Obama takes a curveball at an Iowa Q & A

Maybe not the question that might first come to mind in the closing campaign days before the Iowa caucuses. But which Republican would Sen. Barack Obama endorse?

On the stump in northern Iowa today, on the third day of his six-day bus tour with The Times' Louise Roug covering his every move and word, Obama was drawn into an assessment of rival Republican candidate Mitt Romney. A  young woman brought up the former Massachusetts governor during the question and answer portion of a campaign event with maybe 150 people in the elementary school gym in New Hampton.

"Every time I see a commercial with Mitt Romney on TV," said the woman, "I want to throw something at it and scream obscene words."

"Wow, I feel you," Obama replied.

"I just wanted to say to anyone who's thinking about voting for Mitt Romney that—" she said, but Obama quickly interrupted:

"Hold on a second, sweetie," he said, "I know you have an opinion about Mitt, but we don't want to use the forum to dog Mitt even though he does sometimes use his town hall meetings to dog me." Obama encouraged her to ask him a question instead.

"I was just wondering your personal viewpoint on everything Mitt Romney?"

The crowd –- and Obama –- laughed.

"He's accomplished," the senator answered, overcoming his earlier reluctance to comment. "He's very wealthy. He's a good-looking guy. He's got nice hair."

If Romney becomes the Republican nominee, and if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, Obama said he'll be happy to debate him.

As if to kick start that debate early, Obama threw out a familiar bait: charging Romney with flip-flopping. "It seems like [his views] change quite a bit from day to day," Obama observed. "That's why it will be fun to debate him -- if he ends up being the nominee."

A lot of snowy ground to cover before then, however--for both men.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Eric]

If that's all Obama has on Romney, he's in big, big trouble.

[albert jackson]

This is one of the most interesting political races of all time and it gets more interesting by the day. No wonder people are ingaged. The Republicans are losing groung by being in bed with greedy corporations. Mitch McConnell defending big drug and oil company's profits will hurt all GOP come November.

[eNews Reference]

Barack Obama is a class act in this race...politics havent been like this in my lifetime...

[Sue Gayle]

"Hold on a second, sweetie", now that is waht I call presidential.

[Oscar]

Obama is likable, and it would be great to have him as president, but I amstill going with Edwards.

[Geoff Ludt]

What a teaser for a first paragraph, a brilliant piece of bait. I found myself reading the entire piece trying to find out who Obama would endorse but only got his rather easy criticism of Mitt Romney. If I were in Obama's shoes, I'd be first and foremost concentrated on beating Hillary, if he's done that, he's done a lot. If he does win the nomination, here's my thoughts on who he'd most like to run against (in order of preference):

1. Ron Paul (Can easily paint him as off the reservation)
2. Mitt Romney (Did he flip before he flopped? or, was it the other way around?)
3. Rudy Giuliani (Cheated on his wife, Bernard Kerik, ProChoice, Sanctuary City)
4. John McCain (Didn't he lose to George W. Bush?)
5. Mike Huckabee

[Drake]

Recently free ride for Obama from political press corps, and it feels besieged as it has to bat away incessant questions with Obama's significant shifts, flip flopping on issues such as Patriot Act, Defense of Marriage Act, Fast Track trade authority and benefits for same-sex couples. Given how little experience Obama has, its understandable that his campaign doesnt want any kind of focus on his record, These stories clearly raise questions about Obamas electability and serve as a stark reminder about how little the public knows about his positions. The Illinois chapter of the National Organization for Women, Obama said he would vote to repeal the Patriot Act. In 2006 Obama voted for the redrafted version of the Patriot Act that some critics contended made only minor changes to the original law. On Defense of Marriage Act Obama answered No,to the question: "Do you support repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. On Fast Track authority, which requires Congress to vote yes or no and without amendments on pending trade deals, Obama opposes Fast Track authority because it is a usurpation of Congress' role to ensure that negotiated trade agreements serve the best interests of our country, including protection of the environment, worker rights and human rights.In remarks to the Detroit Economic Club in May, Obama said, I plan to be president, so I actually want Fast Track. But I'm willing to constrain myself in Fast Track to make sure that we’ve got strong labor and environmental protections.On benefits for same-sex couples, Obama said, he would need to evaluate the fiscal impact of extending Social Security benefits to same-sex couples that married couples currently receive. Also Barack Obama (D-IL)involved in a suspicious real estate deal with an indicted political fundraiser, Antoin Tony Rezko. Obama also linked to an alleged influence peddling scandal and was nabbed conducting campaign business in his Senate office, a violation of federal law.

[Jim Toner]

I hope Obama gets the nomination. I just want both Clintons to go away from my news.

[John Smart]

Gee. Did Obama then walk on water, and solve global warming at his next stop?
Mitt Romeny has nothing to worry about debating Barack Obama. Once the press stops giving him a free pass - he's toast.

[Jean Bailey]

carmelcandy@wildblue.net This is a correct URL

So you think the Republicans are in bed with greedy corporations. What are you smoking? Hillary Clinton has garnered over $100 million dollars from the drug industry and other corporations. I'm voting for Ron Paul. He will not even take Federal matching funds. A man of integrity, honesty and doesn't talk out of both sides of his mouth. The truth is the truth and Ron Paul speaks it. The News Media's are biased, won't give him the time of day even though he is the highest in raising the most funds. What is the sam hill gives. Looks like a rotten apple in the barrel. Ron Paul is interested in your Freedom and Liberty Get the fog out of your eyes and do some research. Thank you.

[apujac]

obama is overplaying a good guy image.

[Marco]

Eric, that's what you really think's going on? If Obama was a classless person he could find LOTS to say about Romney. He showed enormous class & maturity by stopping the girl from spitting out negativities and then to not go down the road of negativity himself.

[bill tomlinson]

I have to agree with Geoff Ludt. The article promised more in the blurb. Sometimes the press is a bit disappointing. I got an idea. If the press is going to report with this characterization, why don't they ask direct questions like this? Wouldn't it be interesting for the press to ask each candidate if he or she had to support another candidate (not themselves) in the Republican category and then the Democratic who would they support and why?

[Dominic]

Drake,

I just read your exact same post on a different blog under the name "Stop BarackWinfrey". What do you do, spend all your time trawling blogs to write junk about someone you've got an issue with?

If you're going to use the same paragraph over and over, at least work on fixing your grammar and punctuation. Its nearly impossible to read!