Sunday Snapshot -- War Of Words

Policy discussions dominated the Sunday shows. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) was on "Face the Nation."

Lieberman, asked if he believes Barack Obama is not ready to be POTUS: "John McCain is more ready to be president on foreign and domestic policy because of his extraordinary experience. And it's good experience. It's experience where he's had the guts to do what's right for his country, including in Iraq, where he opposed the administration policy for a long time."

More Lieberman: "I hope Barack Obama goes to Iraq. And, frankly, I hope he changes his position. Because if we had done what Senator Obama asked us to do, for the last couple of years, today Iran and Al Qaida would be in control of Iraq. It would be a terrible defeat for us and our allies in the Middle East and throughout the world."

After the jump, interviews with third party candidates and Western govs.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

CBS' Schieffer: "You're saying, if we had done a draw-down, as Senator Obama had suggested, that Iran would now be in control of Iraq?"

Lieberman: "Yes. ... And it's not just Senator Obama. It's generally the leadership of the Democratic Party. On this issue, I respectfully but deeply disagreed. ... Here's my objection to the continued commitment of Senator Obama to order a withdrawal according to a time schedule. It does not, as far as I've heard him ever say, depend on what's happening on the ground. ... I think General Petraeus is going to announce this summer that we can continue to bring our troops out with victory, with honor and success. But if you just say, as Senator Obama continues the say, no matter what's happening, I'm taking the troops out, that's an invitation to real trouble."

Lieberman, on McCain adviser Charlie Black saying a terrorist attack would help McCain: "Certainly the implications there, I know, were not what Charlie intended. And he apologized for it. Senator McCain said he didn't agree. And, of course, I feel the same way. But here's the point. We're in a war against Islamist extremists who attacked us on 9/11. They've been trying to attack us in many, many ways since then. We've been very fortunate, as a result of 9/11 reform legislation which Senator McCain championed, a lot of good work by people who work for our country, that that hasn't happened."

More: "But we need a president who is ready to be commander in chief on day one. Senator McCain is. Incidentally, Senator [Hillary] Clinton said that over and over again. And she's right. She was ready to be president on day one. Why? Because our enemies will test the new president early. Remember that the truck bombing of the World Trade Center happened in the first year of the Clinton administration; 9/11 happened in the first year of the Bush administration. John McCain is ready to take the reins on January 20, 2009. He doesn't need any training" (CBS, 6/29).

Gen. Wesley Clark was also on "Face the Nation," where he continued to talk about McCain being "untested and untried."

Clark: "In the matters of national security policy making, it's a matter of understanding risk. It's a matter of gauging your opponents and it's a matter of being held accountable. John McCain's never done any of that in his official positions. ... He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn't held executive responsibility."

CBS' Schieffer: "I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences, either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."

Clark: "Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president."

Clark, on Obama going to Iraq: "There's not a learning period in this job. The next president is going to have to step right into the job. He's going to have to have the policies there. And I think Barack is taking a very sensible view of this by going abroad and meeting firsthand the leaders, at this critical moment in times of America's needs abroad" (CBS, 6/29).

THIRD PARTIES THE CHARM?

Third party candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr each sat down for an interview.

Nader appeared on "This Week," and he was asked about his recent comments regarding Obama talking "white."

ABC's Stephanopoulos, on Obama: "I've looked back at his speeches, obviously been covering his campaign. He talks about poverty an awful lot. ... So it seems like Obama has been working on the issues you care about, but you just haven't been listening."

Nader: "I have been. Just look at the positions he's taken that corporate America are very congenial to."

Stephanopoulos: "Those are some harsh comments you made about Barack Obama, where you said he's trying to talk white. Where you talked about predatory lending, pay day loans, lead paint. He's talked about and acted on all those issues."

Nader: "He has not done it. ... 97 percent of the CEOs in the Fortune 500 are white. This is a white power structure. 100 million Americans are underpaid, overcharged, disrespected. ... If he was really serious about lead paint, and asthma, and asbestos, he would propose in the Congress a major task force for the inner city. He hasn't done that. It's easy just to talk. Admiral Rickover used to have this phrase, 'say-do.' Say one thing, but not do what you're saying."

Stephanopoulos: "Is there any doubt in your mind that Barack Obama would be a better president for your issues, for the things you care about, than John McCain?"

Nader: "Well, anybody would be better than the Republicans."

Stephanopoulos: "But then why do you train all your fire on the Democrats?"

