Barack Obama Opens the Hardball College Tour

[H2O Man]

Senator Barack Obama will be on Hardball tonight, in the first of Chris Matthews' popular "College Tours." The show will be aired live at West Chester University of Pennsylvania at 5 pm est, and it will be repeated at 7 and 11 pm.

The leading democratic candidate will be discussing issues such as the war in Iraq, the economy, and he will be answering questions from students.


From MSNBC Hardblogger:

Sen. Obama will join Sen. McCain as candidates appearing on the 2008 College Tour. "Hardball" has additionally extended an invitation to Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton.

"As someone from Pennsylvania, I will be thrilled to welcome Barack Obama to the Philadelphia area and to the huge number of college and university students in the area. The higher education system in Pennsylvania is a huge catalyst to the state's economic future," said Chris Matthews.

"The Hardball College Tour" continues at Villanova University with special guest Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain on April 15.

"Hardball" has a proud tradition since 1999 of college tours at some of America's great universities, including Georgetown University, the University of Southern California, the University of Notre Dame, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Clemson University, Michigan State University, American University and Stanford University. Marquee guests on the Hardball College Tour have included former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. McCain, Sen. Clinton, Robin Williams and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. ....


Note: The Hardball interview will be interesting for a number of reasons. The recent endorsements by Senator Bob Casey, Jr., (D-PA), and former Congressman Lee Hamilton, will make the conservative voters of rural Pennsylvania more likely to at least listen to Barack Obama. Hardball is hosted by Chris Matthews, a Philadelphia native. The democrats of Pennsylvania recognize that they are playing an important role in national politics, and they are taking this seriously. I think the Hardball interview with Senator Obama will be interesting, and hope that DUers will watch it tonight.

[chimpymustgo]

1. OMG. Will Tweety piss his pants. Jerk off on camera? Must see teevee.

[Name removed]

2. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[chimpymustgo]

4. For what? Speaking the truth to Obamamania in the media? Is that a crime now at DU?

[Cha]

17. No, you're just really really gross..

and don't speak well for those you like.

[DemVet]

5. Geez, get a grip.

[DearAbby]

41. Isnt that what they are talking about Tweety doing?

Taking matters in hand, getting a grip. :evilgrin:

[babylonsister]

3. Thanks, H20 Man. I'll be watching. nt

[H2O Man]

9. I hope that you will

tell us what you think of the show this evening.

[Jersey Devil]

6. As much as I am not generally enamored of Tweety

his College Tour shows are among the best on television and during those shows he actually lets his guests finish answering questions before talking over them and tossing spittle in their general direction.

[Window]

7. K/R. Thanks for the reminder.

I've sworn off TV for a while, but this is a must see.


:kick:

[Mudoria]

8. I look forward to seeing Obama in a college campus setting.

Always enjoy Matthews take on things as well.

[H2O Man]

10. Mr. Matthews has said

that he thinks Obama can tighten the PA race by touring the state's colleges. I think that the Obama campaign has been doing a good job on the campuses. Tonight will give a wider audience an opportunity to see Barack Obama answering serious questions.

[H2O Man]

11. Obama to address AFL-CIO

Senator Obama will be addressing the AFL-CIO today. Here is from an article on PA Unions:


" ... Obama is backed by some politically powerful unions as well: Change to Win's Teamsters, SEIU, UNITE HERE and United Food and Commercial Workers – as well as the Change to Win organization and five smaller AFL-CIO unions. Obama picked up the endorsement Tuesday from the 10,000-member Laborers District Council of Metro Philadelphia. ...

"Pennsylvania has the fourth highest total of union workers in the nation, and they will have a strong say in how more than 4.1 million Pennsylvania Democrats, a record registration, vote to allocate 158 delegates to the Democratic national convention. ....

"Obama is backed by some politically powerful unions as well: Change to Win's Teamsters, SEIU, UNITE HERE and United Food and Commercial Workers – as well as the Change to Win organization and five smaller AFL-CIO unions. Obama picked up the endorsement Tuesday from the 10,000-member Laborers District Council of Metro Philadelphia. ...."

More at:



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20080401-1217-pennsylvania-unions.html

[H2O Man]

12. "Obama ties Clinton to corporate interests"

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday rejected Hillary Clinton's claims to be a champion of working families and portrayed his presidential rival as a defender of corporate interests and the status quo.

Obama, speaking to a Pennsylvania AFL-CIO convention one day after Clinton appeared before the labour group, said the New York senator was too closely tied to corporate lobbyists to bring real change to Washington.

