Ok, so I missed Meet the Press.

[Drunken Irishman]

Hear it was harsh, but I don't want to discuss that. How did Obama do? Did he wilt?

I remember in 2003 when Dean went on Meet the Press early in his run and looked totally lost. It was rather embarrassing and though I think it made him a smart and stronger candidate, it was tough to see. So did Obama do ok?

[givemebackmycountry]

1. He did just fine Irish -

He made Brokaw look exactly like the RW tool he is.
Calm, smart, funny, relaxed, poised... he did great.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. Thanks!

I thought so. One thing Obama does well is take the heat, as he always looks so cool and rarely stumbles at getting his point across.

[DevonRex]

5. I can't stand Brokaw. He definitely is a RW tool and a fool, to boot. nt

[hisownpetard]

12. Me, neither. Never could.

[mloutre]

2. They rerun it at 6 pm EST on MSNBC, check it out for yourself

[Motown_Johnny]

3. MSNBC replays is tonight.. it is worth watching

[Patsy Stone]

6. Watch it here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6547068

[grantcart]

7. I disagree with others who are heavily critical of Brokaws questions

He asked the questions that all the 'talking heads' are saying when he is not there to answer.



He didn't ask any question that we haven't heard people talking about a dozen times since he arrived in Afghanistan.


Obama was well prepared for each question and wiped the floor with him.


Brokaw did not, like Charlie Gibson, try and get a sneaky shot in (as per Gibson asking Obama "was that a rookie mistake?" when asking him about a single word in a speech 2 months ago).


Obama was completely relaxed and enjoyed himself and the high point was when he looke at Brokaw and with a wide grin simply told him to "continue fishing if you like".



There was a break away shot just as they were going to commercial where it is evident that they get along.

[gblady]

10. looks like....

they are yukking it up pretty good here...didn't see this on the teevee, though...

[Kahuna]

20. Surprise surprise! I just posted below that Brokaw didn't crack a smile once..

This moment was definately not on air. Obama must have reached over and tickled him.

[Diamonique]

21. I agree. I don't think Brokaw was acting as a RW tool at all.

He asked the right questions that gave Obama a chance to refute all the stupid shit the *real* RW tools have been spewing on their "news" shows all week.

[Kire]

8. the podcast is available now

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/

[jefferson_dem]

9. "Relaxed and in control." Here's a good review from Noam Scheiber at TNR.

Obama on "Meet the Press"

No major drama, which the Obama camp will surely take. Obama generally looked relaxed and in-control. The most fraught exchange came at the beginning of the hour, when Brokaw pressed him on the surge. The Obama strategy was three-fold: 1.) Acknowledge that the troops did great work in suppressing the violence, as he predicted they would. 2.) Argue that the current calm in Iraq owes itself to more than just the surge. Political decisions by Iraqi actors--like the Sunni awakening, which was underway before the surge--also played a big role. 3.) Move the question of judgment away from the surge and toward other issues, like initial support for the war.

Obama accomplished all three in his initial pass at the question:

MR. BROKAW: Do you believe that President Maliki would be in a position to more or less endorse your timetable of getting troops out within 16 months if it had not been for the surge?

SEN. OBAMA: You know, we don't know, because in my earlier statements--I mean, I know that there's that little snippet that you ran, but there were also statements made during the course of this debate in which I said there's no doubt that additional U.S. troops could temporarily quell the violence. But unless we saw an underlying change in the politics of the country, unless Sunni, Shia, Kurd made different decisions, then we were going to have a civil war and we could not stop a civil war simply with more troops. Now, I, I...

MR. BROKAW: But couldn't they make that political decision because troops were there to help them make it.

SEN. OBAMA: Well, the--well, the--look, there's no doubt, and I've said this repeatedly, that our troops make a difference. If--you know, they do extraordinary work. The troops that I met, they were proud of their work, they had made enormous sacrifices, they had fought, they had helped to construct schools and, and rebuilt the countryside. But, for example, in Anbar Province, where we went to visit, the Sunni awakening took place before the surge started, and tribal leaders made a decision that, instead of fighting the Americans, we're going to work with the Americans against al-Qaeda. That was a political decision that was made that has made a huge difference in this entire process.

So the, the point I want to make is this, Tom, I mean, you know, if we want to look at the question of judgment which is the one that John McCain raised, John McCain's essential focus has been on the tactical issue of sending more troops, and he's, he's made his entire approach to foreign policy rest on that support of Bush's decision to send more troops in. But we can have a whole range of arguments about past decisions--the decision to go into Iraq in the first place, and whether that was a good strategic decision, where we've spent a trillion dollars at least by the time this thing is over, lost thousands of lives in pursuit of goals John McCain supported that turned out to be false. We can make decisions about does it make sense for us to set a time frame for withdrawal to encourage the kind of political reconciliation that needs to take place to stabilize Iraq. We can talk about the distractions from hunting down al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan, where there is no doubt that we would be further along had we not engaged in some of these actions, and...

<SNIP>

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/07/27/obama-on-quot-meet-the-press-quot.aspx

[Peacetrain]

11. Brokaw asked tough questions, Obama can answer tough questions

It was just fine,.. I felt they enjoyed the give and take with each other. Nothing like that ABC low ball shots. But come to think of it Obama did fine with those too. He was just so surprised I think at the animosity that absolutely dripped off of Stephanoplaus (sp?) and Gibson.

[MagickMuffin]

13. If you have cable CNBC will be reair it @ 5:00 pm CDST/MSNBC reair @ 1:00 am CDST

I haven't watched it yet, recorded to our cdr. Will probably watch it in a little while, after I get my whereabouts. Just woke up.

[femmocrat]

14. MSNBC has it on repeat now... 6:00 p.m. ET.

I'm now watching it for the third time today!

[Vinca]

15. Barack was fine. Brokaw not so much.

I think he was penning love notes to McBush as he quizzed Obama. So much for "liberal" bias.

[Coexist]

16. he did great. Catch the replay.

[AtomicKitten]

17. Obama did great much to Brokaw's chagrin no doubt.

[jillan]

18. Obama did excellent. Brokaw was a little rough on his at the beginning.

Obama turned it around.

He really has grown so much as a candidate. So much more confidence, quick on his feet, and injects humor.

[Kahuna]

19. Obama handled Brokaw with the greatest of ease. Brokaw used

rightwing talking points as questions, and Obama batted them down and even called Brokaw on a couple. :) Brokaw was not pleased. He didn't crack a smile once. Even when Obama smiled at him. :applause: