Every once in a while, we do see the press getting tougher on Obama – I’m thinking of the Washington Post editors hitting him for seeming “indifferent” to the outcome of the Iraq War, or his dubious excuses for dodging joint town hall meetings, or for breaking his word on public financing.
But it’s very clear that Barack Obama has gotten used to having a gale-force wind at his back when it comes to dealing with critics, a false confidence that comes from never facing serious skepticism or scrutiny. The dispute over the Born Alive Protection Act isn’t one of those “it can be interpreted either way” circumstances — the bill either included the language Obama said he wanted to see, or it didn’t. NRTL generated the paperwork to show it did include the provision Obama said he wanted. He voted against it in committee anyway. His current excuse doesn’t fly, and he just called his critics liars. A responsible press would be shredding him right now.
Also in that interview:
Brody: Let me ask you a little about some of these ads that John McCain has been running not just on television, but on the web. Let’s face it, let’s call a spade a spade, there has been some Messianic references, there’s been some antichrist stuff going on, the celebrity, they’re trying to pigeonhole you a certain way. Do you believe this is being done on purpose?
Obama: Well of course it’s being done on purpose. They’re not spending a whole bunch of money to make me out as a good guy. They’re engaging in the kind of politics that I think we’ve become accustomed to which is you try to tear your opponents down and you engage in sort of slash and burn tactics. And very personal sort of personal character attacks. And one of the challenges for us in this campaign is how do you make sure those attacks are answered quickly and forcefully, but also truthfully and that we don’t fall into that same kind of tactic.
(I wonder if anyone cringed when Brody said, “let’s call a spade a spade.”)
I’m grumbling at the question, which left Obama an out. The McCain camp has indeed been hitting Obama on the celebrity theme, and this blurs a bit into the people-think-he’s-the-messiah theme. But the accusation that McCain or his allies are accusing Obama of being the antichrist is silly.