"I'm the only candidate in this race who's actually worked to take power away from lobbyists by passing historic ethics reforms in Illinois and in the U.S. Senate. And I'm the only candidate who isn't taking a dime from Washington lobbyists," said Obama, an Illinois senator.

He mocked Clinton's recent efforts to compare herself to Rocky Balboa, the underdog boxer featured in the "Rocky" movies.

"We all love Rocky, but Rocky was fiction. And so is the idea that someone can fight for working people and at the same time embrace the broken system in Washington, where corporate lobbyists use their clout to shape laws to their liking," Obama said. .....

More:



http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKN0237596620080402

[Cha]

20. Thanks, I did not know this..

"Obama is backed by some politically powerful unions as well: Change to Win's Teamsters, SEIU, UNITE HERE and United Food and Commercial Workers – as well as the Change to Win organization and five smaller AFL-CIO unions. "Obama picked up the endorsement Tuesday from the 10,000-member Laborers District Council of Metro Philadelphia". ...."

This is fantastic!

[H2O Man]

21. It is good news.

We are going to make it a closer contest in PA than the opposition expected.

[H2O Man]

13. 40 minutes .......

Should be good!

[H2O Man]

14. :15 minutes .....

Ready to record.

[myrna minx]

18. I'll have to watch the re-airing, but thanks for the reminder. n/t

[NDambi]

25. Re-airing on East Coast--7pm and 3 am

[myrna minx]

78. Thanks. n/t

[Cha]

15. This is great..Live!

Good time to start The Tour..tonight at 5pm.

[City Lights]

16. I'm not a fan of Chris Matthews, but will be tuning in to see Obama.

:-)

[Swamp Rat]

19. k&r

[NDambi]

23. kick go bama

Philly Sport Magazine endorses Obama!!!

[H2O Man]

22. It is starting strong!

Philly Sport magazine endorses Obama!

[Cha]

46. Philly Sport Mag! Tremendous

Diversification!

[MadBadger]

24. Can we have an official thread?

I'm all out of threads.

[H2O Man]

26. All of my threads are,

by definition, "official." They all have the H2O Man seal of Approval.

[MadBadger]

28. Haha, I only saw that this thread was started earlier today.

[NDambi]

29. lol awww how cute

[Coexist]

40. H2O Man, you made me laugh!

and this is Official Enough For FlDem5!

[Cha]

50. That's right!

[NDambi]

27. Me too sorry

[H2O Man]

30. He is doing well.

Chris Matthews made the point that McCain and Clinton have positions on Iraq that are closer to each other's than to Barack's. Obama made the differences clear, and did it in a way that kept the focus on McCain's 100 year plan.

[WolverineDG]

31. Has Hillary agreed to appear?

I know yesterday Tweety mentioned they'd still not received a committment from her to do so, like Obama & McCain.

dg

[H2O Man]

34. No.

Not at this time.

[WolverineDG]

35. Ok thanks nt

[Coexist]

42. he really controlled the narrative there -

and that reception when he walked into the room, man! That would go to my head.

[malik flavors]

32. What's going on? Keep us updated.

[H2O Man]

36. The students are

asking questions now. The first one asked about cuts to student aid. Obama notes that for years, Michelle and he paid more in their college loans than their mortgage.

[H2O Man]

37. Second question:

A young man asked him about his faith and the reaction to Rev. Wright. He answered it well.

Are you able to watch at 7 or 11?

[H2O Man]

38. #3: Pay for teachers.

He hit it out of the park.

[Tinksrival]

33. Awe,

Tweety is drooling!

edit for full disclosure: So am I.....}(

[sandnsea]

39. Good, clarifies merit pay for teachers

Not merit pay as has been defined, rather more pay for teachers who gain additional training.

[H2O Man]

45. I thought that

was a really good answer.

[DearAbby]

43. Thanks for the heads up H2Oman.......n/t

[Celebration]

44. this is great publicity for him

He is doing a fantastic job--it's free, and Hillary not taking the opportunity to do the same thing. (??) Glad for the stem cell research question and reply.

[H2O Man]

47. He is looking

very strong. Matthews is asking him about the corrupted intelligence in the Bush administration. Obama said, "It starts at the top." Outstanding!

[Coexist]

51. the stem cell reply was just what about 75% of Americans want to hear.

Has McCain changed his mind about this issue yet?

