CNN, John McCain's camp at odds following confrontational Campbell Brown interview

In one of those moments a network executive would excitingly term "great TV," CNN's Campbell Brown and John McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds clashed on air Monday over vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's foreign policy credentials.

Tensions -- and voices -- rose after the anchorwoman told Bounds that she was just "trying to get someone from the campaign to explain what foreign policy experience [Palin] has." Bounds repeatedly skirted the question, choosing instead to criticize Barack Obama's lack of executive experience.

"All right, Tucker," Brown said as she ended the segment with a broad, sarcastic smile. "I'm just going to give it to ya, baby."

The clip was much in demand today -- and, CNN revealed, the McCain camp made clear it was not pleased.

This afternoon, anchorman Wolf Blitzer announced on air that McCain's planned interview with Larry King tonight had been canceled by the campaign. Blitzer said McCain aides complained that Brown had gone "over the line" in her grilling of Bounds.

McCain campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella later explained the cancellation with this sharply worded statement:

"After a relentless refusal by certain on-air reporters to come to terms with John McCain’s selection of Alaska’s sitting governor as our party’s nominee for vice president, we decided John McCain’s time would be better served elsewhere."

Meanwhile, ABC News announced that it would be broadcasting "the only interview" with McCain during the week's Republican National Convention. Charles Gibson will handle the questioning, and the network will dole it out -- parts will air Wednesday on "World News Tonight" and "Nightline" and Thursday on "Good Morning America."

UPDATE: Jon Klein, president of CNN, has issued a statement in support of Brown's interview. "Campbell Brown did what journalists do," Klein said Tuesday evening. "She asked fair and important questions in a respectful way and was simply trying to get a straight answer to a straightforward question."

-- Kate Linthicum

Comments

[William J.]

Thank God for Campbell Brown! Kudos for doing some actual journalism and keeping our candidates accountable to the truth!!

Shame on the thuggish, whiny McCain campaign. I don't want him as my president.

[Citizen #23]

1980 - 1984
Obama: B.A. in political science with a specialization in international relations from Columbia University.

Palin: Wasilla High School, captain of the state-champion basketball team. Miss Wasilla, runner-up in the Miss Alaska pageant, also Miss Congeniality, although that is now disputed .
Him: Ivy League degree.
Her: tiara.

1985 - 1990
Obama: moved to Chicago; became a community organizer as director of the Developing Communities Project (DCP), a church-based community organization on Chicago's far South Side. During his three years as the DCP's director, its staff grew from 1 to 13 and its annual budget grew from $70,000 to $400,000, with accomplishments including helping set up a job training program, a college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization.

Moved to Boston to attend Harvard Law School. Selected as an editor and then elected president of the Harvard Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the law review's staff of 80 editors.

Palin: Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, with a minor in political science from the University of Idaho. Brief stint as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations; left to join her husband in commercial fishing.
Him: sterling legal education.
Her: sportscaster .

1991 - 1995
Obama: graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School; received contract and advance to write a book ("Dreams from my Father") as well as a fellowship at the University of Chicago Law School. Directed the Illinois Project Vote from April to October 1992, a voter registration drive with a staff of 10 and 700 volunteers that achieved its goal of registering 150,000 of 400,000 unregistered African Americans in the state, leading Crain's Chicago Business to name Obama to its 1993 list of "40 under Forty" powers to be. Appointed as a Lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago. Joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 12-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development. Active in several community organizations, usually as a board member.

Palin: member of the Alasaka Independence Party which advocates "Alaska First". Elected to Wasilla city council.

Him: Expert on our nation's fundamental legal principles.
Her: plotted to leave the Union; thinks Pledge of Allegiance was written by our founding fathers , doesn't know what a Vice President does.

1996 - 2000
Obama: promoted to Senior Lecturer in constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School. Elected to the Illinois Senate. Sponsored more than 800 bills. In 2000, lost a Democratic primary run for the U.S. House of Representatives to four-term incumbent Bobby Rush by a margin of two to one.

