NBC's Mitchell cherry-picked quote in support of claim that Obama is "long on charisma but short on substance"

On the April 26 edition of NBC's Today, during a segment highlighting Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) recent "surge" in the polls, chief foreign correspondent Andrea Mitchell said: "Experts say so far Obama has been long on charisma but short on substance." Mitchell then showed clips from two recent appearances by Obama, including an April 23 speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs in which he declared, "I still believe that America is the last, best hope on Earth." Following the clips of Obama's statements, a clip of NBC News political director Chuck Todd aired in which Todd asserted: "The public's going to be expecting him to start filling in the blanks, start being for specifics. So far, he's been for an idea of a candidate, but he hasn't been for specific things." However, Mitchell selectively quoted from that April 23 speech to make the claim that Obama's words were "vague" when, in fact, his remarks included many specifics regarding his proposals.

In an article on MSNBC's website offering a list of "dos & don'ts" for candidates taking part in an April 26 Democratic presidential primary debate in Orangeburg, South Carolina, Todd and NBC News deputy political director Mark Murray wrote that Obama should not "[o]ffer up inane details just to sound like you know what you're talking about."

Mitchell claimed that Obama was "vague" in his April 23 speech to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and cited this as her second example of Obama's apparent lack of "substance." She played only a brief clip of Obama stating: "I still believe that America is the last, best hope on Earth," but failed to note the specifics of his speech. From Obama's April 23 speech:

I still believe that America is the last, best hope of Earth. We just have to show the world why this is so. This President may occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of leader of the free world has remained open. And it's time to fill that role once more.

[...]

In a speech five months ago, I argued that there can be no military solution to what has become a political conflict between Sunni and Shiite factions. And I laid out a plan that I still believe offers the best chance of pressuring these warring factions toward a political settlement and a phased withdrawal of American forces with the goal of removing all combat brigades from Iraq by March 31st, 2008.

I acknowledged at the time that there are risks involved in such an approach. That is why my plan provides for an over-the-horizon force that could prevent chaos in the wider region, and allows for a limited number of troops to remain in Iraq to fight al Qaeda and other terrorists.

But my plan also makes clear that continued U.S. commitment to Iraq depends on the Iraqi government meeting a series of well-defined benchmarks necessary to reach a political settlement. Thus far, the Iraqi government has made very little progress in meeting any of the benchmarks, in part because the President has refused time and again to tell the Iraqi government that we will not be there forever. The President's escalation of U.S. forces may bring a temporary reduction in the violence in Baghdad, at the price of increased U.S. casualties though the experience so far is not encouraging. But it cannot change the political dynamic in Iraq. A phased withdrawal can.

[...]

As President, I will double our annual investments in meeting these challenges to $50 billion by 2012 and ensure that those new resources are directed towards these strategic goals.

For the last twenty years, U.S. foreign aid funding has done little more than keep pace with inflation. Doubling our foreign assistance spending by 2012 will help meet the challenge laid out by Tony Blair at the 2005 G-8 conference at Gleneagles, and it will help push the rest of the developed world to invest in security and opportunity. As we have seen recently with large increases in funding for our AIDS programs, we have the capacity to make sure this funding makes a real difference.

Part of this new funding will also establish a two billion dollar Global Education Fund that calls on the world to join together in eliminating the global education deficit, similar to what the 9/11 commission proposed. Because we cannot hope to shape a world where opportunity outweighs danger unless we ensure that every child, everywhere, is taught to build and not to destroy.

As Media Matters for America has noted, the press often baselessly accuses Obama of lacking substance. On the April 24 edition of MSNBC Live, anchor Peter Alexander claimed that "the conventional wisdom on Barack Obama is that he's a great speaker, a terrific orator, but hasn't really been all that specific about policy." However, an April 24 New York Times article also reported on Obama's April 23 speech in Chicago, citing specifically his policies regarding foreign policy and the war in Iraq:

If elected, he said, he would double foreign aid to $50 billion by 2012, which would be the final year of his first term.

"I know that many Americans are skeptical about the value of foreign aid today," Mr. Obama said. "A relatively small investment in these fragile states up front can be one of the most effective ways to prevent the terror and strife that is far more costly both in lives and treasure to the United States down the road."

The United States also must build a 21st-century military, Mr. Obama said, in addition to "showing wisdom in how we deploy it." He called for expanding ground forces, adding 65,000 soldiers to the Army and 27,000 to the Marines. Less than 1 percent of the military can speak foreign languages like Arabic, Mandarin or Korean, he said, calling for additional training and recruitment to address the problem.

Mr. Obama said he would lead an effort to secure nuclear stockpiles and materials across the world within four years.

To prevent countries from building weapons programs, Mr. Obama endorsed the concept of an international nuclear fuel bank, proposed last year by former Senator Sam Nunn, who now advises the Nuclear Threat Initiative. As president, Mr. Obama said he would provide $50 million to get the fuel bank started and urge Russia and other countries to join.

From the April 26 edition of NBC's Today:

MITCHELL: Clinton has seen Obama surge from behind. But now in the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, he has cut her lead in half. Among Democrats, she is first at 36 percent, but he is closing in with 31 percent. John Edwards a strong third at 20 percent.

STEVE McMAHON (Democratic strategist): There's no question that Barack Obama has gone from the person that everybody was watching to the person now that everybody is looking at as a front-runner. And with the front-runner label comes a target on your back. And it will be interesting to see how he handles that.

MITCHELL: Experts say so far, Obama has been long on charisma but short on substance, stumbling at last month's Las Vegas health care forum.

OBAMA [video clip]: We have a plan that we are in the process of unveiling.

MITCHELL: And vague at this week's foreign policy speech.

OBAMA [video clip]: I still believe that America is the last, best hope on Earth.

TODD: The public's going to be expecting him to start filling in the blanks, start being for specifics. So far, he's been for an idea of a candidate, but he hasn't been for specific things.

MITCHELL: While tonight's focus will likely be on Obama and Clinton as well as Edwards, the focus will also give other Democrats -- like [Sen. Christopher] Dodd [D-CT], [Sen. Joseph R.] Biden [D-DE], and [New Mexico Gov. Bill] Richardson -- a chance to emerge from the pack before it's too late.