Hotline After Dark -- How Many '08ers Can You Fit On Cable?
Lots of analysis after Pres. Bush's speech:
CNN's Cooper: "Mr. Bush said al Qaeda 12 times. General Petraeus got eight mentions. Surge got six, and getting no mention whatsoever, the word victory" ("AC 360," 9/13).
CNN's Crowley: "The president's plan for troop withdrawal is not big enough or soon enough to satisfy critics, but it does move the political debate forward, from whether troops should come home to how many and when. It will not sit well with the president's opponents that he is now talking with Iraqi leaders about an extended U.S. stay" ("AC 360," 9/13).
CNN's Malveaux: "He did what he had to do. He delivered some good news with troop withdrawals, but he's setting the stage for the bad news that he's going to deliver tomorrow, that is the Iraq progress report to Congress -- 18 benchmarks, nine satisfactory, five unsatisfactory, four mixed. By any standards, a failure grade" (9/13).
Washington Examiner's Sammon: "I don't see that he has really made any strong concession in terms of those troop withdrawals, because he's just taking us back to the same level we were at Iraq earlier this year" (FNC, 9/13).
MSNBC's Matthews: "The idea that we're one of 36 countries fighting the war I think is ludicrous. And why the president would throw that out there, I think it only opens him up to ridicule." More: "I think the American people will find it very frustrating if the only reason we're in Iraq is because we're afraid to leave" (9/13).
Pat Buchanan: "I find extraordinary -- the president's amazing dependence upon General Petraeus. If tomorrow morning General Petraeus said, You know, I think this war is not going well and we ought to come out, I think the president would have no more cards. He has become so dependent on him, even though he's the commander-in-chief" (MSNBC, 9/13).
ABC's Stephanopoulos: "It was less confrontational than it was in the past ... but fundamentally ... the president was delivering a mixed message tonight. He said troops are going to start coming home but America is going to be in Iraq and in the region for a very long time" (9/13).
THE '08 EFFECT
And, of course, the speech was seen through the prism of WH '08:
FNC's Cameron, on the '08ers reax: "Democrats are already criticizing, and Republicans have accused the Democratic field of sot of being in a race for who can pull out U.S. troops fastest" (9/13).
NBC's Russert: "In January of '09, when a new president is sworn in, when he or she puts his or her hand on the Bible, there will be about 100,000 troops in Iraq. And he is putting a plan in place that is going to guarantee U.S. military involvement in Iraq long after he leaves the White House" (MSNBC, 9/13).
NBC's Williams: "That is quite an inheritance for the next president" (MSNBC, 9/13).
Barack Obama, asked if he was surprised by anything in the speech: "No. I think we knew the direction the president was going in before the speech. And he reconfirmed, I think, that he is bound to this same failed course that we have seen for the last several years" ("LKL," CNN, 9/13).
Rudy Giuliani: "Hillary Clinton should disown and condemn Moveon.org, and she really has to explain her complicity in this. I mean, that's a pretty despicable attack on an American general at a time of war. After all, this is a man, whatever you think of the success or lack of success, this is a man who's put his life at risk, you know, day in, day out, to try to keep his troops safe, to try to keep us successful. Right now, his life is at risk in trying to keep America safe. She has some nerve attacking his integrity."
Giuliani, on getting the NYT ad for the same discounted rate as Moveon.org: "We got the rate, ... which is I think about $100,000 less than they usually charge for a full page. It seems to me if they can give over a page to attacking the integrity of an American general in a time of war, with vicious ad hominem attacks, they should give us an opportunity to respond on his behalf and to point out the political nature of these attacks" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 9/13).
John Edwards, on Bush's speech: "It's a continuation in a series of P.R. jobs where the president is trying to convince the American people that the surge is working, that we're making progress in Iraq. Not addressing the absolutely fundamental underlying question, which is, has there been any serious political progress between the Sunni and Shia? And the answer to that question is no, and for that reason, the president doesn't focus on that. And that's the reason America needs to be leaving Iraq" ("LKL," CNN, 9/13)
John McCain: "One of the disappointing things to me about the Democrats' response is they failed to acknowledge any success whatsoever and attacked General Petraeus" (FNC, 9/13).
Joe Biden: "By the president's own standards, this whole policy has been a failure. And all he's doing ... is trying to keep ... the cork in the bottle, keeping this thing from imploding until the next president. It's shameful. I think it was shameful the way they're trying to sell this" (MSNBC, 9/13).
Mike Huckabee: "I think the president gave a pretty honest assessment that things could be better, but things could be a lot worse. And most importantly, we are seeing some success. ... And, you know, frankly, I've just got a lot more confidence in these guys over there getting shot at than I do the people who are maybe having some political agenda to take a different position here from the comfort of the United States" (MSNBC, 9/13). [EMILY GOODIN]