Palin: elected as mayor of Wasilla (population 5,470), defeating the incumbent by a total of 616 votes to 413. Town budget, $8 million (3 millionths of the Federal budget), approximately 100 employees. Reduced property taxes but increased sales taxes. Fired the Wasilla police chief, citing a failure to support her administration. (He then sued Palin on the grounds that he was fired because he supported the campaign of Palin's opponent, but his suit was dismissed when the judge ruled that Palin had the right under state law to fire city employees, even for political reasons.) Hired a DC lobbyist to bring $27 million in earmarks to the city. Wasilla had zero debt when she entered office but she left it with indebtedness of over $22 million, including $15 million-plus for construction of a hockey center which was built on a piece of property that the city didn’t even have clear title to, a matter that is still in litigation. Attempted to ban books from the city library.
Him: sponsored 800 bills.
Her: swayed 616 voters.

2001 - 2004
Obama: reelected in 2002 and became chairman of the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee.

Publicly spoke out against the invasion of Iraq BEFORE the congressional authorization in 2002, and then again before the actual invasion in 2003.

Wrote and delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

November 2004: elected to the US Senate, receiving over 3.5 million votes, more than 70% of total.

Palin: elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors. Unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor, coming in second in a five-way race in the Republican primary, receiving 19,000 votes. Appointed to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, served as chairman from 2003 to 2004 and also served as Ethics Supervisor. Resigned in protest over the "lack of ethics" of fellow Republican members. Exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, for doing party work on public time and working closely with a company he was supposed to be regulating. Director of Ted Stevens' 527 group.
Him: demonstrated the wisdom to oppose the Iraq folly before it even began.
Her: hasn't really though much about Iraq - despite the fact that 17 Alaskans have died there

2005 to present
Obama: Sworn in as the fifth-ever African-American U.S. senator. Worked with Republican Senator Lugar to author and implement a program to locate and dismantle stray Russian WMD's. Designated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid as the party's point man on ethics. Worked with Russ Feingold to pass a major ethics/lobbying reform bill. Cosponsored, with John McCain, the Secure America and Orderly Immigration Act. Called for increased fuel efficiency standards (3 percent every year for 15 years). Assignments on the Senate Committees for Foreign Relations, Veterans' Affairs, and Homeland Security. Chairman of the Senate's subcommittee on European Affairs. As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, made official trips to Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Waged a tremendous battle to become the Democratic presidential nominee. Currently manages 2,500 campaign employees and a budget of $40-$50 million/month.

Palin: 2005: board member, Valley Hospital Association, which runs the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center in Wasilla.

Became youngest and first female Governor of Alaska, taking office in December, 2006. Received 114,600 votes. The population of Alaska is 683,478 and more than 50% of the state budget comes from oil revenues, not taxes as in other states. Gross State Product: $44 billion (including the oil revenue). Ranking 45 of 50.
Auctioned off the Governor's jet on eBay. Took on fellow-Republican Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings. Promoted oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska. Helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits. Formed a sub-cabinet group of advisers to address climate change but does not accept that it is man-made. Objected to listing polar bears as an endangered species because it might hurt oil and gas development in the bears' habitat. Was for the bridge to nowhere before she was against it. However, Alaska kept the federal money. Denied her daughter was pregnant before she confirmed it. Supported abstinence-only education. Currently under a bipartisan investigation for abuse of power for dismissing Alaska's Public Safety Commissioner. Commander-in-Chief of the Alaska National Guard, but has played no role in national defense activities, even when they involve the Alaska National Guard. (The entire operation is under federal control, and the governor is not briefed on situations.)

Obtained her first passport in 2007 to perform visits to the Alaska National Guard in Kuwait and Germany. (Foreign experience so limited that a stopover in Ireland listed on her resume.)

Him: Impressive figure on the national stage who knows how Congress works and is engaged with foreign policy issues.
Her: small state governor for 21 months; "next to Russia", but that is just 1 of the 190 countries in the world she has never been to.

Conclusion: the word "executive" is not some kind of magic force multiplier when placed in front of the word "experience".

[Katie]

I totally take it back. She isn't the former fluff-ball from the Today Show. I'm so sorry that I ever doubted your intelligence or your tenacity, Campbell Brown. I also apologize for scoffing at your ability to judge the Republican Party when I read your husband's job history in your New York Times wedding announcement. Not only do you know enough about protocol and government to see through McCain's insulting lies (proximity to Russia gives one foreign policy experience, yea right--how stupid does he think Americans are?), you're not afraid to hold the politicians accountable. Just when I thought CNN was journalist- and inquiry-free, here you are. I might even watch CNN now.

[ted anderson]

Campell Brown was good in the morning show host and that is were she should be now. A place were stay home mom's can watch the stuff she is good at. Hard ball reporting isn't her style, I've been watching and she really dosn't fit the mold. I feel being a working mom must be getting to her. I think she should ask someone with more experance. Her

[David]

This is coming from a Independent. I am not trying to take sides, but I felt that Campbell was out of line. Her body language, her words, her manerism was like she hounding Tucker, smelling blood. Maybe her personal beliefs were shown. I have never seen Wolf doing that even though he supported her on this issue, I guess because she is a co-worker. :)

Anyways, it made me think that she had some personal vendetta with Palin, makes me wonder why?
I am still trying to decide and Campbell is making me lean towards Palin.

[Les Livingstone]

Campbell Brown is a liberal nagging hag.

She needs to do her homework on the institution of the national guard.

Let's see if she doles out the same treatment to the Obama folks

[Penny k]

It was and still remains a simple question that he could not answer. PERIOD. He couldnt answer the question. By his inability to provide an answer it goes right to the heart of why and how this woman is qualified to be president should Mccain even survive his first term. Ask about Obama and you get an answer. Barack has Written a total of 890 Bills and Co-sponsored Another 1096 since he started serving in the U.S. Senate. He served as a Illinios senator previous to that and he has dedicated his life to civics. I dont have to even get two sentences into Obama's resume to provide an answer. Apparantly Tucker couldnt do the same. LAME McSame then pulls an interview. Cranky unstable codger that he is.

[scott]

I think poor Campbell Brown was sucked into the moment. Here she thinks she's hitting hard with her investigative style and yet doesn't even understand the question she's asking. Foriegn policy experience? That's all the ammo she has. Notice it's other women on the attack? And they have the audacity to bring up the fact she is a working mother. What about you, Campbell? Another out-of-ammo shot: attack the daughter.

She who lives in glass houses should not cast stones. Journalism is dead in the US, RIP.

[Don Thomas]

Keep up the good work Campbell Brown and CNN. There is nothing wrong with asking straight forward questions to political candidates or their surrogates. Too many reporters are afraid of asking tough questions and just allow the interviewees to mouth their talking points. Don't let the Republicans intimidate you into backing off the tough questioning!

[Gayla]

All the comments that Palin is being treated like this because she is a woman....PLEASE! If Palin were a man there is no way he/she would even be on the ticket. You think McCain would pick a man with as little experience as Palin?!?!? The Republicans are stupid enough to think that women will choose her just because of her gender.
I watched the Campbell Brown interview, and could not have been more pleased! She did a great job and was asking questions millions of Americans want answers for. Maybe the McCain campaign should find someone more qualified to answer questions then Tucker!
Campbell probably wouldn't ask those questions to an Obama spokesperson, but that is because the Obaba campaign wouldn't be stupid enough to pick a delegate with such lack of experience. Yes, Palin was governor of a state.....Alaska! The entire state population is 700,000. Washington DC alone has more people than that.
Good job Campbell....you deserve a raise!

[Anthony]

For all of you who say that Sarah and her family were being grilled. Sarah is in hiding and has not had any interviews. That sounds like executive privilege once again like the Bush administration. Where were all of you when Michelle Obama was being grilled by the media?

[Jay Reese]

Its obvious what the republicans hoped to gain with her as the pick, but I think the media and the general public saw right through it. What's sad is seeing seasoned politicians trying to sell the idea of "Executive" experience. Campbell sought to get a direct answer, and wouldnt settle for a side step. Any campaign spokesman should be prepared for this situation. I'm still waiting on Tucker to answer the question! Or anyone for that matter...

[mario]

Great Job Brown, our country is at stake.

