Sept. 21, 2008

Obama Says Economy, Iraq Are Top Issues

Energy And Health Care Follow Ending The War And Dealing With The Wall St. Meltdown As Key Priorities

  • Play CBS Video Video Candidate Obama, Part 1

    In separate interviews, the two parties' presidential nominees are questioned on the big issues, including the U.S. economy, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, energy policy and health care. Steve Kroft interviews Sen. Barack Obama.

  • Video Candidate Obama, Part 2

    The presidential candidates talk about the defining experiences of their lives. Steve Kroft interviews Sen. Barack Obama.

  • Video Obama Answering The Critics

    Speaking of executive experience, Sen. Barack Obama tells Steve Kroft he and his opponent, Sen. John McCain, are on "equal footing on that front."

  • Sen. Barack Obama Photo

    Sen. Barack Obama  (CBS)

  • Photo Essay Behind The Scenes

    Take a behind-the-scenes peek of Steve Kroft's interview with Sen. Barack Obama.

  • Interactive Campaign 2008

    Profiles of the candidates, polls, fund-raising, blogs, video and more.

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60 MINUTES
(CBS)  Kroft: Iraq. When we talked to you the first time, back in February of 2007, you had proposed, at that time, a piece of legislation that would have had all the troops out in 16 months. Which means they would have been out by today, if it would have been passed. We would have missed the surge. We would have missed the reduction in violence.

Obama: Oh, wait, wait, wait, Steve. I mean, now you're just engaging in a huge hypothetical. We don't know what would have happened if we had initiated the plan that I put forward at the beginning of 2007. And the fact of the matter is that, as successful as our troops have been in lowering the violence in Iraq, and they have performed brilliantly. But the truth of the matter is we still don't have an oil agreement. We still don't have provincial elections. The commanders on the ground themselves acknowledge that the political progress that's needed has not been made. So we all welcome the reduction in violence, but the notion that somehow this was the only way for us to solve the problem, and that the problem has been solved, I completely disagree with.

Kroft: The McCain campaign, the last day or two, has been running nothing but ads talking about you and the surge…that you were opposed to the surge.

Obama: That's all they had to talk about. You notice that, according to the McCain mythology, I guess the Iraq war started with the surge. They seem to forget that there were five years before that where they got everything wrong, where they anticipated that we would be greeted as liberators. Where they said this would be easy. These are John McCain's quotes. That this would all pay for itself. Because the Iraqi oil revenues would more than cover it. The fact of the matter is that John McCain has been consistently wrong on Iraq. And now's the time for us to bring this to a close. Even the Iraqi prime minister and the Iraqi government recognize it's time to have a time frame. The Bush administration has talked about time horizons. And John McCain, moving forward, is the only one who stubbornly clings to reasons to stay in Iraq.

Obama wants to move an additional 7, 000 troops to Afghanistan, where he says the military situation is rapidly deteriorating.

Kroft: You were one of the first people to say that the United States ought to follow the Taliban and al Qaeda back into the tribal territories of Pakistan.

Obama: Here's what I said. We can't tolerate al Qaeda having base camps and safe havens where they are planning attacks against U.S. targets. That's not acceptable. If we have a high value al Qaeda target in our sights, then we need to make sure that if the Pakistanis are unwilling or unable to go after them, that we do. That's common sense. And I think that's appropriate.

Kroft: Is a nuclear-armed Iran a direct threat to the United States?

Obama: Yes. I think that a nuclear armed Iran is not just a threat to us, it's a threat to Israel. And it is a game changer in the region. It's unacceptable. And that's why I've said that I won't take any options off the table, including military, to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon. But I do think that it is important for us to use all the arrows in our quiver. And we have not applied the kind of tough diplomacy over the last eight years that I think could have made a difference.

Continued



Produced By L. Franklin Devine and Michael Radutzky
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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by dirtbag56 September 21, 2008 9:42 PM PDT
here in Tucson AZ, the sound track was so bad, I did not watch the story 60 minute aired.

