I thought Stephanopoulis today was heavily invested in McCain being "right" about the surge

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

Really tried to press that McCain was "right" and Obama was "wrong" (using those words repeatedly). Really trying to put that hatch mark on McCain's side, "but we accomplished 13 out of 15 goals, etc".

Obama did ok, I thought, but not great. He needs a shorter, more polished reply. I would advise something along the lines of "I was pleasantly surprised that it worked better than anticipated because of some unexpected external circumstances which greatly assisted the situation. Good. I'm happy about that. Next question."

[Barack_America]

1. Nothing new from George S. He's no longer a credible journalist. nt

[progressivebydesign]

2. Obama should also credit the complex and changing political sitch in Iraq, too.

Otherwise, it just opens up the McCainites to use his statements in an ad against him.

[JBoris]

3. Every time Obama gets the "surge" question he IMO should talk about oversimplification...

and how its the same type of irresponsible and dishonest oversimplification that led us into this situation in the first place.

[Gabi Hayes]

11. close, but no cigar....no DEFENSE---OFFENSE---see post #8

play it like the pugs...they LOSE if they don't

[JBoris]

17. That isn't defense, it's attacking from a defensive position,

it's saying that McSame is still thinking like the shrub and it implies that McMansions is playing politics with our troops.

[Gabi Hayes]

18. it doesn't work. it's been proven psychologically that people don't respond

nearly as strongly to the explanation of a lie, even, as they do to the accusation

the need to bypass the assertion and to make a STRONGER one of one's own has proven to be more effective

it's what the pugs almost always do, and it's the main reason (along with M$M complicity and massive election fraud) that they 'win'

[JBoris]

19. If you repeat the truth often enough, it absolutely does work. It is simply too cynical to

say that we need to give up on the truth. That would just allow further obfuscation from the neocons, which is one of their most powerful weapons.

[Gabi Hayes]

27. NO. it doesn't. to repeat the truth, you have to repeat the LIE first.

the lie is what's remembered

look it up

[JBoris]

32. Look it up where?

Is there a voter response research site somewhere? I would love to have a look if there is one.

Oh and BTW the lie is being brought up by the MSM and McSame/Palin everyday. Obama isn't the one repeating it. He has to respond, I really don't understand where you're coming from on this one.

[Gabi Hayes]

34. there's this thing called.......uh...googe!

what you mention about Obama/surrogates having to answer is the genius of the big lie

as I said, the refutation serves to further the lie, and the lie itself is more physiologically reinforced than the truth

that's a hint

[JBoris]

35. Thanks for the sarcasm, but

that doesn't help me. You claim to have information that would suggest that lies going unanswered is the smart choice. I don't see it. Nor do I understand where you're getting your info, or how I am supposed to magically google your source of information.

[Gabi Hayes]

38. sorry for that, but I am, unfortunately, by nature composed of 98 percent sarcastic DNA.

tell you what, see what you can find under big lie physiological reinforcement

I read about it here, with citations from somebody, but I'm off to the football tube, and don't have the time

sorry for the dickishness, but I know I'm right

I hope you read the Bender article, cause it deals with this issue in a non-physio way, but what he says is true, because it's worked over the years, and he provides concrete evidence for his assertions

if you haven't read that, make sure you do



RIP

Obama was a HUGE fan!

[JBoris]

49. Thanks, I'll see if I can find it.

I still can't imagine that there could possibly be any benefit to letting a lie float, but if I'm wrong I'd like to know. Ignorance is anything but bliss

Oh and don't worry about dickishness, we are after all in an internet forum :)

[Overseas]

4. ABC doesn't want to talk about the bigger news that Bush is following Obama policies

by setting up a timeline for withdrawal, as Joe Biden told Tom Brokaw so elegantly today.

[Me.]

5. Woodward's Book Is Due Out Tomorrow

Then we can talk 'surge'.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

9. You're right. That will change the discussion. nt.

[iamjoy]

6. re: Surge - Obama Was Right/McSame Wrong

oh sure, it's worked in Iraq, but for Obama it has never been about Iraq - he thought that was not the war from the get go. Sure violence is down in Iraq (whether the result of the surge or not) but, we took troops out of Afghanistan and attacks are UP there. McSame said we'd "muddle through" in Afghanistan.