[Bert]

Finally a news reporter who does it right. I think Campbell should have pushed even harder. Campbell Brown for president, or at least the president of CNN.

[ivy]

Campbell Brown is repeatedly accused of being an innept "morning show hostess, who should be reporting to stay-at-home-moms". How dare you! Why not just say that her place is at home because women lack the intelectual maturity to have a meaningful discussion with political candidates? It just shows the underscored sexism prevalent in the Republican party and the double standards of its Faux network, who has often referred to Michelle Obama as Barrack's "baby's mamma". Outrageous! We deserve to know the truth, out with it!

[Eric McNulty]

Go, Campbell, go! Spokespeople from both sides too often get to blather message points rather than answer questions. It's about time that they get called on it.

To the McCain camp: don't sent someone out unprepared and not expect him or her to get his/her butt kicked. Gov. Palin's resume is light so you should know to expect some detailed questioning.

There's an old hunting expression the perhaps both McCain and Palin should acquaint themselves with: If you are going to hunt with the big dogs, you better be able to pee in the tall grass.

[Tonya]

It is time that reporters start asking questions and demanding answers again. Before the Bush years reporters asked the questions, until they were threatened by the Bush administration to have to leave if they upset anyone. Boo hoo, poor babies. The Republicans would not be saying a word if this were somone from the Obama campaign, now would they? The fact is Sarah Palin is not qualified to run the United States of America. Never mind she has been a governor for a very short time, but does anyone know what her degree is in and does she have more education than a bachelor's degree. Bush even has an MBA . Good job Campbell. I am just amazed at this choice for VP, I truly don't get how McCain could have made such a reckless choice. Grow up and stop whining. If there is nothing to hide answer the questions.

[Diane]

It was Palin who decided to throw her hat into the ring. If she's not ready for the Big Leagues, then she should go back to governing Alaska. Cowering behind the "I'm a woman, go easy on me" facade is an insult to thinking Americans. Neither former British PM Maggie Thatcher nor German Chancellor Angela Merkel ever pulled the "sexist" card in order to avoid scrutiny or to win an election.

[hms]

Campbell is a shame for journalists.. She got the answer to her question but she was not interested in the answer.. she was trying to make a point no matter what the answer was... if she was a true journalist she would have checked the facts..Governors do deploy National Guard and Sarah Palin has done it many times for wild fires..

I remember her from last time when she was so mean to hillary in one of the debates and all praise for Obama..

disgusting... glad Mccain withdrew..

And yes it is true that no one ever asked Obama what foreign experience he had... nor did anyone ask edwards how will he run for President with a terminal wife and little kids..

[cadawa]

Bush media policy according to Karl Rove

"If they write something we don't like, we don't talk to them ever again"

Jeff Gannon is what you get after 8 years of this policy.

[Sassysam]

Campbell Brown's interview was absolutely BOLD and GREAT!!!! I am so impressed with the fact that she stuck out there to get an answer to a very legitimate question... not about Palin's pregnant daughter or other issues that have surfaced about Palin but about real issues, like her so-called foreign policy experience. The question was very simple and Tucker Bounds got served because it he did his home work, he would have the answers readily available. Frankly I am tired of seeing his face and hearing John McCain's boring voice, CNN will not lose one viewer from them not being on the channel. If they can't face these simple questions about their VP nominee, how then can they face even more difficult situation that may arise when being commander and chief. In addition John McCain seems really petty when he has his spokes people tell the world that he's not coming on CNN because of that interview.....he's definitely not the one I want in charge of my county.

[Linda C]

Have we forgotten what journalism is supposed to be in this great nation? Campbell still let him off the hook and still let him just list his talking points. Every interview should be even more in depth about every candidate. MC Cain's judgement? Not only did he lie us into war right next to Bush and Cheney, he probably also is involved in getting Georgia to attack Russia, and she asked nothing about that. Of course, Palin is not qualified to be VP- she' shardly qualified to raise her own family, it seems. She uses her own infant for politcal gain, but does she want to stay home and raise him? MCcain is a big baby who never has been challenged by our propaganda press and for the first time someone wants a real answer, so they take their ball and go home. I hope Larry King and CNN continue to show us what babies McCain's people are and how if they can't answer a simple question, how can the run the nation. This is embarrassing us around the world, again.

