Kind of late to the party.....but I just saw Obama on MTP

[senseandsensibility]

They reran it here on the West coast. And I have to say, he was poised. He is unflappable. He answered all of the questions calmly, and with grace.

You know what else he did? He didn't criticize Hillary AT ALL, let alone use cheap shots. After the heat he has been under for the past couple of weeks, I find that remarkable.

I can not imagine Hillary doing the same.

[FrenchieCat]

1. That's what makes his rise in the polls so remarkable but understandable....

If anyone had reason to attack, it would be Obama.

That really does make him a hero in my book.

Wait till he really goes on the attack after McCain without having to swat Hillary away without offending certain folks. That will be something to behold.

[senseandsensibility]

3. I look forward to that, too!

:hi: :thumbsup:

[Saturday]

2. Russert didn't ask him any hard questions. Soft interview. nt

[senseandsensibility]

4. My understanding is that he grilled him for twenty minutes on

Wright (I missed that part). The other questions were challenging, in my opinion.

[Cha]

12. My son on Kauai taped mtp 'cause I told

him last night Obama was going to be on..he just called me and told me that Obama was really good even though "that guy" talked about Wright for 20 minutes. He said Obama answered everything and it went really well in spite of his being apprehensive that it wouldn't be civil.

Now where would he get that from?

[ms liberty]

18. Yes - the first 20 minutes at least. n/t

[Jane Austin]

7. Russert was ready to pounce on him with the gas tax holiday,

but Obama beat him to the punch.

First he asked a soft-ball question about the tax holiday.

As Obama answered why it's a bad idea, he added that he actually had some experience with this. That they'd done this in Illinois and it didn't work - that the prices went up to compensate for the missing tax, so consumers didn't save money and the state lost revenue.

Russert jumped in and added "and you voted for it," to which Obama said he learned from his mistake that it won't help.

I could just see Russert mentally slapping himself on the forehead.

He was so ready to ambush Obama after Obama gave all the reasons why he was against such a tax holiday. He wanted to say, "Yet you voted for it when you were in the Illinois Senate".

But Obama turned what would have been a gotcha moment into a lesson about why he's such a great candidate - he'd learned from his past experience, and wasn't afraid to say so.

[DAGDA56]

All day long Hillary supporters have been complaining that Russert

threw nothing but softballs..I'll leave that for you to decide.

[Jane Austin]

9. Obama just made it

look easy. :)

[senseandsensibility]

15. That's a gift

All the greats make it look easy.:)

[cliffordu]

5. Presidential is the word.

[quantass]

6. most def

[HCE SuiGeneris]

8. Did you see Antonin Scalia too... swinging his legs under the table?

[Carrieyazel]

10. This MTP appearance means little. It won't change anything.

Same with Hillary's ThisWeek appearance this morning. These shows are meaningless in terms of actual elections.

[returnable]

16. Yes and No

Strong appearances on these wonkfests have little impact.

If a candidate implodes, however, the gaffes get played on an endless loop across the cable shows and Internets :)

[Raine]

11. He was TERRIFIC

I'm so proud of him, he's going to be a GREAT president for our country! :bounce:

[Lord Helmet]

13. he was presidential

[Kahuna]

14. He really was amazing. nt

[RazBerryBeret]

17. That's what I love about him...

it hasn't been easy, but he has not attacked her, even when given reason. I sometimes worry, because people think he's not "strong" (whatever that means) because he's not willing to tear her down to make himself look better--I admire that and I hope all Americans get that.

I was also thinking this morning that Hillary has come out and compared herself to Rocky, Paulette Revere, Goldilocks, and the philly---that's all really silly when you think about it. Barack has refrained from any of that. thankfully. he is just himself, out there spreading his message.