[annabanana]

7. Hmmm . . . .Just like Brokaw vs Biden on Meet the Press. . .

I guess they all got the memo.

Biden took no prisoners and made it clear that Brokaw didn't know what he was talking about.. It was VERY satisfying

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26591000#26591000
(worth watching)

[Gabi Hayes]

14. he didn't take it nearly far enough, but it's a start. see post #8

[Gabi Hayes]

8. he should REFUSE to address that question and FILIBUSTER about how WRONG MCCain was

in the first place, how McCAin LED the charge to invade Iraq (look how SOON he said Iraq was on the table), how MUCH money we're losing as a result of this horrible war, how BADLY he's failed to support the wounded troops, how MCCain as NO problem at all staying in Iraq for a HUNDRED years, etc.

won't dems EVER learn from the masters?

I just don't get it

I could have done a much better job today on that question, and the above was right off the top of my head, requiring less time to think of it as it did to type

[Gabi Hayes]

10. oh yeah....and how McCain LIES all the time about Iraq, and everything else..give examples

of the lies, which are well documented on youtube

he could go on and on and on, JUST like the pugs do

don't they GET it at Demcentral?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

13. He actually did do a bit of that and did a good job of it too.

He said, well, we're talking about when the car is already in the ditch and the efforts are to put it back on the road, but the car is never the same - something like that.

But, as I said, Stephanopoulis kept pressing the right/wrong meme.

[Gabi Hayes]

15. the key is not directly answering questions like that, which puts him on the defensive.

pugs are masters at turning questions like that around

it's EASY to do

they don't understand that any question must be made into a launching pad for one's own agenda-propelling platform

that's exactly how they 'win' the debate, and dominate the political dialogue. they almost NEVER, EVER are forced to fall off message, because the media almost never follow up against them

until dems toughen up, they lose

it's that simple

they have to turn the the discourse to their advantage by ignoring the question, basically, and answer in a manner that best suits their needs

[VolcanoJen]

24. EXACTLY. You swat this down by questioning McCain's judgement.

At the beginning of the Iraq War talk, McCain said we could do this with 100,000 troops. McCain said it would last a few months, maybe.

McCain is a knee-jerk gut politician, and that kind of judgement hasn't worked out well for us these last eight years. Don't talk about the Surge. Talk about the fact that it took McCain almost FOUR YEARS to come around to that position.

[Gabi Hayes]

29. there's video on youtube (Daily show has it, too) saying the war would be EASY

there's also video of him saying he NEVER said the war would be easy, that it would be hard

why can't Obama use stuff like that EVERY time he answers ANY question

get the media to deal with the fact that MCCain is a LIAR

a LIAR who can't remember all the lies because that's all he DOES????

[Doctor_J]

12. No one is swayed by the Sunday AM shows any more

they have been RepubliCON campaign ads for at least 10 years. If you are watching, it means you're either a Repuke or like being aggravated. My advice is to write them a note telling why you're not going to watch any more, and then don't watch any more.

[coalition_unwilling]

40. I re-instituted my boycott of

ABC and Disney thanks to Steph's act today.

I urge all DUers to boycott ABC until O wins or the Iraqi Resistance drives us out in ignominy. (See Saigon ca. 1974 for a preview of what this will look like.)

[EC]

16. Well, it should be off the table soon since O'Rielly

edited his piece to make it seem Obama agreed that it worked, so by debate time it shouldn't be a question anymore...Let them have it...it doesn't matter. What really matters is bringing the troops home and from what I read in the paper today that may even be moot since Petraius is starting to send home this month...

[BlueIdaho]

20. Shortie is a republican fellow traveler.

Did you miss him "moderating" the debate with Chuckles Gibson? Hilarious I tells ya - them two are a regular Martin and Lewis.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

21. I think he just follows his marching orders which he was doing today as well.

After that debate, I really doubt anyone would mistake either Gibson or Staphanopoulis as any type of bone fide journalists.