[Reshma Patel]

"I'm going to give it to ya baby?" You call that journalism. Campbell Brown is a biased, inappropriate journalist and the support of her and her antics by CNN is a classic example of how left wing they are. From the news feeds and "reporting" on CNN, any idiot can tell who every anchor on CNN is voting for and its not the Maverick.

[Oliver Freeman]

The politcs of hate and fear that vaulted the Republican party to its zenith is now crashing back upon Alaskan shores. The politics of bullying, lying, and making it up as you go has led Republican ledership to believe their own illusions that they once cast upon the political stage as freedom and truth, but was simply trickery at its finest and liberty at its lowest. Campbell Brown and CNN did their job well here, to bad it's eight years too late in coming, but better late than never.

[Graeme O'Brian]

Campbell Brown is a goddess.

[Jimmy08]

Ms. Brown has given "it" to a number of men including the Saudi terrorist Adnan Al- Jubeir. She apparently has now found Judaism. Maybe her foreign policy "experiences" will have to suffice.

[Audrey Haynes]

All I want to say is good for Campbell Brown. Journalists are supposed to ask tough questions, and I am tired of campaign reps repeating the same lines over and over and being expected to accept them.

Campbell, you earned my respect and thanks for trying to get someone to admit the truth. What is so hard about the truth. Why do they have to exaggerate her foreign policy experience - why not just say that she brings other things to the table. Give me a break. I am so tired of party hacks, and sorry, this is particularly true of the Rove/Luntz frame it this way and they believe it crowd. We are not dumb. So Campbell, most people got it even if you could not get him to admit.

And we do know he would lose his job if he admitted.

I thought this was going to be a different campaign. So much for McCain's pledge - and all those negative ads are really getting on my nerves.

[Terrible Swift Sword]

Which one of the p.r. thugs convinced McCain to stiff Larry King? You'd expect more courage from someone who was tortured 5+ years in the Hanoi Hilton. Once again, McCain's strategists make their man look extremely small.

[Karen Festa]

Amazing that this is bothering the Rep. so much. Picking this woman was their biggest blunder. I saw the interview and it was exactly what I wanted to know...Great work Campbell. Sarah Palin should have been more considerate of her daughter instead of herself...talk about wanting to be famous!! What kind of a mother would even have considered accepting this nomination of (you must be kidding) VP. I can go on and on but I am exhausted just thinking about all that is wrong with this picture.

[Frank J.]

Look at the numerous personal and sexist attacks on Campbelll Brown posted here from Palin supporters. Pot. Kettle. Black. Okay? The lack of consistency by the McCain camp was the issue being discussed, and Tucker couldn't answer the question. Pathetic apologists are always ready to defend their team no matter what. In sports, it can be amusing. With national politics it is frightening and sad. Anyone who can look at McCain's choice of Palin as anything other than superfiicial politics needs to go back to school. Just be honest with yourself.

[NIkki D]

Looks like "Maverick Diplomacy" may be even scarier than "Cowboy Diplomacy."

[Jewellen]

What is McCain camp crying for, it's called new reporting asking the question people want answer. These are the most childish group of people ever...

[Heywood U. Reemore]

This is some pretty bald spin. You posted the wrong part of the interview. Their issue was with the first 3 minutes which focused on Palin's daughter's prenancy and whether or not Palin was a bad mother.

[Laurel Mclean]

I am sick-to-death of the evasive tactic this campaign is using to avoid answering pertenant questions. Ms. Brown is a working mother as well and doing a damn good job. The accusation that many reporter's are sexist is riduculus as many of these people are hard working mothers as well and I might add have had to break a few glass ceilings . .So knock it off. These histrionic's are an important insight into how John McCain works.

[Ray Allen]

I USED to like C. Brown over on NBC. But she has fallen into the slime of CNN, and her latest about a sister, S. Palin, is the bottom of the pits. Lower than whale dung.