[NDambi]

48. He's doing really good....n/t

[Coexist]

49. "can you send that messages to the intel agencies fast?"

Obama is sounding great - he is so rational, pretty fearless.

"I want the bad news first".

[JayFredMuggs]

52. Damn!

This man is so smart, the questions are fair and hard questions, and he's doing so well.

How any voter in the USA could not respect this man for all his skills, just mystifies me why Democrats cannot get behind him as so many voters have already done.

This is quality TV.

[H2O Man]

53. Corrupted intelligence:

When Matthews asked him about the failures in foreign policy that are the result of corrupted intelligence, and what he will do about this as president, Obama said, "It starts at the top."

Isn't that the truth? Aren't Bush and Cheney the very definition of corrupted intelligence?

[Ichingcarpenter]

54. He did a great Judo type answer

using and seeking all intelligent points of views

[H2O Man]

55. This is the America

that we caught a glimpse of in 1968 .... a premonition, of sorts, of what could be. I love it.

[NDambi]

56. ha ha..family members that look like Margaret Thatcher and Bernie Mac...lmao good one

[H2O Man]

57. More and more

people have extended families that fit that description. He is doing an outstanding job of bringing these issues to the table, and pointing out that we are "family."

[NDambi]

58. I have immediate family that fits that description..I was raised to love no matter the color and my

siblings too...it is reflected in our spouses and children too.

[H2O Man]

59. My family is

black, brown, red, yellow and white. (And almost all of us support Obama! A few hold-outs, but they are coming around.)

[NDambi]

67. Your family sounds like mine!!! We have a couple of republicans..but mostly all support Obama

[azmouse]

60. Talking about Michelle getting him to stop smoking.

She's wonderful.

[H2O Man]

62. I agree.

She is going to make a great First Lady. I think that she will offer this country a different type of leadership, in areas that are important in moving our culture forward.

[PA Democrat]

61. Zing!

Mathews asked about something that happened on the campaign trail that made you laugh.

Obama answered that it happened every day and then he stopped watching cable news.

[JimGinPA]

63. Yeah, He's Quick

:rofl:

[H2O Man]

65. Great response!

The audience loved it.

Obama is relaxed, and connecting on every answer. I remember reading that some of his staff was worried when he wasn't doing this well in the early debates, with all the candidates. Barack said not to worry, that he was going to take over in the 4th quarter. And he has.

[PA Democrat]

84. My son and I got to attend an Obama town hall meeting last week.

Obama is very comfortable with who he is, very personable, and really does have a quick sense of humor. My 18 year old son was extremely impressed with how well he responded to questions from the crowd, even a few that were really off the wall. My son was thrilled because he got to shake IBM's hand.

My impression is that he connects to people on a personal level even when he is speaking to a crowd. As a former Edwards supporter, he made the sale for me. I got the impression that he is what America needs at this time, someone who can inspire people to work together to fix this country's ills.

[Whisp]

99. Barack is a pacer, like a good long distance race horse.

He might very well have deliberately under performed early in the game to throw off the Hillary camp and let them marinate relaxedly in their inevitability and avoid becoming a target until after that dreaded day for Clinton - Feb 5th.

he is so much smarter than the average bear politician - it's mindboggling. It's like a new species landed on earth. ;)

[malik flavors]

64. Thank for updates H20. Sounds like an awesome interview.

[H2O Man]

66. I hope people

are at least able to see it when it is replayed later. It is really outstanding.

[azmouse]

68. Not for Gay Marriage but for strong Civil Unions.

Laws to prevent discrimination.

[NDambi]

69. what did that woman scream out?

[azmouse]

71. I couldn't understand her.

[Coexist]

73. I don't know - I even rewound it.

[NDambi]

74. whatever it was Obama agreed

[MadBadger]

70. I'm not Impressed with his Gay Marriage position, but then Again, I'm Impressed by none of them

On this issue.

[H2O Man]

75. It is something

that we have to continue to work on with him. He is capable of seeing that he can make mistakes. He speaks to this in his second book.

[indie_voter]

76. me neither n/t

[Coexist]

77. this is the one issue that I wish he was different on

but I do see his strong defense of civil rights as a plus.

My first marriage was pretty much a civil union. We went to the courthouse and signed and filed the license. That was it.

I would like for same-sex couples all across this country be able to get a piece of paper signed and notarized and filed and get what I got out of it. I think that eventually (in the next decade at least) after same sex couples get the above-mentioned right, and middle America sees it didn't affect them at all, that the nomenclature can be changed without much of a fuss at all.