Need to get better Techs or sound people
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by moxiegal September 21, 2008 9:45 PM PDT
I think the media has given Obama smooth sailing without questioning things from the past.. on his lack of experience.. calling him the chosen one.. go to factcheck.org and it has many ads he has put out that are proven false.. and yet he is whining that someone put false ads out about him.. He is the second biggest receiver of things from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.. Rubins his economic advisor is tied up in Citigroup, part of the mortgage crisis? Volckers is part of the recession years ago, that put us in a recession. He received all kinds of pork barrel spending projects. John McCain in 2005 had a bill to look into both of these and it was voted off .. check the records.. Chris Dodd..ugh .. got the most money, head of the banking committee.. bring him on and ask him what was going on.. I am an Independent who voted for Clinton, but am not voting Dem. this time.. Party for women.. I have witnessed enough lately how they treat women.. For a party that preaches tolerance, the things they tolerate is growing smaller. Never once have I heard Democrat candidates denounce some of the worst comments made about women,,ie Clinton or Palin. Noone lives like the lefties in Hollywood. Who cares when they are given endless platforms to try to shove their politics down our throats. Most here turn them off. I have seen nothing to show me that Obama has a plan, other than all talk.. What has he done? 143 days in the Senate?
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by nomcpain September 21, 2008 9:58 PM PDT
Excellent interview by Sen. Obama. He is direct, honest and to-the-point, unlike the Zig Zag Express McCain.

McSame is undergoing extreme makeover as a change agent after voting with Bush 90% of the time. This makeover won''t last any longer than the average Botox treatment that his wife gets. The American people have seen too many extreme makeover shows on TV not to know the difference between what''s real and what''s fake. McBush-Failin'' ''08

Google "McCain Traitor" "McCain Songbird" "McCain Temper"
Reply to this comment
by wder2 September 21, 2008 10:02 PM PDT
Tonight on 60 Minute Senator Obama showed again how woefully ill-equipped he is for the Presidency. When asked why he should be President, he said he had a singular talent for getting people of vastly different opinions to compromise. That''s great, if you''re Senate Majority Leader, but it isn%u2019t what we need as President.

We need someone who has the confidence to make life and death decisions and then execute those decisions. I note that of the many Presidential candidates we%u2019ve seen over the last half century, Senator Obama is one of the only ones to vie for the Oval Office having never made such a decision. Truman commanded a WWI artillery battery, Eisenhower the entire European theater in WWII, Kennedy a PT Boat; Nixon, Goldwater, Johnson, Ford, Carter, and Bush ''41 all served in the armed forces as officers and had men under their command, even Reagan, Clinton, and Bush ''43 had to make death penalty decisions as governors. But Senator Obama has never had anyone%u2019s life in his hands. He%u2019s never had that kind of power. I daresay he has no idea how he%u2019d react if he got it.

And now we%u2019re thinking about trusting him with our armed forces? Our nuclear arsenal? When he%u2019s called upon to make a decision involving those implements of national policy and mass destruction, what if the people in the room with him can%u2019t or won%u2019t come to a consensus. What is he, and what are we, going to do then?
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by arthanyel September 21, 2008 10:05 PM PDT
moxielegal states all the same propaganda that the McCain campaign is trying to sell, and I urge all voters to get the real facts and to ignore the fear and hate based attacks on Obama - and equally ignore the misleading claims from Obama.

All politicians take things out of context, exaggerate things out of proportion. These two candidates are no different. I believe, however, that the Republicans have taken that a step further - making up things that are completely untrue (Obama will cut taxes on 95% of Americans and not raise them) and trying to shift the debate from the future of the country to personalities and trivia.

Everyone should make their own decision - based on where you think we need to move America. Where it is now and the path we''ve been on must change. Personally, I believe that Obama and the Democrats have a better vision for America and a better plan to make it happen than the Republicans, and I believe that the machine behind the McCain campaign is the same machine that''s been running Washington for the last 8 years.

