Hotline After Dark -- Beer For My Horses

"Nightly News," "World News" and "Evening News" all led with the WH beer summit.

Health care reform took a backseat on TV last night, as the WH "beer summit" with Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley dominated the airwaves.

Among those who weighed in on the meeting:

FNC's Goler, on the beer summit: "I'm unimpressed. ... We had hoped for more. The president, as I said, had called this a teachable moment, but by many accounts over the two-week process of this controversy, lessons have already been learned" ("Special Report," 7/30).

CNN's Crowley, on the WH: "As far as they hope, this thing has moved on, as far as they're concerned. What they wanted to do was sort of launch Gates and Crowley off into their own universe and then move on, because, at this point, the president, despite all of the calls for having sort of national forums on race and racial profiling, he -- he just -- you know, we have -- we have the economy out there. We have health care out there. And they really have been knocked off their message since he jumped into it in the news conference" ("AC 360," 7/30).

CNN's Lothian: "The interesting thing about this, the White House really been pushing this meeting, but in the end, the media was kept about 40 feet back from the actual table. Didn't have a chance to ask any questions or hear anything about what's going on. So, you know, interesting, that it's a teachable moment, but we weren't able to really hear what that teachable moment was."

Lothian, on how many beers were consumed: "I mean, certainly, I don't think anybody wanted to get drunk at that event, because that would not have been a good image. So I doubt that they were imbibing too much around the table" ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," 7/30).

NBC's Guthrie: "Both men brought family members with them today, who got a tour of the White House. At one point, actually, the two groups ran into each other, merged, and then toured together" ("Nightly News," NBC, 7/30).

Journalist Stephen Smith: "With all due respect, let's call it what it is, a complete waste of time, something that has dragged on for entirely too long. It's been eight days that we've been talking about this non-story" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 7/30).

Dem strategist Paul Begala: "I think, I might have my history wrong, but I think Jimmy Carter brokered the Middle East peace deal between Egypt and Israel over Jell-O shooters at Hooters" ("Situation Room," CNN, 7/30).

After the jump, see more on the WH beer summit, an interview with MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and the latest on the health care debate.

(MAURA O'BRIEN)

GOP strategist Alex Castellanos, on the Gates situation: "It has hurt the president here. You know, one, a racially polarized America is what he avoided in the campaign. This takes us back to before that and it doesn't help. But, two, the elitist argument -- president against working class cop. That doesn't help him. ... Politically, it's not smart for him to do. I think he's doing it for the right reason. I think he's doing it to tamp down ... the divisions we've seen" ("Situation Room," CNN, 7/30).

NPR's Ridley, on the beer summit: "I don't think the president mishandled it. I think it was a good idea. I think he got dragged into something that was beyond the White House. I think it was good to say, hey, let's sit down. But, again ... this has sort of become a circus for the chattering classes to talk about, more than a quiet moment for people to reflect" ("Campbell Brown," CNN, 7/30).

Rev. Al Sharpton: "What the president did tonight was absolutely the right thing to do, to set a tone and a climate so we can go forward and deal with both what police are dealing with in terms of trying to fight crime in their field and what people have to deal with documented cases of racial profiling" ("LKL," CNN, 7/30).

FNC's O'Reilly: "Biden's probably the only one that drank the beer. I'm going on record" ("O'Reilly Factor," 7/30).

Columnist S.E. Cupp: "I think that this was a really unseemly moment for the office of the presidency from the very beginning. I thought it was inappropriate that the president weighed in on this during his health care press conference, before he had any information, threw the cops under the bus. And I thought this was inappropriate, too. I don't think the president needs to be a hall monitor and teach us all a lesson about race, where race wasn't even an issue" ("Hannity," FNC, 7/30).

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, on Pres. Obama: "Look, he may be a great president or a lousy one, but when he acts in this way, when he stands above the fray in a patronizing and condescending way, instructing us on the ways of the world, I find him insufferable. Otherwise, I'm sure he's a nice guy" ("Special Report," FNC, 7/30).

The Weekly Standard's Kristol, on Biden attending the summit: "This was supposed to be three guys having a beer, and suddenly it's four guys having a beer. Did Barack Obama decide that Joe Biden was an indispensible right hand man? Maybe you remember that Joe Biden hasn't actually done much in this administration except for saying things he wasn't supposed to say, and this was a chance to include him" ("Special Report," FNC, 7/30).

STAY CLASSY, SAN DIEGO

MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) was in the "Situation Room" 7/30 p.m.

Pawlenty, asked if he's ready to get on board with a bipartisan Senate health care plan: "No. We've got to be very careful about keeping the main thing ... and that is, if you're making the case that we have to do something to control costs in the health care system, and your answer to do that is the federal government just to spend more money, that does not solve the problem. That's like you're saying you're going to balance the checkbook by writing more checks."