Ms. brown, please go on a sabbatical and review your intermost feelings about sisterhood and what this Country is all about. Shame on you......

70 year old white male Veteran, and a Conservative.
I am really disappointed with you Ms. Brown. Ray

[melissa]

Tucker did answer her questions, Cambell was refusing to accept them. Palin is the commader and chief of a state that is surrounded by other countries. The Alaskan national gaurd is the only guard always activated because of invasive fishing and exploritory oil tankers from other countries. She has to deal with the governments of Japan over whalers crossing into our waters and Russian smugglers. Not to mention Canadian oil drilling. Balancing the fishery issues with other countries and the inviromentalist and the unions is not easy. Her talent at dealing with a state that is geographicly its own country is what got her nominated for VP not being a woman and mother of 5.

[NoFearMan]

Too funny to see Liberals just coming "unhinged" with the Palin selection. They had their venom already set in the direction of Romney or Tom Ridge but got totally sucker punched with Palin. Have you ever seen a more intimate and odd love feast going on such as this one between Obama and CNN. I mean this CNN crew of Campbell Brown, David Gergen and at times even Wolf are so knee deep in Obama love juice, you'd think they were on the payroll. I watched the Brown/Bounds exchange and it was simply an incredibly OBNOXIOUS, Liberal reporter with an agenda. Yikes Campbell & Barack, “get a room”!
All of a sudden CNN is asking about PALIN’S foreign policy experience,.. WHAT? TOO FUNNYY!! HELLOOOO..we got a guy running at the TOP of the ticket for President that ALSO HAS ZERO experience , oh yeah except for the pathetic photo opp, he orchestrated in Iraq and by the way, DID NOT even take the time to meet and greet the troops , UNLESS the camera was running. Could HYPOCRACY be the word of the week, CNN?

Ok, you can employ the liberal mantra and begin the character assassination and name calling, in the fashion of founders and "liberal pimps" Paul Begala and James Carville. Hey, did everyone get to hear the “class act” Paul Begala call the President of the US “Bush is a moron” last week on CNN. Paul truly epitomizes the worst of “The Worst Generation”.

[anothersexistwoman]

For those of you who think Brown is sexist, I suppose you feel journalists should treat Palin as the fairer sex. Journalists should avoid asking any difficult questions about her because she is a woman. They should avoid upsetting her, because, who knows, she might have PMS and fly off the handle. Think this through: Women will not truly shatter the glass ceiling until they succeed by virtue of, and recognition of their own merits, not because they were held to a lower standard. For Palin, that means the GOP better figure out how to answer far more difficult questions than Brown's simple: "What is Palin's foreign policy experience?"

[Lynn]

Brown asked a question. All Bounds had to do was answer it. When he didn't answer it, she just asked it again. Is this so hard, Republicans? Whatever Palin's qualifications might or might not be, it's clear Bounds is not qualified to explain them, although he is qualified to spin them, which Republicans think is all it's about.

[Lorraine]

One can tell when the Dems are feeling vulnerable. THEY GET REALLY REALLY MAD.

[Jane Vaccaro]

I saw the Campbell Brown interview live, and stood up and cheered. (I then called everyone I knew - Dems and Reps alike - and told them to get hold of a replay!)
It was wonderful to see a reporter hold on, requesting, and then requiring an answer from her guest. It's something that is rarely done, and something I hope we see more of in this campaign for both sides of the game.

Well done, Campbell!

[pol]

It's pretty understandable the frustration that Campbell was feeling in this interview, but it's pretty obvious, too that most of the members of CNN has a personal fervor for Obama ever since the beginning of the primary. I think they are biased and I am sick and tired of them. I am not going to watch CNN, they are very disappointing. I am an independent by the way.

[Don]

Tucker (and McCain for cancelling his L. King interview) You Wusses!
Go Campbell, Go!

Go Obama/Biden!

[sherry crawford]

Its sexism you people at cnn just don't get it you are toooooooooooo liberal to see the truth. Campbell is a liberal snoot. You guys at cnn are the dividers with your slanted liberal views that you try to put off on the viewers. What ever happened to good fair reporting of the news. My Mom has voted democrat for 50 years after listening to cnn and seeing the way you guys have treated Govenor she is voting republician for the first time in her life.....THANK YOU CAMPBELL BROWN....and CNN.