But don''t take ANYONE''s word for that - do you own research, and pick the future President that wants to build the America that YOU want.
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by pensacola98 September 21, 2008 10:29 PM PDT
Steve Kroft was extremely skillful at interviewing Barack Obama. I haven''t seen such loaded questions since Sam Donaldson interviewed Ronald Reagan or Tim Russert made his famous string of interviews in recent times with *** Cheney, and several cabinet members of the Bush Administration.

What I like about Obama''s answers are clearly about his style of bringing in a team of talented problem solvers to debate and deliberate a solution.

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by moxiegal September 21, 2008 10:32 PM PDT
funzie keep your hate based comments to yourself ..go to factscheck.org and look up the ads that have been shown of Obama''s to be false.. and yet he claims false ads about him..

When someone doesn''t agree with you, you say hate based? No, maybe they disagree with you instead of looking at one side.. I see nothing to make me think he has experience to lead the country.

If companies are struggling , how will raising their taxes help them? And no I am not from the McCain camp. I have a brain of my own to read up on all it..not what certain media''s portray it to be..and make me own decisions ty.. If someone don''t agree with you, they are hateful..what a copout..
Reply to this comment
by undecided6 September 21, 2008 10:50 PM PDT
Here I am in North Carolina hoping for good, informative interview of the two presidential candidates. The questions weren''t exactly penetrating, but relatively fair; that is, until the very last question.
The last question to Sen. Obama suggested that he had an up hill battle due to the fact that some people may not vote for him due to his race. Unfortunately this is probably true and an absolutely abysmal selection criterion. Also unfortunate is the fact that 60 minutes never even considered the fact that Sen. Obama may also benefit from people voting from him simply because he is black. Again; and equally abysmal selection criteria. Mr. Kroft does his viewers a disservice by serving Sen. Obama such a leading question allowing him to present a %u2018We will Overcome%u2019 type response without fairly exploring both sides. I pray that this is nothing more that sloppy reporting on 60 minutes side and not bias.
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by ctyankee8 September 21, 2008 10:58 PM PDT
For anyone who thinks that Obama is an "empty suit". then I guess you just have not listened to him and pathed his career to the point at which he is today. I guess you just like being beaten down by corporate America. What has McCain done that so qualifies him to run the country? Place 894th out of 899th in his class at the Naval Academy? Crashed FOUR PLANES ?? That McCain thinks that the fundamentals of the economy are good? Are you anti Obama just because you fall into the "FAT STUPID AMERICAN" category? I guess you would have to answer YES? Do we need another DUMBY running the country?
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by angelawynia September 21, 2008 11:09 PM PDT
I can hardly believe the interviews I just watched. I have watched 60 minuted pretty religiously for years and I will now NEVER watch again. I am a registered independent but now know that I can not turn to 60 minutes for any information about these candidates. I was shocked to see Barack Obama subjected to your grilling while John McCain was framed to profess all his glory. Steve Kroft turned into a real frowning a**hole repeatedly trying to insight Obama about taxes even after he patiently described his plan in detail. Gee Steve, do you make over $250,000 a year? Too bad! Suck it up and attempt to reclaim some of your journalistic integrity, if you ever had any.

Sickened by your segment!

~Angela



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by teddymaniac September 21, 2008 11:10 PM PDT
whoa, if 60 Minutes+ folks have a chance to interview Sarah Palin, do make sure that you guys behave in a more "respectful" manner than you did with both John McCain or Barack Obama or else the McCain campaign and the Palin supporters will scream "sexism" again.
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by moxiegal September 21, 2008 11:11 PM PDT
Yep McSame.. Same has he has been all his life.. Country first.. Obama is a flipflop.. Has to take a poll before he speaks. Funny but on tape..

Joe Biden.. Obama won''t take my guns.. John McCain is a good man and a good friend.. Our country would be well served under him.

Hillary Clinton.. John McCain is a good man and has experience.. Obama has a speech he gave in 2004.
Reply to this comment
by jetsetter08 September 21, 2008 11:15 PM PDT
You don''t make any sense Moxi...whatcha smokin??
Reply to this comment
by pipopinion September 21, 2008 11:19 PM PDT
If you are going to grill one candidate, grill them both - tonight you gave McCain a red carpet ride and grilled Barack Obama. Where is your objectivity and integrity? I notice I am not the only one who noticed this tonight... I will not be watching you again.
Reply to this comment
by ubrew12 September 21, 2008 11:21 PM PDT
angelawynia said: "I was shocked to see Barack Obama subjected to your grilling while John McCain was framed to profess all his glory. Steve Kroft turned into a real frowning a**hole repeatedly trying to insight Obama about taxes"

I felt a bit the same way. However, I thought Obama held his own quite well despite the attitude of Krofts questioning (and I don''t think Kroft meant to come off so dour).

I thought McCain came off well as well, but was helped somewhat by the seeming admiration of his questioner as well as, at one point, the glorious Sedona countryside.
Reply to this comment
by frieda44 September 21, 2008 11:28 PM PDT
Your headlines "McCain, Obama grilled on 60 minutes"

Obama grilled??!! I saw the whole thing and what a softball questions. The only one that it came close to get tough was about his qualification.

Obama''s qualification= his disposition

My goodness, and the media is complaining about Republicans #2''s qualification when Democrats #1 candidate admits that his only qualification is his disposition.

He brags about he brings people together?? not one example sited and you did not even ask.

Media is handling Obama like a kid and is afraid to ask him follow up question. I am tired of his generalities and still cannot admit that surge worked and the world is better off without Saddam.
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by lwb2vote September 21, 2008 11:35 PM PDT
over 1Trillion dollars has been spent on the war in Iraq, and yet McSlime, thinks the idiocy of this war should continue. We must have victory. "The surge is working". If he can claim success on that front, why are we still there? One reason the economy is buckling is under the weight of the ongoing senseless war.
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by k0328b September 21, 2008 11:35 PM PDT
1. Obama really knows how to work a camera and the crowd. He is a great actor. Not sure if he is honest, or just a person who knows how to work it. In my opinion, these types of personalities are great at getting you excited and working it, and let you down because they can''t get meet the expectations and they are only about appearances.

2.I want to know when he has EVER gotten a bunch of differing views in a room to make bipartisan decisions. Steve, why didn''t you ask this? Do you have something to hide and where you taken in by his personality and simply forgot to ask? Come on! He has no experience doing this, and thinks sitting around a table talking it out is going to solve issues. The political make up in Washington is going to crush him.

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by lwb2vote September 21, 2008 11:38 PM PDT
over 1Trillion dollars has been spent on the war in Iraq, and yet McSlime, thinks the idiocy of this war should continue. We must have victory. "The surge is working". If he can claim success on that front, why are we still there? One reason the economy is buckling is under the weight of the ongoing senseless war.
Reply to this comment
by k0328b September 21, 2008 11:38 PM PDT
3.His economic plan is indeed ambitious. Most plans like this fail because he needs the votes from from the Senate and Congress and he has little to negotiate with. Since he is obviously clueless about how to get differing views to work together on a solution, I honestly doubt, he can make his "tax cut" and billion dollar government sanctioned programs to work. Has anyone else noticed how corrupt, inept and bureaucratic our current government run programs are? Do we get more of the same? In the long run, just like Carter did, the middle class will get stuck with the down fall of the ambitious plan, and the inept government programs will go on and we have to pay for them.


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by k0328b September 21, 2008 11:39 PM PDT

4. So does he intend to walk away from all of the current administration''s down falls? He wants to bail out in Iraq, because he doesn''t want to spend the money. Forget having to fulfill the actual plan and continuing to figure out how to hold that country accountable for taking on their own issues. He''d rather just pull out %u201Csafely%u201D and abandon the mess. What about the mess with the economy? The mess with out international relations? The mess with possible tensions in Russia? The global economy and where we stand, and our place in it? Is he just going to put together another generic manufactured plan and walk away? Not his mess so I won''t clean it up? Well good luck. You must be smoking something to think you are not going to have to deal with this above all your supposed superior promises of change. And how do you plan to overhaul the broken government agencies who run everything currently? How will you hold them accountable? How can the American public fire those who are not doing the jobs? How will you enforce higher performance? How will you stop stupid budgetary spending because we %u201Chave to use it%u201D in order to more for next year? And again, how is it that the top 5% of tax payers are going to pay for all this? Does he have some secret magic spell that no other president or country has ever had access to? I want a drag of whatever you are smoking.