Nader: "Because you asked. ... Anybody who asked me about John McCain, I'm ready to go."

Stephanopoulos: "But isn't the consequence of your candidacy, however many votes you get -- you didn't get as many in 2004 as you did in 2000 -- that it's going to hurt the Democrat, Barack Obama, more than it will hurt the Republican, John McCain?"

Nader: "Well, I think the two parties are hurting our country, and they need more competition. ... The problem is, there's too much political bigotry against small parties and candidates. ... You have got Wimbledon, the 60th seed gets a chance. You've got NCAA, the 60th team gets a chance."

Nader, asked to name one thing most people don't know about him: "I have a great sense of humor. Because in humor, there's truth. And if we -- tekanos (ph), George."

Stephanopoulos: "I don't know if that's funny or not, but it is Greek" (ABC, 6/29).

Meanwhile, Barr appeared on "Fox News Sunday." Some highlights:

Barr, asked what's wrong with McCain: "What's wrong with John McCain is symptomatic of what's wrong with the Republican Party in these first years of the 21st century. They talk one thing but do something different, and that's become very obvious to the American people. And when you look, for example, at what the Republican Party and the Congress has done since losing their majorities in 2006, you see absolutely no new program, new leadership or vision put forward."

Fox's Wallace: "But in a race between John McCain and Barack Obama, as a longtime now former conservative Republican, don't you think McCain honestly would be the better president?"

Barr: "This is very much a mixed bag. For example, on some of the civil liberties and privacy issues with which I and the Libertarian Party are very concerned, Senator Obama clearly is much better. On other issues, those relating to the cost of government and government spending, while neither candidate is good, Senator Obama clearly would favor a more expansive federal spending policy. So it's very much a mixed bag, but neither of these candidates is talking about the deep cuts in government spending and returning power to the people that we are."

Wallace: "According ... to a recent national poll, you get 3 percent of the vote, and mostly from people who say that otherwise, if you weren't in the race, they would vote Republican, especially in a few states like Colorado, like your home state of Georgia. Couldn't you end up having the balance of power and tipping those states from McCain to Obama?"

Barr: "First of all, those polls -- this is very, very early in the campaign. We anticipate once we really launch our campaign full-time after July 4th to see those numbers increase, not just in those couple of states that you mentioned, but elsewhere around the country. And, of course, I and the Libertarian Party will be on the ballot in, we hope, all 50 states, but certainly 49 states. The fact of the matter is that the American people are hungry, particularly young people, for a new vision, a new choice, to open up the political system once again and not feel bound by the artificial constraints of the two-party system. That's why it's important that I'm in this race, not as a spoiler for anybody any more than Senator McCain or Senator Obama would be a spoiler for Bob Barr."

Wallace: "But I have to ask you the question that is always asked of Ralph Nader. You would have no qualms if, because of your involvement, you ended up helping elect President Obama?"

Barr: "If Senator Obama wins on November 4th and Senator McCain and I lose, it will be because he presented a vision and a platform and a candidacy to the American people that resonated with a plurality of the voters."

Barr, on his camp: "The campaign is really just beginning. We do have a campaign headquarters. It will be in Atlanta, Georgia. We already have an entire staff in place, including Ross Perot's former campaign manager, deputy campaign manager, finance director. We have an Internet team that worked for Ron Paul. We have held a number of fundraisers. We will be holding more. And we're, of course, launching a nationwide fundraising effort through the Internet. I think the American people will be very surprised and very pleased with what they see out of the Barr 2008 campaign over the coming months" (6/29).

HOW THE WEST CAN BE WON

Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) and Bill Ritter (D-CO) all appeared on "Meet the Press," where they discussed the West as a crucial battleground in WH '08. Ritter and Freudenthal were on set in Jackson Hole, WY.

Ritter, on Obama's chances in CO: "I think that Senator Obama has great opportunity to win in Colorado. The people of Colorado are independent thinkers, they're future looking and they're also optimistic. And I think he's captured that language in his campaign. The things that he's talked about are very much things that resonate with the people of the West and certainly the people in Colorado. ... The language that he speaks is very much like the language the governors have spoken who have won seats out here in the West."

Freudenthal, asked if Obama can carry WY: "I wouldn't, look, I wouldn't bet the ranch on it. I mean, this state is 67 percent Republican. The last Democrat we voted for was Lyndon Johnson. I think Obama will do much better than expected, because there's a real independent attitude and a pretty candid view in terms of how we assess people. And Obama has struck a pretty good chord here."

Ritter, on the Hispanic voter: "Obama wins, I think, among Hispanics hands down, and he does that because he has a language about education that really is ... about optimism but it's also about reforming the system, and I think Hispanic voters pay attention to that."

Ritter, asked if he expects that there will be a plank that will be emphasizing pro-choice for the Dems: "I think the Democratic Party in the West has been able to say that that's not going to be a litmus test for candidates. I suspect it'll be a plank in the platform, and it has been a plank in the platform for a very long time, but that doesn't mean that as a party, that we don't very much embrace people who might have different views. And I'm a great example of that."

Freudenthal, asked if he endorses Obama's position that the U.S. has got to start getting out of Iraq as quickly as possible: "Probably not. ... Both candidates, I think, are, as they say in the West, kind of talking through their hat about what they may be able to do."

Ritter, asked if Obama will manage to win over evangelicals: "We've seen some movement among evangelicals that relate to what I would call environmental concerns. ... That has actually, I think, caused them to think differently than vote in just a straight line Republican ticket. There are moral conservatives that will absolutely be with John McCain and will not be with Obama, but there's been some other play happening that really has to do with the things that are happening in the West around public lands and around land use."

NBC's Brokaw: "Western governors have an opportunity in many ways to show the country cooperation in a state that's always been deeply divided and very independent in this region by state lines. Do you think you'll become a template for what the national dialogue should be?"

Ritter: "Well, I think there's a good chance of that. ... The Democratic Party in the West has a way to talk about that because we reach across party lines to find answers to pretty big solutions."

Freudenthal: "I might have a little different slant, which is that this is an incredibly bipartisan group, the Western governors. ... If you take Arnold Schwarzenegger's positions relative to others, you'd argue that he's probably more liberal than most of the Democrats. What you really have is a willingness of people to say, 'Look, policy and politics are about the art of possible. How do you do something pragmatic as opposed to something that's just sort of for the, frankly, for the 6:00 news, no disrespect intended."

Schwarzenegger was interviewed from CA.

Brokaw: "You endorse Senator McCain as the presidential candidate, saying he was a crusader who had the best interests of the environment in mind. Now, he's in favor of offshore oil drilling and he wants to build 45 nuclear plants. Do you still stand by his record in that regard?"

Schwarzenegger: "I'm very proud of him. I'm 100 percent behind him. That we don't agree on everything, that's clear; nor do I with my wife. I mean, it doesn't mean that we should split, it just means that we don't agree on certain things. I don't think that you will find that everyone agrees on everything. And he is terrific with the environment."

Schwarzenegger, on whether McCain asked for advice about how he should run against Obama: "He did not, no."

NBC pol. dir. Chuck Todd also weighed in on the West.

Todd, asked why McCain isn't getting more traction in the West at this stage of the process: "He's the perfect candidate, if you thought about it, for out West. ... But he's getting punished on a couple of things. First of all, the West is the youngest region of our four major regions, and Obama appeals to this young -- Colorado's one of the five youngest states in the union. ... The Republican brand is a mess, that's the other thing. And, you know, we can focus simply on Hispanics. While John McCain has been proactive in trying to push for comprehensive immigration reform and, you know, really been very friendly with Hispanics, the Republican brand has been terrible. I mean, the Tom Tancredo stuff has really hurt the Republicans' image. ... And that hurts McCain even though he's got a stance that should sell well" (NBC, 6/29).

MAKING THE WORST OF IT

There also continued to be talk of flip-flopping:

PA Gov. Ed Rendell (D), asked why McCain's flip-flops are worse than Obama's: "First of all, John McCain has switched positions on all of the things that made independents and moderates and even some Democrats like myself think that he was a new type of Republican. These are core issues. The tax cuts -- who could expand on the Bush tax cuts given the economy we have today? But John McCain has, for political advantage. ... A couple of things that you say are change of positions are, in my judgment, things where Senator Obama has a reasonable explanation for what he's done" ("Fox News Sunday," 6/29).