[Thomas Payne]

Poor John, he send Tucker out to do "hit" pieces during the Dem's convention, has spent 18 months attacking Obama's experience, and because Tucker can't justify McCain's hail Mary pick, suddenly they are the victims.

If I were able to get that weasel in front of me, I'd ask him a very simple question. Experience aside, let's talk judgment. Why does a woman or her husband, after their baby's water has broken, stay to make a speech in Texas, then fly 10 hours to Alaska, drive past 2 neo natal care unit hospitals, to go to a small rural hospital lacking the equipment to take care of a 8 month premmiie? Is that the kind of judgment we can expect from Palin on important issues? "I was the keynote speaker, no way was I going to miss that opportunity.

I know, her family is off limits, just like Roger Clinton's drug addiction was, or Billy Carter's alcoholism. However, in this case, it's not the child being the issue, its the judgment of the mother putting a speech, a speech, over the long term welfare of her "unborn" child. There's some Pro-life Pro-Family values for you.

[sherry crawford]

OH NO DEMOCRATS ARE GETTING MADNOW ESPECIALLY CNN REPORTERS GO CAMPBELL THROW A FIT>>>>THE WORLD IS WATCHING?

[Democrat!!!]

I am sick of you guys saying obama has no experience...
here are a few examples of obama's

Illinois Senate 1996-2004
*
chairman, Health and Human Services Committee

United States Senate 2004-present

*
Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
*
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs
*
Member, Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
*
Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
*
Member, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs
* Ethics Reform: Obama was the Senate's point person on ethics reform, and sponsored or co-sponsored the bills that made up
what the Washington Post called "the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet." I'm also a fan of this bill,
which I think of as the Journalists, Bloggers, and Citizens' Muckraking Empowerment Act: it creates a searchable database of
recipients of federal grants and contracts.
* The Lugar-Obama initiative to strengthen the Nunn-Luger framework for securing loose nukes, and to extend it to securing
and destroying stockpiles of conventional arms. (For instance, shoulder-fired missiles that could be used against passenger
airlines, fired at our forces, or used to make any number of ongoing conflicts more deadly.)
* Various bills concerning the response to Hurricane Katrina, including an amendment putting strict limits on the use of
no-bid contracts after disasters, requiring planning for the evacuation of people with special needs and senior citizens,
creating a National Emergency Family Locator System, etc.
There are also a lot of good bills he worked on that did not make it, including the compromise immigration bill and a
proposal to create an independent Congressional Ethics Enforcement Commission, and some that are on the Senate calendar now,
like a bill to criminalize various deceptive election tactics, like deceptive robocalls, providing misleading information
about where to vote or what conditions you have to meet to be eligible to vote

[Donster]

To CNN and Campbell Brown: keep asking the tough questions and don't be intimidated by the Republicans. American reporters are in general afraid to really question candidates and their surrogates, thus, allowing them to mouth their talking points. When in Britain a few years ago, we were amazed at how aggressive British reporters could get with their interviewees. Keep up the good work!

[Dumb&Dumber]

Once again, the Times decision to create controversy overrides its ability to provide balanced coverage. Campbell is not a great reporter hot on some big trail. She is another liberal hack trying to scrutinize a candidate in a way that Obama (spelled no experience of any sort) has not been examined. The liberal media again is trying to create controversy where none exists. Too bad for all you morons that modern communications has made you irrelevant. Bloggers, alternative media and other sources assure your extinction. Next we are going to hear from the pompous asses: Jesse Jackson, Keith Olberman, Al Sharpton and Al Franken. Syonara CNN and all the other trash that disguises itself as reporting.

[BettyR]

I thought campell was great just to the point.Asking tough questions that what people what to hear within the USA and internationally.For palin taking the VIP position she should have known the position that she was putting her family into expecially knowing her daughter is pregant.As well for MCain's having the exprience should have known that too.outside world is watching USA elections very carefully and their are sooo many many questions to be answered about palin and Campell you rock.