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by k0328b September 21, 2008 11:40 PM PDT
5. I can appreciate your style and ambitions, but when it comes right down to it, you are only good at energizing people and blowing hot air. Obama has yet to prove any circumstances where he has actually made change already, where he has actually lead differing groups together and where he has been faced by high intensity and pressure and been able rise to amazing results.

I see a lot of feel good stories and I see the media eating right from your hand.
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by frieda44 September 21, 2008 11:58 PM PDT
If I was in the McCain camp, I will rerun Obamas tape where he admits the only qualification he has is:

DISPOSITION & ABILITY TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER

Disposition...he has not run anything in his life..his longest employment has been 3 years...he admitted that Senate job is basically being a yaker (in CNN forum)..so why should I vote for him??

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by lajollajule September 22, 2008 12:05 AM PDT
I like that Obama actually answers questions. He layed out what he would do the first day he is President and his top priorities for his administration. Which he has been consistent about. He is a leader - leaders bring people together, get expert opinions, make decisions. He can do this. He''s made it this far because of his strong leadership skills.
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by ayoogbon September 22, 2008 12:12 AM PDT
America needs to get this right this year, Obama certainly can rise to the challenge as the Commander in chief of the Greatest Nation on the face of the Planet. People talk about experience, what experince did GEORGE BUSH not have coming to the white house in 2000?. It is Judgement that matters and OBAMA is right on almost every issue.
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by justus2008 September 22, 2008 12:26 AM PDT
Obama is a born leader. He will do well as president of the USA. He has been put through every test and more that a man could go through for this position. I was appalled that the questioning was so different for him, as opposed to McCain. However as usual, Obama handled himself acceptionally well. He is truly a born leader. McCains answers seemed to be rehearsed and still uncertain. He didn''t even know for sure if we are in a recession or not. I suppose maybe he''s not, but the majority of America is. It''s a shame we even have to go through with an election when we only have one qualified team to do what needs to be done to pull us out of the hole we were forced into by the Bush administration ....Obama-Biden 2008.
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by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 12:26 AM PDT
2.I want to know when he has EVER gotten a bunch of differing views in a room to make bipartisan decisions. Steve, why didn''''t you ask this? Do you have something to hide and where you taken in by his personality and simply forgot to ask? Come on! He has no experience doing this, and thinks sitting around a table talking it out is going to solve issues. The political make up in Washington is going to crush him.
Posted by k0328b at 11:35 PM : Sep 21, 2008
His current economic advsiors include Paul Volker , warren buffet, and Paul rubin ,amongst others . His curent foreign policy team takes input from colin powell as well as chuck hagel , brezinski Ms albright and others others .
Reply to this comment
by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 12:29 AM PDT
Its The Culhanes of Cornfield County... as we tune in we listen to Minnie say...

Aint that Obomber something - I heard he sent 30 law-ers to try to find something on Sarah..Posted by bgmusic at 12:05 AM : Sep 22, 2008
I am not sure even what side you are trolling for , you are a troll , these kinds of posts are BS , and we actually have issues people like to talk about , troll begone .
Reply to this comment
by daplaw123 September 22, 2008 12:30 AM PDT
I thought Obama did an awesome job, he knows his stuff. I''m sure he knows by now that he has to be careful of not telling all his plans because as soon as he does, McCain tries to steal them it''s ashame of how McCain has ran this race. Just stealing everything Obama says just to win an election. I''m so tired of the same Bush 8yrs. It''s time for a real change. You may not agree to everything Obama stands for, but at least it''s got to be better than we are today. I''m tired of this mess that the Bush administration has put this country through, please wake up America. Let''s be honest here we know that many of you will not vote for Obama because he is a black man. But we believe that he will win, because of the new voters, people who have never voted before. Why? Because they are tired and really do want change. After reading all the comments I now see that people hear what they want to hear and believe what they want to believe and we all have that right. Unless you are making over $250,000.00 a year you may feel that you don''t need a change and you wanting the same is a good thing.
Obama/Biden 08
Reply to this comment
by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 12:35 AM PDT
so why should I vote for him??
Posted by frieda44 at 11:58 PM : Sep 21, 2008

