ABC anchors asked Obama and McCain about Obama's alleged "shifting positions," but not McCain's
SUMMARY: On the July 9 edition of Good Morning America, Diane Sawyer introduced a question to Sen. Barack Obama about Iraq by stating, "[S]ome of your core supporters have been saying that they sense that you are shifting positions, and you've gotten quite a drubbing on a couple of fronts." However, Sawyer did not ask Obama about any of Sen. John McCain's "shifting positions." In an interview that aired later that day on World News, Charles Gibson asked McCain about McCain's criticism of Obama for what Gibson characterized as "changing position on a number of ... issues" and whether McCain is "ready, yet, to call him [Obama] a flip-flopper," but did not ask McCain about McCain's reversals.
In an interview with Sen. Barack Obama that aired during the July 9 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, anchor Diane Sawyer introduced a question to Obama about Iraq by stating, "[S]ome of your core supporters have been saying that they sense that you are shifting positions, and you've gotten quite a drubbing on a couple of fronts." Yet at no point during the interview did Sawyer ask Obama about Sen. John McCain's "shifting positions" on immigration reform, taxes, the religious right, and numerous other issues. Further, during the portion of an interview with McCain that aired on the July 9 edition of ABC's World News, anchor Charles Gibson asked McCain about McCain's criticism of Obama for what Gibson characterized as "changing position on a number of ... issues" and whether McCain is "ready, yet, to call him [Obama] a flip-flopper." Gibson did not ask McCain about McCain's reversals, as Media Matters for America documented.
From the July 9 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:
GIBSON: Well, John McCain has been hammering away at Obama for his position on Iran, and he's also criticizing Obama for changing position on a number of other issues. And I asked him about that when we spoke this morning.
[begin video clip]
GIBSON: I'm curious. There's been a lot of speculation in the press about whether your opponent may be shifting positions, in some areas, moving to the center -- a little more right than he was in the primaries. Do you see him shifting positions?
McCAIN: It appears so, although I have not been paying real close attention. But I would say on the issue of Iraq, I'm glad he's going for the first time in 900 days. I'm glad that he is, for the first time, asking for a sit-down briefing with General Petraeus, and I'll be very interested in what his position on Iraq is when he returns.
GIBSON: You're not ready, yet, to call him a flip-flopper?
McCAIN: Oh, it's obvious that what I say doesn't affect American public opinion nearly as much as what he says does.
GIBSON: You think so?
McCAIN: Well, the -- I mean, the fact is that he has changed his positions on FISA, on public financing, on his agreement that he said he'd go anytime, anyplace, to sit down -- to have a town hall meeting with me. We were before the same organization yesterday. We could have just stood there together and answered their questions. I think LULAC would have gotten a lot more out of it. He said that he would do that. He said that he would take public financing for the general election, if I did as well, and said that he agreed to it. But those things will be judged by the America people, but I won't hesitate to point them out.
GIBSON: All right. Senator McCain, good to talk to you. Get all the best.
McCAIN: Thank you, Charlie.
GIBSON: Take care.
From the July 9 edition of ABC's Good Morning America:
SAWYER: All right, Jake [Tapper, senior national correspondent]. Thanks to you. And just minutes ago, I had a chance to talk to Senator Barack Obama, and I started with the news from Iran this morning.
[begin video clip]
SAWYER: Senator Obama, good morning again.
OBAMA: Good morning, Diane.
SAWYER: Word just in this morning, as you know, that Iran has test-fired nine missiles, including one of them, the Shahab-3, that has a 1,250-mile range. They say it could reach Israel. What should the U.S. do in response?
OBAMA: Well, the -- what we should have been doing from the start. And that is, instead of engaging in over-the-top rhetoric, what we should be doing is gathering our allies together in a serious effort to apply sanctions to Iran and encourage them to change their behavior. You know, we also had a report that exports from the United States to Iran have actually increased during the Bush years. And it's that kind of mixed signal that I think has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now.
SAWYER: But if Israel --
OBAMA: Iran is a grave -- Iran is a grave threat. We have to make sure that we are working with our allies to apply tightening pressure economically on Iran. At the same time, as we start engaging in the kind of direct diplomacy that can lead them to standing down on issues like nuclear weapons.
SAWYER: If Israel decides that because of this, among other things, that they for their own security must strike pre-emptively against sites inside Iran, would you endorse it? What would you do?
