This past Sunday, the popular CBS News Magazine show 60 Minutes featured an interview with Barack Obama and Joseph Biden. The full video is embedded at the end of this article. First, some highlights from the video and my commentary. See if you don't come to the same conclusions that I did, including the conclusion that 60 Minutes and quite likely CBS News have taken a political stance in favor of the Democrat ticket for President. Don't know how these questions / comments could have come out this way if they were truly neutral.Let's start off with a very early comment by 60 Minutes' Steve Kroft that sets the tone for the entire interview.
Senator McCain tried to steal the Democrats thunder by announcing that Alaska's conservative first term Governor, 44 year old Sarah Palin, would be his running mate. KROFTHere, we see that Kroft has personally declared the timing of Senator McCain's announcement as planned to "steal the thunder" from Obama's acceptance speech the night before. When the announcement was first rolled out, the McCain campaign specifically stated that they waited until the day after Obama's acceptance speech to announce so as not to appear to be stealing the spotlight from Obama. No fooling that liberal media, though, is there?
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She subscribes to John McCain's agenda. OBAMAThankfully, Governor Palin's stance on the issues does align quite will with Senator McCain's, unlike that of their rival party. Obama and Biden couldn't be more different unless they were on opposite sides of the aisle.
It seems like just the kind of person who would appeal to voters in states that you absolutely have to win. And they have to win. KROFT
In response to questions from Kroft about recent campaign activities:
I had a beer last night? Where does the story come from that I don't like beer? ... The reason I bowled wasn't because I was trying to get votes. If I'd been trying to get votes I would have avoided a bowling alley. The reason I was there was to campaign. OBAMALet's see, "trying to get votes" is apparently not the same thing as "campaigning" to the Obama camp. Dictionary.com defines campaigning as An operation or series of operations energetically pursued to accomplish a purpose. Let's see, to accomplish the purpose of getting elected President requires getting votes. The purpose of campaigning is to get votes. Unless, I guess, if you're name is Barack Obama, in which case the purpose of campaigning is more to slander your opponent than to get votes for yourself.
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Let me tell you the reason I picked Joe Biden. Number one, he can step in and become President. Number two is that if I'm in the room making the kinds of tough decisions that the next President's going to have to make, both on domestic policy and on international policy, then I want the counsel and advice of somebody who's not going to agree with me 100% of the time, but in fact somebody who's independent enough to push back and give me different perspectives and make sure that I'm catching any blind spots that I have, and Joe Biden doesn't bite his tongue. OBAMASo, they haven't had any differences over "pretty substantial issues?" Interesting. Need a refresher? Check them out on the issues. Barack Obama. Joseph Biden. Obama apparently recognized that Biden was lying.
You had some differences over pretty substantial issues. KROFT
You know, actually we haven't. Look, Barack was right. He not only got it right about being against the war, I got it wrong about underestimating the incompetence of this administration when we gave the President the power we gave him. ... Bush told me he wasn't going to war, I thought they meant it [Barack was] standing outside, [he] knew they didn't mean it. BIDEN
[Joe] is blunt when he's right, and he's blunt when he's wrong, and that means that I can trust his counsel. OBAMA
There is no choice I could have made where the person's going to agree with me 100% of the time, and I wouldn't want that person. What you want is somebody whose core values you believe in, who you trust, who you think is a straight shooter. OBAMANice save attempt, but we weren't fooled.
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I think that I have a record that people can go back and examine and decide whether or not I mean what I say, no matter how I say it, whether I'm consistent with what I've asserted I care about. BIDENAs Kroft looked like he might actually get a little meat into the interview, he asks Obama to explain what Biden's duties would be as VP. The official job description in the U.S. Constitution lists only two responsibilities: (1) to assume the role of President should the President become unable to fulfill his/her duties, and (2) to preside over the Senate and cast a vote when needed to break a tie. Biden fielded this question with something we should all be used to from the Obama campaign by now: a non-answer.
I like who [Joe] is, and I think the American people will. OBAMA
I don't want to go and just hang out. ... I'm not looking for anything other than to be part of the change [Barack's] been talking about, and very bluntly, that I've been talking about. BIDENSo, in addition to the constitutionally mandated duties, a Vice President Joe Biden wouldn't just "hang out," but would fulfill the very important role of being a part of the change that Obama has been talking about.
Biden had more to say when asked how he would contribute to the campaign.
Go into Scranton and Wilmington and Sacramento and other places and say I know the guy. Politicians know quality when they see it in other politicians. BIDEN"I know the guy." Imagine that. Obama picked a running mate that can honestly tell voters, "I know the guy."
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The thing about [Barack] that everybody misunderstands, {turning to Obama} Boss, here we go, we may have our first difference here. But all kidding aside, here's the deal. Everybody knows the way he's caught on to this yearning in the American public. But the second piece of that is, it's not only the idealism. You've gotta be tough to be the President of the United States of America. BIDENI didn't cut anything out there. I was anxiously waiting to hear Biden describe what he called "our first difference," but he never got it out. Where did it go? Is it that Biden thinks you have to be tough to be President of the United States, and maybe Obama doesn't? Or did Biden just lose his train of thought so badly that he forget what he was going to say? Or maybe he just didn't want to offend the Boss? Obama explains, sort of.
The fact that I don't go out of my way to call people names or try to take cheap shots, and that I try not to throw the first punch, but see if I can try to find a way to work together with people, sometimes leads people to underestimate, uhh, what, what I've got. OBAMAShould I go there? Should I mention the first comment out of the Obama campaign after Senator McCain introduced his running mate, reducing Governor Palin to "the former mayor of a small town of 9000?" Obama is lying. His is nothing buy cheap shots, and the sound bites make that clear enough without further elaboration from me. And what's this about not taking the first shot? Isn't that why we were attacked on 9/11, because President Bill Clintion avoided taking the first shot when he had the opportunity?
The interview wraps up with about thirty seconds more of fluff, then the announcement that 60 Minutes has invited the McCain ticket to join them for a similar interview. I, for one, hope he turns them down.
Watch the video for yourself.
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