[VolcanoJen]

22. Well, that's why they chose ABC to rollout Product Palin, after all.

It's rather discouraging.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

23. McCain on Face the Nation today also pledged Palin would appear there.

Scheifer can go either way. There have times when he's really thrilled me with his no-holds barred and there have been times when I though he was just a lap dog.

[No Elephants]

25. Stephanopoulous is a shill. I like how his panel claimed that McCain is the one with a proven

record of being able to work with the other side. Helloooo? Congress is going to be Democrat. Are they trying to blow smoke that McCain is going to be able to work with a Democratic Congress better than a Democrat can? In the next breath, though, they say McCain will put the breaks on a Democratic Congress.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

26. His other straw man today was which candidate would break with their party more

as though that was some actual objective.

Obama did a great job with that one and pretty much called bs on Stephanopoulis. I can't remember enough to describe it, but the interview is up right now at ABC.

[Pharlo]

36. What happened was G.S. started out asking questions about 'change'

and then tried to lead it into a discussion of how seldom Obama voted WITH the Dems instead of voting 'independently'- pushing 'bipartisanship'.

When G.S. tried this, Obama pointed out it was TWO different issues.

By voting with the Dems, he was a representative for change.

While McCain, who voted over 95% of the time with the Repubs was an agent for the status quo.

So, G.S. needed to determine what he was asking Obama: 1) was he for change; or 2) did he (Obama) vote with the Dems because he disagreed with the direction Bush wanted to take the country.

Very adroitly done. Kept G.S. on track, answered his question, and kept the Dem spin on it.

[coalition_unwilling]

43. If you watched the (too brief) cut-away

shots of Steph's face, it looked like O fed him a shit sandwich

Priceless!

[ClarkUSA]

28. This is your second OP dissing Obama's performance on "This Week"

Thanks for your concern.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

37. How pathetic.

Sometimes real live breathing Democrats offer opinions on how their candidates might do things a little differently IN ORDER TO WIN VOTES.

If we were in high school you would be a member of the pep squad and I would be on the debate team. There's room for us both.

[gulliver]

30. People believe what they want to believe.

They have never heard of a Pyhrric victory. Obama now has an uphill battle with the Iraq issue. We have gotten little from it, perhaps less than nothing. But that won't matter. The American people did not feel the sacrifice (their children will), and they are too ill-informed to gauge what we have supposedly won. They are ready to feel good about Iraq, and that is what they will do--because they want to, not because it is justified.

Welcome to politics. Start a war for no reason. Lose the war for years. Stabilize the situation at great expense. Show a net national security loss. Claim victory. Get elected president by a grateful, doomed people.

[FrenchieCat]

31. He always has been a McCain shill......

and he thinks that the American voters are stupid.

[Vinca]

33. Now that George S. has a few bucks in his pocket he's afraid

the Democratic candidate might take a few bucks out of it in taxes. Money corrupts.

[gravity]

39. This is the one weak point from Obama

They need to come up with a more concise answer to the question. It really hurts his credibility for foreign policy.

[JoFerret]

41. Stop watching TV

and if you think GS wants a McCain presidency you need to throw the TV out the window.

[Major Hogwash]

42. Republicans watch tv programs though.

So, your solution won't work.

[JoFerret]

44. It works as a solution

for TV induced despair though.

(It also frees the mind from such drivel and the hours to do other things.Hopefull ymore productive things. Maybe we should designate a small group of heroes to endure the mind numbing effects and report back once a week.)

[spanone]

45. so was brokaw.....meme

[Zuiderelle]

46. I think Obama did really well against it. And I agree with you that GS seemed very biased.

[gblady]

47. he was like....

a dog with a bone...
intense...

[amborin]

48. too bad

O said he was surprised it worked, the other day, on O'Reilly

WHY did he go on OReilly?

Read Arriana Huff to learn more

O has boxed himeself into a corner and conceded the surge to the rethugs