OBAMA: You know, Diane, I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals in that situation. Obviously, Iran always has the right -- Israel always has the right to protect itself from serious threats, and Iran is a serious threat. Right now, what is most important is make sure that they stand down on the development of nuclear weapons, that they stop funding Hamas and Hezbollah. The United States has to gather up others in the region as well as internationally to apply pressure on Iran. But it's very difficult for us to do so when we haven't shown a willingness to engage in the sort of direct negotiations with Iran that would give them carrots and sticks for a change in behavior. And the last thing I'd point out is that our occupation in Iraq is part of what has strengthened Iran's hand. And it's very important for us to stabilize the situation in Iran -- in Iraq in order for us to be able to be more effective dealing with the Iranian threat.
SAWYER: On the question of Iraq, as you know, some of your core supporters have been saying that they sense that you are shifting positions, and you've gotten quite a drubbing on a couple of fronts. This is the question this morning: You have said previously, we will be out, we will be out of Iraq in 16 months. Are you now saying it's your goal or that you might refine that, or do you still repeat, We will be out in 16 months?
OBAMA: Diane, I have been as crystal clear now as I was a year ago, as I was six months ago, that we will get out of Iraq carefully, deliberately at a pace that is safe for our troops. Every estimate is, is that we can have our troops out in one to two -- at the pace of one to two brigades per month. At that pace, we would have our combat troops out in 16 months. My position has not changed at all. And what I have also repeatedly said is that as commander in chief, obviously I'd be listening to recommendations of generals on the ground, but it is my job as commander in chief to set up a strategy. It's their job to execute tactics.
SAWYER: You are heading out to talk about an economic agenda for women, and Senator Clinton is going to be going out with you. One of the items on that is to close the pay gap, which is now women earning 78 cents on the dollar for men. And yet it's only been closing for about two cents a year over the past decade. How are you going to close that gap?
OBAMA: Well, we've got to use all the power at our disposal to make sure that women are treated equally. The idea of equal pay for equal work --
SAWYER: But --
OBAMA: -- is something that I think is fundamental to the American ideal. I'll just give you one specific example. Congress right now could reverse a Supreme Court ruling that came down recently that said that you cannot sue for discrimination even though you didn't know that you were being discriminated against if a certain amount of time has elapsed. I voted to reverse that ruling. John McCain agreed with the Supreme Court that women couldn't get redress in the courts. That is a very specific thing that we should be doing right now.
SAWYER: Two quick questions. Vice presidency, what have you decided about the kind of person it has to be and when you're going to announce?
OBAMA: Well, it's going to be somebody with integrity, somebody who's competent and can serve as president, somebody who's independent and can offer unvarnished advice to me. But beyond that, I haven't spoken about the vice pres--
SAWYER: Strong military background?
OBAMA: Beyond that I haven't talked about our vice presidential process, and I'm not going to until we actually select my choice as vice presidential nominee.
SAWYER: Gonna do it before the Olympics?
OBAMA: I'll let you know when we introduce the nominee, Diane.
SAWYER: All right. And one final thing. We saw you with your children in the last couple of days, the whole family sitting and talking. Is this the future?
OBAMA: No, you know, that -- it was an exception. It was Malia's birthday. We were in Montana. Everybody was having a good time, and I think we got carried away a little bit. Generally, what makes them so charming is the fact that they're not spending a lot of time worrying about TV cameras or politics, and we want to keep it that way.
SAWYER: Sorry you did it?
OBAMA: A little bit of pause, Michelle and I, particularly given the way that it sort of went around the cable stations. I don't think it's healthy, and it's something that we'll be avoiding in the future.
SAWYER: All right. Well, Senator Obama, again, thank you for being with us this morning.
OBAMA: Thank you.
SAWYER: If Israel decides that because of this, among other things, that they for their own security must strike pre-emptively against sites inside Iran, would you endorse it? What would you do?
OBAMA: You know, Diane, I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals in that situation...
Clever answer... It's the exact response John McCain gave a few days ago to the exact same sticky question posed to him by Patrick Buchanan. I'm starting to admire Obama's political skills more and more.
While I am disappointed in the media for not justifiably questioning John McCain's reversals of positions you have to keep in mind that the questions about Obama's alleged flip-flops are more recent, and the media operate on news cycles. I expect (hope) that during the upcoming debates McCain's flip-flops will be addressed. In fact, it could work out better for Obama that way as McCain's history of flip-flops would be fresher on the minds of voters if they are reminded of such closer to the election.
