Hotline After Dark -- Yes We NeoCon!

by Abby Livingston

"World News" led with Pres. Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech. "Evening News" led with Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech. and aired an excerpt of "60 Minutes"' interview with Obama. "Nightly News" led with Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech.

Neocons (mostly) raved over Obama's Nobel Peace Prize speech 12/10 p.m.

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer: "I thought it was the best speech he has ever given on foreign soil. Now, I know that sounds slightly ironic and cynical because it is a low bar, but he did have a defense in the first third of the speech, which was the good part, a defense, robust defense of war in general as a necessity, of the Afghan war, and also America's role, as he put it, in underwriting the security of the world for 60 years, something he hadn't emphasized in the past and that he did."

More Krauthammer: "And it went against the grain of that audience of his, which was overdressed, over-titled, underemployed, one-world Scandinavian lefties. And they only applauded when in the second half of the speech he gave his usual shtick about Guantanamo, torture, and Geneva conventions, he got the cheap applause" ("Special Report," FNC, 12/10).

Ex-UN Ambassador John Bolton: "I thought it was a pretty bad speech. I thought it was turgid, repetitive. I thought it was analytically weak, sort of at a high school level. It's like he didn't have any lead in his pencil left after his speeches at the U.N. and the speech on Afghanistan. So all in all, a pretty surprisingly disappointing performance" ("On the Record," FNC, 12/10).

After the jump, more reaction to the speech, part of Obama's "60 Minutes" interview and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) discusses Dem divisions.

Ex-WH counsel Ed Gillespie: "Had some concerns. I think it would have been nice to mention the valor of our troops in Iraq and the success there as well, because that's important, and some other things. But I think by and large, the president gave a thoughtful speech and one that made some important bright lines" ("Situation Room," CNN, 12/10).

Washington Post's Gerson: "This was a complex, intellectually rich, impressive speech. It was professor Obama giving a lecture, and he was at his best. He took on those elephants in the room, the difficult issues, you know, in a straightforward fashion, said that his qualifications for this were slight. He was disarmingly honest" ("AC 360," CNN, 12/10).

LAST AFGHANISTAN-D

"Evening News" aired an excerpt of CBS' Kroft's "60 Minutes" interview with Obama.

Obama: "In the absence of a deadline, the message we are sending to the Afghans is 'Business as usual. This is an open-ended commitment.' And very frankly, there are elements in Afghanistan who would be perfectly satisfied to make Afghanistan a permanent protectorate of the United States, in which they carry no burden, in which we are paying for a military in Afghanistan that preserves their security, and their prerogatives."

Obama: "That's not what the American people signed on for when they went into Afghanistan in 2001. They signed up to go after al Qaeda" (CBS, 12/10).

CENTER CAN HOLD?

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) played "Hardball" 12/10 p.m.

McCaskill: "People need to remember we are the governing party because we have diversity of opinion in our party. We're not pure. We have moderates and we have more progressives. And the reason we're governing right now is because we defeated moderate Republicans with moderate Democrats. And people need to be patient about that and realize that compromise is not evil."

McCaskill, on whether she's getting negative reaction in MO: "There's a lot of misinformation out there. The people are angry and cynical, in many instances for good reasons, and they are believing some of the stuff they're hearing, that the sky is going to fall. This place is full of Chicken Littles right now. The sky is falling, if you listen to the Republicans."

More McCaskill: "We're going to pass this bill and the sky is not going to fall and things will be OK. And besides that, in Missouri, it's a 50/50 state, so I'm kind of used to half the state being mad at me."

McCaskill, on whether Obama will have a bill to sign by '10: "I believe he will. Now, we have no margin of error here. And everyone's tired. And tensions are high. And it is a partisan food fight. This is a rip-roaring partisan food fight. So, I hope that everyone stays calm."

More McCaskill: "But what I have been encouraged about is, everyone wants to stay and work. No one is complaining about staying here on weekends. And people are even willing to stay through Christmas, if we have to, to get this done" (MSNBC, 12/10).