You shouldnt , you werent , there is nothing could change your mind . just know a lot of us are voting for the black man . Not because he is black Iwould hve voted for Hillary as well . the plain fact is republicans have been behind the largest financial collapes since the great depression , an electivce war tehat is costing uis 10billion dollars a month fought on chinese credit our grandchildren will pay for , torture as an american value , corporate corruption tied into public governance as a republican value ala abramoff , a total disregard for global warming , the katrina response , Enron , man I could go on and on , but there is nothing that would tell you to vote different , i dont think the issue is democrats ,or their positions, Novel idea its your views.
Reply to this comment
by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 12:42 AM PDT
Obama has spent over 500 million dollars and is asking for more.
Posted by mr22581 at 12:37 AM : Sep 22, 2008
mr22581 doesnt have any problem with tax payers bailing out bear stearns with 12 billion . AIG with 85 billion . freedie mac .fannioe mae to the tune of what 400 billion? and the world in genral witha 700 billion dollar bailout caused by the failure of republican policies on deregualtion , but 500 million is big deal ? they just opened the road to nowhere in alaska today to the bridge to now where ,3 miles of gravel road that cost the american taxpayer 25 million . hell me and a tractor could do that for 10 million and I would be good . Hypocricy knows no bounds online
Reply to this comment
by glenda743 September 22, 2008 12:43 AM PDT
Someone needs to ask Barack Hussein Obama to name "JUST ONE"
just one corporation or company who gets higher bills...whether it is a tax bill or a utility bill or a gas bill or any kind of bill....that takes the higher bills from their bottom line....Wake up America.....they pass ALL HIGHER COSTS OF DOING BUSINESS ON TO THE CONSUMER... I just can not believe how dumb the Democrats are....Duh......Just like Fred Thompson said at convention....if you don''t plan on buying anything, it won''t affect you.....This really doesn''t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out......Wake up America....
Reply to this comment
by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 12:51 AM PDT
The bailout was handled by both parties.
Posted by mr22581 at 12:44 AM : Sep 22, 200as always athe solution ios multi party , It ahs been republicans who said there wqs no need of regulation the financial markets would regulare themselves . and Mccain promises more of the same , of course we tax payers can always pay for it , Mccain promises to do the same thing for health care they have done for finacial markets Here%u2019s what McCain has to say about the wonders of market-based health reform:
"Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation." quoted in a an article this month for "contingincies" magazine . nothing but the facts . you preached it you own it

Reply to this comment
by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 12:55 AM PDT
Before the democrats took over.Gas was cheap.
Posted by mr22581 at 12:46 AM : Sep 22, 2008
when Bush took office in 2000 oil was $20 a barrel .. you looked lately over a $100 ? cough . oh thats right like stephen colbert says "reality has a liberal biasis"
Reply to this comment
by clovisbuford September 22, 2008 1:04 AM PDT
"At his speach planes were above pulling anti-Obama signs." we will ignore the typonese you mean he has opponents that can hire huge airplanes to advertise against him? .. big surprize eh
Reply to this comment
by mcnenny1 September 22, 2008 1:16 AM PDT
Tonight Senator Obama showed that he is a person of integrity who can stand up to negative and beligerant interviewers like Steve Kroft. This was a great disappointment, and it showed that what is said of the press is true. Despite the enormous meltdown that the Republican Party''s championing of deregulation in the financial industry has led to, Kroft gave McCain a sunny and positive interview opportunity. For Senator Obama, the interviewer was consistently negative and confrontational. I found the behavior of the 60 Minutes interviewer sad and pitiable. Frankly, his treatment of a man who stands to do so much for our country was despicable.
Reply to this comment
by astrid85 September 22, 2008 1:37 AM PDT
Obama%u2019s economic plan is ruinous. Take money away from people who spend the most, re-regulate trading to thwart corporate momentum, tax big corporations whose successes are a huge economic driver and you have a recipe for disaster.