On whether the stimulus is helping MN: "The GAO did a report on the stimulus bill that said of the nearly $800 billion that's being spent; only about $160 billion is actually simulative. And if it turns out in retrospect that the recession is not over or will soon be over ... the Obama administration's going to have the uncomfortable phenomena of having the recession ended before most of the stimulus money was even spent. And so that's another validation of the fact that it was probably misguided or at least untimely efforts."

Asked if he'll give Pres. Obama credit if the recession ends soon: "Well I think President Obama inherited a very challenging situation. But if you're going to do a stimulus package, it should have been targeted at things that got money into the taxpayers' pockets right away, like reducing the payroll tax for employees and employers and focusing on non-porking infrastructure projects. But that's not what this bill was."

Asked if he's considering a WH bid: "Well, I got a year and a half left to be a governor in the state of Minnesota and that's going to be the focus of my attention. But I am in Minnesota and elsewhere going to try to speak to how my party can do a better job. Obviously we got our tails kicked in the last two elections. ... We need to do a better job. I think I have got some ideas to share. But that's really going to be focused on how we can do better in 2010. I'm not thinking beyond that."

On ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) resignation: "I consider Sarah Palin a friend, and a colleague, and somebody that I thinks been a remarkable leader for Alaska. And I think for her that she just felt in her situation in Alaska, she was an impediment to getting things done. Or her situation was an impediment to getting things done. And so she stepped aside and that's her call. But I think it's probably limited to the unique circumstance in Alaska. You can't have people who just say anytime that you have any time left on your term, you're not going to serve out your term. Otherwise you'd have office holders, you know, for example, the governor of Virginia, who has only one term as a matter of Constitution is always a lame duck. So is that person supposed to resign in the first couple months of office?"

CNN's Blitzer: "Well, I just want to be clear. You have no plans to quit?"

Pawlenty: "I don't. No" (CNN, 7/30).

A REAL BARNEY-BURNER

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) appeared on the "Ed Show" 7/30 p.m.

Frank, on the divisions among Dems: "I don't recall it as a betrayal, as a deep philosophical difference. Look, there are conservative Democrats who are closer to us than they are to the Republicans on some issues, but there are differences on orders. I believe that the majority of Democrats, enough to pass the House, disagree with them."

More Frank: "What we have is a kind of philosophical disagreement, although I have to say it's an odd one. You know, if you accepted their views about what was and wasn't acceptable, we wouldn't have Medicare. And Medicare goes far beyond even a public option. So, there's a kind of a disconnect in people's minds. And by the way, when people tell me that they don't want the government involved in medicine, I respond that in my experience as a member of Congress, the single most popular form of medical care that's administered according to the consumers is the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is wholly government."

Frank, asked if he could ever embrace the Senate co-op plan: "No. ... Look, I'm for single payer, as I think Medicare has shown is the best system. I will accept as second best a very good public option, which, by the way, when the conservatives say the public option may lead to a totally public plan, they're conceding our point, mainly that that people will find that there's a better level of care and better ways. But I would not accept anything less than a very vigorous public option, and I don't think a majority of the House will either" (MSNBC, 7/30).

Progressive Caucus member/Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), on the House health care plans: "I think it's not clear what the administration is doing yet, or, for that matter, what our leadership is doing yet. There are three bills. One came out of Ways and Means, quite a good bill. One came out of Energy and Labor, quite a good bill. And one may come out Energy and Commerce that leaves something to be desired. Those three bills are going to have to be put together. And a good test of the leadership in the House and of the administration will be, what does the final bill that we bring to the floor of the House look like? Does it look more like the robust public options in the Ways and Means and Education and Labor bills, or does it look like the weak public option that I think is going to come out -- that I fear is going to come out of the Commerce Committee?" ("Ed Show," MSNBC, 7/30).

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), asked if he would sign on to a Senate co-op plan: "That's unacceptable, and I can almost prove it. We've been in touch with the folks that ... represent all the co-ops in the country on all subjects, and they point out that there are probably less than 20 health co-ops in the country. There are only two that really work that well, one in Puget Sound, one in Minnesota. Except for those two, they're all unlicensed. ... And nobody's ever, they said, which is a stunning thing to me, no government organization or private organization has ever done a study on what effect they might have in terms of bringing down insurance prices."

Rockefeller, on Senate Finance Cmte Chair Max Baucus' (D-MT) leadership on health care: "I wouldn't knock Max. I mean, I think he's been wrong in his approach on this, but he surely is sincere in his approach on this. I mean, he's worked harder than anybody I've ever seen. I just don't want to have a co-op taking on the big insurance companies. I don't want that" ("Ed Show," MSNBC, 7/30).