Roles Reversed: Obama refuses to take questions at rallies in NH

[Herman Munster]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7738.html

CONCORD, N.H. — Following his victory in the Iowa caucus, Sen. Barack Obama has officially swapped roles with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

He arrived just before dawn in New Hampshire as the front-runner with a front-runner’s goal: Don’t screw it up.

Obama aides say he won’t play it safe. But while Clinton dove into a long question-and-answer sessionsFriday with voters and the media, Obama kept the unpredictable to a minimum.

Running on only a few hours of sleep, with a throat he described as “still a little torn up,” Obama spoke at two large rallies, but didn’t take questions.

[msongs]

1. he does not have to talk if he doesnt want to, for whatever reason nt

[Cameron27]

5. Neither did Hillary,

but she was attacked for doing it.

[aquart]

8. Of course not. It's only wrong if Hillary does it.

I'm sure it was wrong of her to answer questions in New Hampshire, too. Can't wait to see the blog condemning it.

[annie1]

27. the double standard is bizarre.

[Perry Logan]

32. Precisely. When Hillary did it, it proved she and her followers are of low moral character.

[Sulawesi]

40. No, she did not answer questions so she could visit more places,

she said as much. It created the impression that her events were too orchestrated, fairly r not. That was a bad move in Iowa, and may be a bad move for Obama. If his throat is bad, he has no choice...

There was no "low moral" character. Stop spamming and accusing the Obama people of being uniquely negative.

[FrenchieCat]

2. I don't fucking blame him.

He needs to save his voice. I and millions of others want to hear what he has to say.

[BeyondGeography]

3. Iowans will like this line

==“She’s knowledgeable enough and experienced enough and capable enough to answer any question that’s asked her,” a Clinton aide explained. “We think it’s an important contrast.”==

[CoffeeCat]

26. I'm an Iowan, and that's beyond the pale...

Let's talk about the majority of her events in Iowa. They were media events, designed
to get press attention, not to get to know her.

Most of her events didn't allow the opportunity for questions. She left after she spoke.
Sometimes, she would shake hands in the crowd, but she didn't do Q & A's at the end of
her speeches, like the other candidates did.

And do we need to mention her planted questions? She planted questions at a speech
at Grinnell College. It turns out that more than one person was asked to ask Hillary
a planted question at that speech. Then, after a student calls bullshit on the tactic,
a Hillary staffer calls the student and tells her not to talk with the media
about this. She was ordered to be silent! Thankfully, she went to the media.

Then, Hillary says that they don't plant questions at events. LIE. Then, another
student at a completely different college--comes forward to reveal that she was
asked to ask a planted question--at an event a few days earlier.

The Clinton campaign doesn't deny it, but won't comment.

She spent most of her time in Iowa---overly managed, orchestrated and shut down. It's one
of the many reasons she didn't fare well here.

Now, she has the audacity to suggest that Obama's one night of not answering questions is
an important contrast to Hillary's effervescent openness?

Where's the puke bucket?

[aquart]

4. Hillary was attacked for it. Did this sound like an attack?

Ain't no double standard around here.

[tammywammy]

6. If his throat is irritated

He was probably saving his voice, knowing he has the big speech tonight too. :shrug:

[Joe the Revelator]

7. The difference, at least for today is, he has an excuse

His voice. Lets see what happens tomorrow.

[tammywammy]

10. Agreed, if he doesn't take questions tomorrow

And he doesn't sound hoarse when he talks, then I'm disappointed in him.

[Joe the Revelator]

12. Same here. My hypocrisy only goes so far

nt

[loveangelc]

9. he's so tired from working hard in iowa. and he had a SOAR THROAT.

its understandable that he couldn't take questions if he's sick and getting 2 fricken hours of sleep.

[JI7]

11. isn't there a debate this saturday ?

[FrenchieCat]

15. Yep......I'm sure he'll get more than enough questions then......

[zulchzulu]

13. Have you ever tried to answer questions or even work on a couple hours of sleep?

He practically did an all-niter last night after months of non-stop events including town hall meetings and other speeches. Give the guy a day to get his voice back and catch some rest.

As for Hillary, she needs to be asked a lot of questions why she landed in third after have been ahead by 20% in polls in Iowa a month ago.

[cynatnite]

14. All these candidates are running with little sleep and probably sore throats...

Running for president has got to be one of the hardest jobs in the world. Press following everywhere, noting every little thing and reporting it to the world, candidates giving the same speeches over and over and over, always moving from place to place, forcing smiles on their faces when they're so tired, throats sore from having to endlessly talk to people nonstop and rarely stopping long enough to get even a decent nap.

These are some of the things I remember from past elections and how hard life was for the candidates. Regardless of who anyone supports people have got to admit that this kind of campaigning isn't for everybody. Not just any schmo can do it.

So if a candidate doesn't take questions one time...I can't really blame him or her.

[doc03]

16. He's saving his voice from

the beating he gave Hillary in Iowa.

[Cha]

17. They have no idea if

Obama was "keeping the unpredictable to a minimum" or ..

