Hotline After Dark -- Sounds Of Silence

Pastor Rick Warren made the rounds last night to talk about the 8/16 Saddleback Ranch forum.

Warren, on speculation John McCain heard the questions beforehand: "It's a totally bogus issue. It's challenging the integrity of the Secret Service, challenging the integrity of my security staff, and challenging the integrity of John McCain of which both Barack [Obama] and John agreed to the terms right up front. There's no way he could have heard the questions. The fact is that John McCain did get there a little late, and the truth is, I actually got to tell Barack Obama about one of the questions in advance that I didn't get to tell John McCain about because he wasn't there."

Warren, on NBC's Andrea Mitchell reporting the Obama camp felt Obama didn't do so well and have been privately saying that McCain may not have been in a "cone of silence": "Well, in the first place, I don't know that you can attribute to the Obama campaign. ... It was just a joke, it was just silly, to say the cone of silence. ... The Secret Service was with him the entire time, and then they put him immediately in the other building, so I wasn't even sure that he hadn't arrived by the time we were moving on stage" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 8/18).

More Warren: "There was a rumor going around that he watched the program on a monitor in the Green Room that we had him in. Well, there's only one problem with it. My staff ... disconnected that thing two days before it happened. So if they had happened to turn it on, it would have been all just static" ("LKL," CNN, 8/18).

After the jump, more Saddleback and VP predictions.

(KATHERINE LEHR)

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), on why the "cone of silence" issue is a big one: "I think it's only an issue because Rick Warren said that he had been in this room sequestered off. As it turned out, he wasn't. I'm sure that Pastor Warren didn't know that, because I get the sense that he would have never have made that representation if he knew it. But I don't think it's a big deal. The campaign doesn't think it's a big deal" ("LKL," CNN, 8/18).

Weekly Standard's Kristol: "These charges are being made, or suggestions are being made by the Obama campaign because they know their man lost the evening. It is striking that they can't just accept that and go on, that they have to pretend that somehow McCain must have cheated to have won. ... I think the Obama campaign has set itself up for looking like whiners, and I hope Senator McCain challenges Obama to have another forum tomorrow" ("Special Report," FNC, 8/18).

Newsweek's Fineman, asked if the McCain camp suffocated their own story line with the attack on Mitchell: "This is going to sound like special pleading on my part. But, I mean, Andrea Mitchell is a paragon of objective, down-the-line reporting. You know, we all honor Tim Russert. She's the princess of that royal family. And, rather than attack Andrea, they should have ruled out the amen corner to praise McCain's performance because Obama was tentative. I saw Obama at that event; he wasn't really good; he didn't give great answers. He was too busy defending his flank within the Democratic Party. He didn't really bond with those people and McCain, by all accounts, did. And that's what they should have stressed rather than used this as an opportunity to pick a fight with Andrea which ... doesn't necessarily hold water. It's hard to prove, one way or the other" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 8/18).

MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R): "Senator Obama's campaign is the one that's raising this as a concern. I really would suggest that they not challenge the credibility of Pastor Rick Warren. He's one of the most universally respected and admired individuals in the country. And I don't think his credibility can be questioned" ("LKL," CNN, 8/18).

Washington Post's Birnbaum: "I think this explains why Obama is not eager to do town hall meetings with McCain or to take any other direct debate other than the ones that are already scheduled, the official debates. ... The attack by the McCain campaign on NBC, I think, had something to do with something else, maybe some problems they have been having, or an eagerness to call attention to this particular forum that McCain clearly won" ("Special Report," FNC, 8/18).

GOP strategist Todd Harris: "I actually think this episode is fairly illuminating because it's about one thing and one thing only, and that is the arrogance of the Obama campaign. It is so far beyond their ability to comprehend that McCain cleaned their clock the other night, which he did. ... Instead of acknowledging that perhaps Obama has a shortcoming and didn't do as well as they thought he should have, they're trying to say that McCain cheated" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 8/18).

THE CLOCK IS TICKING...

There was also reaction to the New York Times reporting that Obama would announce his VP pick as early as 8/20 a.m.

New York Times' Zeleny: "It's not that much of a surprise. It's been crunch time for Senator Obama. He has exactly one week, you know, to make this vice presidential announcement known and he's going to do it as soon as Wednesday. It could be anywhere from Wednesday and really, through the end of the weekend. The campaign right now, we're told, is still trying to figure out exactly at what point along to do it. They're watching Hurricane Fay. ... He is close to making his decision. His advisors won't say he has made it for sure, because something could always change between now and then, but he's not begin to notify the people who did not get it yet. ... We're not even sure if Michelle Obama knows for sure" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 8/18).

CNN's Crowley, on the Obama camp: "They want to roll into this convention. They want a big buildup, so they can dominate the news cycle from the time they announce this vice presidential candidate all the way through next week, mostly in a positive light. You get that first VP pick, and, for the first couple of days, it is positive kind of press that you tend to get. So, they are timing this just to maximize all that time, because they know, after a week from Thursday, that it then moves over to the Republicans. So, they are trying to get a good seven, eight, nine, 10 days out of this" ("AC 360," 8/18).

And multiple sources reported that McCain plans to announce his running mate on 8/29 at an event in Dayton, OH.

FNC's Hannity: "Now this is just hours after Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado" ("Hannity &Colmes," 8/18).

Ex-WH adviser David Gergen: "The idea of doing it on his birthday, and doing it in Ohio, is smart. A, Ohio is this hugely important swing state. And the polls suggest that John McCain, who was a little behind there, with his recent surge, has now moved slightly ahead. And doing it on his birthday takes the story away from the 72-year-old birthday to the new vigor that's brought by a vice presidential candidate. So, I think that's a pretty smart move. I think the one thing that is sort of etiquette in politics is, you don't do your vice presidential candidate in a way that competes with the other guy's convention. You don't do it in a way that sort of rains on his parade" ("AC 360," CNN, 8/18).

Washingtonpost.com's Cillizza: "The fact that he's doing it on his 72nd birthday may suggest that he is going to pick someone younger,
make it, you know, 'Today's my 72nd birthday, Tim Pawlenty is only 47 years old, but we agree on the future of this country.' The other thing to think about, everything that I hear from the McCain campaign is he wants to pick someone for whom he has a personal affection. This is a gut emotional politician in John McCain. That would seem to suggest Pawlenty, Ridge or Lieberman" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 8/18).