him, but there's no point in kicking him" (PBS, 1/23).
CNN's Crowley: "The main nugget of this speech, it seems to me, was: Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq, and I ask you to give it a chance to work. Whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure. That's the message the president needed to get out tonight" (1/23).
FNC's Hume: "Jim Webb, himself a writer of some repute, and a man with a rich and deep voice, seeming quite comfortable with the text that he had written" (1/23).
NBC's Brokaw, on Webb: "A year ago, we were both in Vietnam, retracing his days there for a book that I'll be writing" (MSNBC, 1/23).
CNN's Blitzer, on Webb: "As expected, a tough, no-nonsense speech" (1/23). [EMILY GOODIN]
