From The Road
January 18, 2008 7:08 AM

Obama Jabs Opponents With a Little Humor

By
Maria Gavrilovic
Topics
Barack Obama
(CBS)
From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:

LAS VEGAS -- At a town hall meeting last night, Barack Obama sounded more like a stand-up comedian with a string of one-liners than a man running for president as he ranted against Hillary Clinton's criticisms of him.

Obama told the crowd of roughly 700 that when he was down 20 points, people loved him but now that he's running strong, they are critical of him.

Obama poked fun at John Edwards and Hillary Clinton for their response to the "what is your weakness" question at the MSNBC debate. Obama said that he answered the question as an "ordinary person."

"Folks, they don't tell you what they mean!" exclaimed Obama.

"I thought that they meant 'what's your biggest weakness?!' So I said 'well you know I don't handle paper that well, you know, my desk is a mess, I need somebody to help me file and stuff all the time.'"

"So the other two they say well my biggest weakness is 'I'm just too passionate about helping poor people.' I am just too impatient to bring about change in America.'"

Obama joked, "If I had gone last I would have known what the game was. I could have said 'well you know I like to help old ladies across the street. Sometimes they don't want to be helped. It's terrible.'"

Obama went on to criticize Clinton for her comments at the debate on the bankruptcy bill.

"She explains, 'well, sort of, I don't know, here's why I did this.' And then she says 'I voted for it but I was glad to see that it didn't pass.' What does that mean? No seriously, what does that mean? if you didn't want to see it passed, then you can vote against it."

The crowd roared with laughter as Obama pounced on the Clinton campaign for mailers that were sent out to Nevada voters stating that Obama supported Yucca Mountain. "What part of 'I'm not for Yucca' do you not understand?"

Obama ended by calling Clinton's comments "tricks" and said voters will stop listening to politicians because of them. At the end of the event, a man yelled out to Obama that he will be a better president than George Bush. Obama responded, "So would you!"

Add a Comment See all 17 Comments
by krazime-2009 January 19, 2008 8:35 PM EST
When Bill Clinton gets the nomination (because he is actually running, not Hillary) then I will vote republican for the first time in my life. I would rather have four more years of the republicans than 4 or 8 years of the Clintons in the White House again.
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by rrcampbell1 January 18, 2008 10:00 PM EST
What a hoot !

". . . At the end of the event, a man yelled out to Obama that he will be a better president than George Bush. Obama responded, ''So would you!''

: - )
Reply to this comment
by ajironworks4 January 18, 2008 3:46 PM EST
If Hillary has the Experience to lead , then why didn''t this get stopped by her expertise ??????

how can we trust a candidate that has the record of influence , and what does this say about the experience to lead , if these kinds of influences are not caught right up front , how can Hillary claim she has the right experience to stop these kinds of Illegal affairs , that even still is willing to take the funds , only to give them back , once the spot light has been cast upon them and their corruption of generating the finds like this example ;Clinton to Return Funds from Fundraiser Hsu
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14316806 .

I mean these people have to have a constant policing going on around them 24 / 7 , or we the people get manipulated to death , and so how can you trust em , and why should we start right out worrying about this kind of stuff ????

I like the Idea Barack Obama has about a Leader needing to be able to pick the right people to run the body of Government .


Barack Obama , the candidate for Peace and Prosperity can get the job done with Dignity and class , to restore the hope for the future of all .
Thanks for your time and have a Great day in the USA .
Reply to this comment
by ajironworks4 January 18, 2008 3:46 PM EST
If Hillary has the Experience to lead , then why didn''t this get stopped by her expertise ??????

how can we trust a candidate that has the record of influence , and what does this say about the experience to lead , if these kinds of influences are not caught right up front , how can Hillary claim she has the right experience to stop these kinds of Illegal affairs , that even still is willing to take the funds , only to give them back , once the spot light has been cast upon them and their corruption of generating the finds like this example ;Clinton to Return Funds from Fundraiser Hsu
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14316806 .

I mean these people have to have a constant policing going on around them 24 / 7 , or we the people get manipulated to death , and so how can you trust em , and why should we start right out worrying about this kind of stuff ????

I like the Idea Barack Obama has about a Leader needing to be able to pick the right people to run the body of Government .


Barack Obama , the candidate for Peace and Prosperity can get the job done with Dignity and class , to restore the hope for the future of all .
Thanks for your time and have a Great day in the USA .
Reply to this comment
by bywill January 18, 2008 3:19 PM EST
GWB Went in as President as a serious guy and then made a joke of us, aroung the world. It''s better that Obama tells a few jokes now and the gets down to business later. Don''t you agree??
Reply to this comment
by honesttalk January 18, 2008 3:10 PM EST
How easy people buy into things or campaign slogans. So, now Obama is the uniter, the only one that can bring people together, right? Well...show me something he had done in Illinois to probe it. All this economic crisis in our State and he has done nothing at all. I voted for this guy even tho I didn''t knew much about him; but I am really disappointed. His campaigning and all the millions of dollars plus the celebrity status have crated this IDOL that supposedly will bring change; well what is the change he is talking about? Recycling ideas and using former leaders memories to play with people hopes is not leadership or honest. Talking about his GREAT JUDGMENT, what about his support for bills that hurt the people of Illinois, his "present" votes, his support for Strogger, his acceptance in Illinois lobbyists and PAC money, his voting to fund the Iraq war, his vote to build the Wall in the Mexican border, no to mention is deals with Rezko the indicted fixer. Were those good judgment or just action of a calculated smart politician. He learned fast from Madigan, Blogojevich and Daley in Illinois!
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by jford81 January 18, 2008 2:57 PM EST
Hey, for those of you talking about Obama''s experience know this. The important of experience is that it supposedly equals good judgement, and who had the best judgement of the two? Hillary is always making the wring choice and then going back to fix it, we can''t afford that at this time! we need someone who is going to get it right the first time!

In addition, Obama has been an elected official longer than Hillary, she was just elected this mellenium! 2000 people! other than that she was just wifey, Before she became the senator all she did was work for children and women, not the whole of America like Obama.

One more point-i dont care HOW much experience you have, you cant bring change unless you can bring the country together, and Hillary cant do that. Dont forget that the clintons dont try to unite the country to win elections, they go after the majority of the votes.

Wise up people, and stop playing into the clintons tricks, its time for a change. And that means a change in your flawed thinking as well.
Reply to this comment
by honesttalk January 18, 2008 2:33 PM EST
Obama thinks that running for the Presidency is a joke; well for him has been a quick and easy run when all you have to put is a big smile, big slogans, talk for change and play with the people hopes. The dangerous of his proposition is that he can''t deliver change and he knows it; he never had delivered any change in Illinois and besides his educational credentials he has no leadership skills; and no matter what his cult followers think; his campaign, his money supporters and he himself they know he can''t deliver. So, is very easy going around mocking your adversaries, doing dirty tricks when you have tons of money of surrogate backers while he trying to looks a fun guy and worst pretending he has the answer for everything and he is ready to lead! The dangerous here is that he will create hope to many when he knows he will be an ineffective leader and a followers as he has always been. He will create a new generation full of cynicism towards politicians. But again%u2026we elected Bush and when people are desperate they listen to everything, even to those empty promises. The fact is that Obama maybe he himself is new to Washington ; but his Chicago machine and the people that are supporting him are no new at all; they are just changing the face and bringing a new messenger! They are probably enjoying the scene and they will be very proud if their candidate wins. They will win once again at the expenses of the American people; but who cares..by then they have achieved their goal!
Reply to this comment
by g02342000 January 18, 2008 2:19 PM EST


John Edwards is the only one that will fight poverty and bring health care and education to the poor & middle class of America. John Edwards would be the best President for all of America, anything less will be as bad as keeping Bush in office forever.

America deserves honest men of integrity that will fight for all Americans, and Edwards is a true patriot that can make America great. He has the substinance, determination, and will to fight greed, corruption and end the outsourcing of our jobs.

His economic, education, health and welfare policies are now being copied by all the canidates. Edwards spoke out months and even years before the others.

America needs to think about why the "Washington Greed, Corruption, Large Corporations and Media" are trying to make this a two candidate Democratic race?

Edwards is the only Democrat able to win the Presidency, as polls have showed that any Republican nominated will beat Clinton and/or Obama.

An Edwards presidency will create American jobs for Americans by ending the outsourcing of our jobs lost through NAFTA and CAFTA. It will end the greed and corruption of large corporations and Washington politicians.

End the $700 million per day wasted in Iraq and invest in America, America can prosper in a global economy without outsourcing our jobs

Vote for jobs for the workers of America, healthcare and education for the middle class by endorsing a true patriot of integrity and honesty for America, John Edwards
Reply to this comment
by tgreat_pacho January 18, 2008 2:01 PM EST
Obama''s proposed "payroll tax" of which you refer would only affect those people making more than $102,000.00 INDIVIDUALLY. It is simply an increase to the base income upon which Social Security tax is applied. Right now only the first $102,000.00 of income is taxed and Obama wants to increase that amount so that when the baby-boomers retire there is enough to pay them without increasing the percentage withdrawn. for information on the taxable base for social security see http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15.pdf.
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