[JayFredMuggs]

82. Can't agree with you more

It would be nice if America were ready to elect a person in favor of universally equal gay marriage. But, sadly, we know America is not there. Obama is our best hope to get there.

[JayFredMuggs]

79. It's a wise a fair position, even if you're personally not impressed

It's the way to get elected, not the way to go down in flames and postpone equal rights nationwide for another 4 or 8 years.

Sorry it's not perfect, but the perfect, in this case, is the enemy of the just and right thing to do.

[indie_voter]

83. Sadly, you're right. If he can get the civil rights portion in to law

that would be a good first step.

[JimGinPA]

80. It's Too Much Of A Wedge Issue...

I believe gay marraige would be a lot easier for him to push in his second term.

[polichick]

95. Exactly - he probably wishes it wasn't a wedge issue, but knows...

...it's best to wait ~ at least until he's in office.

[bridgit]

72. BO seems prepped for that, he's been doing university gymnasiums for months now

:thumbsup:

[azmouse]

81. That hour went by too fast.

What a welcome relief it will be to finally have an intelligent man in the WH after these last 7 year.

[Tatiana]

85. Thank you so much for these updates. I am TIVOing the replay.

It sounds like this was a great appearance!

[H2O Man]

86. It was.

When I was watching it, I kept thinking of the difference between Obama and Bush. And I think it is representative of the difference between our national leaders --Clinton, Gore, Kerry, Kennedy, and Biden, for example -- and what they offer -- Cheney, Rumsfeld, McCain, Romney, etc.

We need to be focusing on getting larger numbers of progressives in the House and Senate, and winning state and local elections, too. Barack Obama can be an effective president, but our country needs serious change. We can begin to move in the direction of recapturing our Constitutional democracy this year.

[H2O Man]

87. Countdown

should be interesting tonight. Are the DU Obama supporters planning to watch it?

[azmouse]

88. I might be watching a baseball game instead but

I'll peek into KO's show between innings. I love baseball.

[Tatiana]

89. Replay up. WOW... what an enthusiastic crowd.

I think the thrill has gone up Tweety's leg again...

[H2O Man]

90. Mr. Matthews did

a very good job of interviewing Barack Obama this evening.

[Ichingcarpenter]

93. I think the students did a good job with

intelligent questions that are relative to the national discourse.

Tweety was OK still went to the gutter ball questions a couple of times.

[H2O Man]

94. I agree that

the students asked very good questions. They were very impressive. I think that the show illustrated why so many of the young people are invested in the Obama campaign.

Matthews asked some odd questions, but he did so because he knows that most of them are the questions that voters in PA are wondering about. He knew that the moderate to conservative republicans were watching. Many are the parents of college students. Others are only moderately aware of Obama's positions, and may have been exposed to the nonsense on Fox and CNN. So he asked some odd and uncomfortable questions. What was impressive is that Barack Obama is totally at ease in responding to those questions.

[easy_b94]

91. B mark

[Tatiana]

92. I hope everyone is catching this! These students are on fire!

They are asking some GREAT questions: a diabetic asked about stem cell research, another education student asked about merit pay, one student asked about how the Rev. Wright controversy is affecting Sen. Obama.

He is answering all these questions masterfully and thoughtfully with real solutions.

So far, Tweety is sitting back and letting the students do the interviewing. This is great.

[H2O Man]

96. Are you going

to watch Countdown? I think it should be interesting.

[Tatiana]

97. Keith has already mentioned (Bill) Clinton screaming at the California superdelegates.

Looks like it will be a pretty good one.

5th anniversary of Countdown and "Stay the Course"

God I hope we can "Change" the course!

[H2O Man]

98. Change the Course .....

We have already started. We have to change the way people think, before they change their behavior. Obama is starting to bring about a change in the way people think -- and that is making some early changes in behavior. College students, for example, are eagerly registering to vote, which is different that simply registering with the military. Grass roots contributors for Obama are out-donating corporate interests' investments in the other two candidates.

Change is here. It will take a huge effort to turn things around. But we're ready.

[ClayZ]

100. Obama! Yes We Can!

K and R

[totodeinhere]

101. Oh, what an outstanding job Senator Obama did.

And it makes me wonder why Clinton won't appear. She is the same one who was screaming for more debates a few weeks ago, and now she won't appear on Hardball and she won't debate in North Carolina. What a cold calculating politician she is.