The war in Iraq should have never begun. How do we get out? McCain has a plan that will work. He''s been in government during 3 wars and was a POW in the most embarrassing national conflict ever. Obama has been organizing communities.

Spending billions on a fledgling national health care plan is not the answer. Creating infrastructure to support the needs of all American people is the answer. McCain''s plan seeks to create that infrastructure. Crunch the numbers and compare best case scenarios...McCain''s plan wins.

When you compare what Palin has actually accomplished with what Biden has done, it''s clear that Palin''s career is marked with vastly more impactful successes than Biden''s. If Obama picked Palin, we''d all be doing cartwheels.

The race card is a wash. Can we stop talking about it? Obama is arrogant. McCain is thankful. Obama wants your votes for him. McCain wants your votes for his country. The presidential election is not a forum in which anyone should be airing racial laundry. Listen to McCain on the issues, then listen to Obama on the issues. The difference is McCain''s specificity of plan versus Obama''s partisan politics clouding reality in favor of rhetoric. Obama is Hollywood. Hollywood belongs on film, not in the White House.
Reply to this comment
by lajollajule September 22, 2008 1:42 AM PDT
People seem to forget that our budget deficit has been out of control for the past five years - money used/borrowed to pay for the Iraq war.

Obama does a much better job with this interview. He answers questions. He is educated and well-rounded. McCain pretty much just talks about the surge and being a POW. Plus, he said that he would go against what the American population wants - now that is scary for a President to say and do.
Reply to this comment
by jerr11 September 22, 2008 1:48 AM PDT
And the two are one and the same.

The Iraq War is the reason we''re in a depression now.

$12 figgin'' billion spent in Iraq a month!!

That was Osama''s strategy - to bankrupt us with an endless war and we fell for it.

Or rather our Liar-in-Chief and ******** Halliburton Cheney took full advantage of it and BLED US DRY with their phony war on terror!

Now, we the taxpayers have to pick up the tab.

Hey, the Iraq war''s already cost us $3 trillion.

What''s another trillion $$$!!

Talk about SPEND AND SPEND REPUBLIKANS!!
Reply to this comment
by yurfulla September 22, 2008 2:04 AM PDT
Whether you''re for the war or against it, you definitely don''t understand economics if you think the war is causing a recession. History shows us that war stimulates the economy and puts people to work. Ignorant and uneducated statements such as yours are what makes this country go into recession. Read a book. Learn economics. Quit watching so much TV.
Reply to this comment
by jerr11 September 22, 2008 2:32 AM PDT
When it comes to spending taxpayers money, no one does it better than your SPEND AND SPEND REPUBLIKANS!!


Bin Laden ran the Soviet economy to the ground with the Afghan war.

Now it looks like he''s doing it to us too!

And our Liar-in-Chief and his ******** Halliburton Cheney''s all too ready to comply!!

The Bush Admin''s doing the biggest con job ever on the American people!

The biggest bank heist is underway!

And the American people all too willing to play along!!

935 LIES got us into a war.

A war that''s bleeding the country dry!!

That''s why we''re in this hole!!

And the half-azzed republikan apologists are still trolling these boards giving them one excuse after another.

You can put lipstick on a Cheney and Bush and they''ll still look like pigs.