"Running on only a few hours of sleep, with a throat he described as “still a little torn up,” Obama spoke at two large rallies, but didn’t take questions." Big fooking deal..at least he didn't plant any questions.

[BenDavid]

18. Same old ad hominem crap this guy has been serving up since

he began.Change, Change, Change. TO WHAT, TO WHAT, TO WHAT?? This guy has no experience, no ideas, no plans, no direction, only 'change?, whipping up the emotion of anti-establishment without a plan. He will have to change a lot before I would feel comfortable with him making decisions and quite possibly the Taliban with their finger on the nuclear button. This situation in Pakistan really brought things into focus. Who would you trust with your life? That IS what it comes down to? I want experience, strength, ability, direction and wisdom. Sorry, none present with Obama.

Ben David

[Name removed]

23. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Yuugal]

24. You're my favorite Hill-shill Ben. nt

[CoffeeCat]

28. At least Obama is consistent...

His overall theme is change, because he recognized long ago that this is what Americans
needed and wanted. Turns out, he was right. The Iowa caucuses--and how well Edwards
and Obama did--solidify that notion.

He's always ran on a moniker of change.

Hillary on the other hand, ran on "experience." One could easily ask your candidate..."Experience
to do what?" What will she use her experience FOR? We know she sided with Bush on Iran, and
has voted to help him in the propaganda campaign to widen the war---with her Kyl/Lieberman vote.

Furthermore, your candidate has switched from "experience" to "Now, I'm for change too!".

You chide Obama for not being specific enough, when Hillary has to switch messages at every
new state---because she's losing.

And as for Pakistan. Hillary's gaffe about Musharaff being elected leads me to believe that she
doesn't even understand the basic political aparatus inside that country.

Are you that into irony?

[sniffa]

39. I'll take non sequitors for $1000 Alex

you should make this an OP. :thumbsup:

[pointsoflight]

19. In all fairness....

If he's losing his voice, that's a very, very good reason with the debate coming up. It would be disastrous for any of the candidates if they had no voice for the debate.

Having said that, if he doesn't take questions the rest of the way, even after the debate, then he deserves every bit as much criticism as Hillary got.

[HughMoran]

20. Oh, dear

we can't have this, now can we?

[MalloyLiberal]

21. I'm not shocked.

He can't make any mistakes, or the corporate media will tear him up and make the self-fulfilling prophecy, "Clinton the Comeback Kid" in New Hampshire or on February 5th. It's good for an inexperienced candidate who has not run in a national ticket or been a national figure for long, from a political standpoint, to not go off script with the corporate masters pulling the strings.

[Gloria]

22. His Hillary-lite qualities are shining through...

[Bluebear]

25. Riiiicola. nt

[whatdoyouthink]

29. Might need to rest the voice

For tonight...all of them are tired and need some rest! even though i'm for someone else - got to give him a break/etc...I'm even tired from typing post (s)

[JTFrog]

30. It's great to see Obama in her seat isn't it? Inevitable my ass!

[Perry Logan]

31. Obama people are NEVER going to get over that "inevitable" thing!

[JTFrog]

34. I won't and I'm not even an Obama people!! n/t

[alteredstate]

33. He had to take a few hours off

He'd just about lost his voice.

[tblue37]

35. I beleive him, When I listened to his

speech following the Iowa caucus win, I kep rubbing my own throat in sympathy. I was so worried about his voice that I could hardly pay attention to his words! He sounded terribly hoarse, and the only way to heal those swollen vocal cords is to give them a rest.

[KingofNewOrleans]

36. It's alright, Edwards can come in and answer the question

for Obama.

[KennedyGuy]

37. yeah..still no questions today..

Hillary answered them for two hours...
Where are all of the people who were attaccking her for not answering them now that Obama has run for cover?

[hedgehog]

47. Maybe she answered question s for two hours because she had

no where else to go?

[bigdarryl]

38. To defend Obama and Hillary i think the SECRET SERVICE has a lot to do with them not answering ....

questions they have very large crowds and i think the secret service tells them NO QUESTIONS theres to many people

[CyberPieHole]

41. He's not taking questions because he has no answers. Plain and simple.

Obama and Bush are cut from the same cloth.

[Forkboy]

42. I see two groups of hypocrites.

Obama supporters defending this after ripping on Hillary, and Hillary supporters pissed at Obama after defending her when she did it.

Talk about two camps made for each other. Why Hillary and Barack don't just run together is beyond me.

[kurth]

44. How 'bout a twofer: A BLACK WOMAN

Like OPRAH. Smart. Lots of charisma.

With Dr. Phil in tow.

[Forkboy]

45. How about Maxine Waters instead.

:)

[bunnies]

43. There is a difference between a "Rally" & a "Town Hall"

Maybe someday people will grasp this.

[Connie_Corleone]

46. Obama has several Meet The Candidate events on Sunday.

These are the question & answer events.

So, no he is not refusing to answer questions. If that was the case, he wouldn't be doing a debate tonight.