Ex-OMB dir./ex-Rep. Rob Portman (R-OH), asked why Obama's flip-flops are worse than McCain's: "When you look at Senator Obama's changes recently, including saying he would accept public financing and then changing his mind on that, which is really a core issue in terms of the new politics that he's talked about ... it goes to more than just changes in facts and circumstances. It goes to sort of changing your approach to politics. And I think when Senator McCain looks at some of these issues like immigration ... he's still for comprehensive immigration reform, but he believes enforcement first is necessary based on the change in facts and circumstances. ... So I think there's some differences here in terms of why changes are made. ... Changed circumstances sometimes lead to the reconsideration of your position. That's not a bad thing. The question is whether it's being done for good policy reasons or not" ("Fox News Sunday," 6/29).

LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), asked if he agrees with McCain that Obama's word cannot be trusted: "Well, I think in an election that certainly people have to be accountable for the commitments they have made. ... I think Senator McCain is right to point out when his opponent says one thing and does another. And I'm sure we'll hear a lot more about that, especially on specific policies, whether it's tax policy or second amendment policies. I think part of a general election debate is a compare and contrast" ("Late Edition," CNN, 6/29).

VEEP, VEEP

During their joint appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Rendell and Portman were asked about the VP spot for their respective parties.

Fox's Wallace, to Rendell: "You've been talking down very consistently your interest in being vice president, but last Friday you said that you'd be very interested in being a member of the Obama cabinet. What's the difference?:

Rendell: "Well, the national media didn't listen. I said in 2011, it's my intention to walk out the door of the capital, the Lord willing, in January of 2011. I know that disappoints some people in the capital, but that's my intention. And if there was a position open that I was interested in, like energy or transportation, I'd be honored to serve in an Obama administration, but not at the beginning, not until my time is finished."

More Rendell: "Let me say just from an American standpoint, I'd love to see someone like Rob on the other ticket in case they win, because he was a great congressman and someone who I have a lot of respect for."

Portman: "I don't know, and I don't expect to be asked, honestly. I'm also, as you know, home after 15 years of commuting when I was in Congress and in the administration, and I've got three teenagers. It's time to be home. I love being home. So I'm not eager to go back to Washington right now. I do love public service, and I heard Ed's comments the other day, actually, on a radio program where he said he'd be interested in being secretary of energy, perhaps, or secretary of transportation. Those are substantive jobs where you can make a difference. And public service is an incredible privilege and honor. And I hope some day to be able to get back and do something that's substantive to help people" (6/29).

And Clark was asked if Obama will put Clinton on the ticket. Clark: "Well, I'd love to see Hillary Clinton on that ticket. But I have a lot of respect for Hillary. I've known her for a long time. I think she's an outstanding person. But I think that's a decision that Barack Obama himself is going to have to make. And I'm sure he's weighing that decision" (CBS, 6/29).

ROUNDTABLE ROUNDUP

The "This Week" roundtable discussed WH '08.

The "Fox News Sunday" roundtable discussed the Obama/Clinton event in Unity, NH, Veepstakes, WH '08 and the SCOTUS' gun ruling.

Fox's Hume, on Unity, NH: "It's a useful event. She said what you would want her to say if you were the Obama team."

NPR's Liasson: "The only thing left, really, for Senator Clinton to do is to release her delegates, which she actually hasn't done technically."

Weekly Standard's Kristol, on GOP Veepstakes: "Republicans are much more open to strong women. And that's why McCain's going to put Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska, on the ticket as vice president. ... I'm moving from Jindal to Palin. She's fantastic. You know, she was the point guard on the Alaska state championship high school basketball team in 1982. She could take Obama one-on-one on the court. It would be fantastic. ... I actually think Sarah Palin would be a great vice presidential pick, and it would be interesting to actually have a woman on the Republican ticket after Hillary Clinton has come so close and failed on the Democratic side" (6/29).

The "Late Edition" roundtable discussed the Obama/Clinton event in Unity, NH, and WH '08.

CNN's Henry, on the Obama/Clinton event in Unity, NH: "Big-picture wise, it was a good day for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They did come together. ... And John McCain may rue the fact that he didn't really get his message, his own message together when the candidates were bickering."

Henry, on McCain meeting with Franklin and Billy Graham: "I think it's certainly helpful to sit down, do this meeting, get that public statement from Franklin Graham. I seem to recall Barack Obama already sitting down with Franklin Graham, maybe not Billy Graham, recently. And that shows you and highlights how both sides are really trying to go after the evangelical vote, number one. But, number two, I think John McCain does have an issue here, in terms of he doesn't speak out a lot on issues like same-sex marriage a lot. That's not something that he highlights, so evangelicals are still wondering" (6/29).