Reply to this comment
by tmc052247 September 22, 2008 2:53 AM PDT
I wish people would stop talking about Obama saying UH,um etc. People who are educated do this and people who stutter..At least he doesn''t say stupid things like McCain..I''m going to fire the head of the scc(president can''t do this, if I want someone to resign they will resign..He sounds like Hitler..send them to death if they don"t follow what I want.
Reply to this comment
by avembe September 22, 2008 3:10 AM PDT
Mc CAIN is still convinced that deregulation was such a good plan!!!!!!!WOW....just.....WOW
Please make this viral
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUJ_Qn0AHTU
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by xzonz September 22, 2008 3:30 AM PDT
McCain replied: %u201CIt%u2019s time to show the American people that politics will not be part of this massive effort we''re going to have to go on to restore our nation''s economy.%u201D

"It is inappropriate to comment because of our ongoing investigations into short-selling during last week''s market turmoil, as well as other market investigations we are currently conducting in conjunction with the SEC," said a spokesman for Cuomo, Alex Detrick.

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Lying isd the new christian principle, lying is now a way of defining oneself as an American hero, now its become acceptable to lie infront of about a million viewers-for every other candidate except Barack. and for the very reason i believe Barack because there is no way he can easily lie because there is no way he can get away with a gaffe. Mccain has the whole of Karl rove team down in Alaska. Mccain has turned the governers office in Alaska into his second campaighn office. Sarah Pilan is now above the constitution and cannot be investigated. its fine for the bush Mcain sarah Pilan to poop and pis on the constitution, to lie. WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!
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by xzonz September 22, 2008 3:37 AM PDT
I wish people would stop talking about Obama saying UH,um etc. People who are educated do this and people who stutter..At least he doesn''''t say stupid things like McCain..I''''m going to fire the head of the scc(president can''''t do this, if I want someone to resign they will resign..He sounds like Hitler..send them to death if they don"t follow what I want.


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Posted by tmc052247 at 02:53 AM : Sep 22, 2008
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i for one will not look at the stuttering from Barack because 40 yrs down the rd if we get the thugs out and restore America i can look into my grandchildren''s eyes with pride for the choice i made
40 yrs doewn the road we wont see Barack''s stuttering but the results of our choices. i will choose Barack because he has no such strong roots with the corrupt washington and if he starts to sway i will kick him out in 4 yrs
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by xzonz September 22, 2008 3:41 AM PDT
Just look at how 8+12 yrs have made the corupt bush and karl rove team to plant their rooots. now they want MCain to continue their policies and Sarah is now power hungry ambitious who thinks she is above the law and would not be investigated. they now can pooop and **** on the constitution,gamble with your money and security. even if it takes Barack to kick them out i will vote for barack
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by September 22, 2008 3:47 AM PDT
McCain and his cronies took the lead in the foolish banking deregulation that is saddling taxpayers with trillions in debt. If voters don''t see that, they will deserve what they get.
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by xzonz September 22, 2008 3:47 AM PDT
MCain has 13 cars, doesnt know how many houses he owns. Cindy Macain and sarah has personalised car plates. sarah pilan and Cindy Mccain swim in desighners just google and you will be shocked
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by actiscenei September 22, 2008 5:30 AM PDT
question for obama:
1. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
2. WERE YOU EVER ADOPTED BY YOU STEP-DAD IN INDONESIA?
3. WERE YOU EVER AN INDONESIAN CITIZEN?
4. WAS YOUR NAME EVER BARRY SOETORO?
5. WAS YOUR NAME EVER BARRY DURHAM?
6. DID YOU EVER CHANGE YOUR NAME BACK TO BARRY HUSSEIN OBAMA?
7. WERE YOU REAL NAME ever BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA OR DID YOU SIMPLY TAKE THE NAME FOR YOUR DAD''''S SAKE?
Posted by fenner

Question for fenner: who cares?

BTW, McCain was not born in the United States, Obama was!
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by whatithink1 September 22, 2008 6:45 AM PDT
"Ronnie Reagan told us that "government is the problem." He should have added, "except when its needed to bail out the free enterprise system of looters."

Posted by mtracy99 at 04:17 AM : Sep 22, 2008"



I think it is slowly becoming clear to most sane people, that the problem is not the government. The government is the average Amrican. It''s time we take the government back from those who want to destroy it...that is, us. It''s time to say NO to privitizing the profits and socializing the loses.

NO WAY!
NO HOW!
NO REPUBLICAN!
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