The following tune should be playing in the background as you read the list!
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I say F-L
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Flip Flop
Doo-doo-doo-dah-dee-ah-dah
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Doo-doo-doo-dah-dee-ah-dah
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Flip Flop
* McCain supported the drilling moratorium; now he’s against it.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
* McCain strongly opposes a windfall-tax on oil company profits. Three weeks earlier, he was perfectly comfortable with the idea.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/18/mccains-offsho...
* McCain thought Bush’s warrantless-wiretap program circumvented the law; now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15781.htm...
* McCain defended “privatizing” Social Security. Now he says he’s against privatization (though he actually still supports it.)
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15863.htm...
* McCain wanted to change the Republican Party platform to protect abortion rights in cases of rape and incest. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/10/mccain-flips-o...
* McCain thought the estate tax was perfectly fair. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15825.htm...
* He opposed indefinite detention of terrorist suspects. When the Supreme Court reached the same conclusion,he called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15864.htm...
* McCain said he would “not impose a litmus test on any nominee.” He used to promise the opposite.
http://www.americablog.com/2008/06/now-mccain-is-flip-f...
* McCain believes the telecoms should be forced to explain their role in the administration’s warrantless surveillance program as a condition for retroactive immunity. He used to believe the opposite.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
* McCain supported storing spent nuclear fuel at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/28/mccains-abo... /
* McCain supported moving “towards normalization of relations” with Cuba. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15617.htm...
* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Hamas. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15557.htm...
* McCain believed the U.S. should engage in diplomacy with Syria. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15564.htm...
* He argued the NRA should not have a role in the Republican Party’s policy making. Now he believes the opposite.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15573.htm...
* McCain supported his own lobbying-reform legislation from 1997. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/20/mccains-97-lob...
* He wanted political support from radical televangelists like John Hagee and Rod Parsley. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15633.htm...
* McCain supported the Lieberman/Warner legislation to combat global warming. Now he doesn’t.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15699.htm...
*McCain pledged in February 2008 that he would not, under any circumstances, raise taxes. Specifically, McCain was asked if he is a“‘read my lips’ candidate, no new taxes, no matter what?” referring to George H.W. Bush’s 1988 pledge. “No new taxes,” McCain responded.Two weeks later, McCain said, “I’m not making a ‘read my lips’ statement, in that I will not raise taxes.”
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14761.htm...
* McCain is both for and against a “rogue state rollback” as a focus of his foreign policy vision.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/04/mccain-...
* McCain says he considered and did not consider joining John Kerry’s Democratic ticket in 2004.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14818.htm...
*In 1998, he championed raising cigarette taxes to fund programs to cut underage smoking, insisting that it would prevent illnesses and provide resources for public health programs. Now, McCain opposes a $0.61-per-pack tax increase, won’t commit to supporting a regulation bill he’s co-sponsoring, and has hired Philip Morris’ former lobbyist as his senior campaign adviser.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15033.htm...
* McCain has changed his economic worldview on multiple occasions.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15337.htm...
* McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15370.htm...
* McCain is both for and against attacking Barack Obama over his former pastor at his former church.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15358.htm...
* McCain believes Americans are both better and worse off than they were before Bush took office.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/19/mccain-economy-bloo... /
* McCain is both for and against earmarks for Arizona.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/01/06/mccain-earmark /
* McCain believes his endorsement from radical televangelist John Hagee was both a good and bad idea.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/21/hagee-flip-flop /
*McCain’s first mortgage plan was premised on the notion that homeowners facing foreclosure shouldn’t be “rewarded” for acting“irresponsibly.”His second mortgage plan took largely the opposite position.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15176.htm...
* McCain vowed, if elected, to balance the federal budget by the end of his first term. Soon after, he decided he would no longer even try to reach that goal.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/us/politics/16mccain....
* In February 2008, McCain reversed course on prohibiting waterboarding.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/10/emtimeem-has-m...
* McCain used to champion the Law of the Sea convention, even volunteering to testify on the treaty’s behalf before a Senate committee. Now he opposes it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/oct/31/mccain-... /
* McCain was a co-sponsor of the DREAM Act, which would grant legal status to illegal immigrants’ kids who graduate from high school. Now he’s against it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2007/oct/31/mccain-... /
* On immigration policy in general, McCain announced in February 2008 that he would vote against his own legislation.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/14447.htm...
*In 2006, McCain sponsored legislation to require grassroots lobbying coalitions to reveal their financial donors. In 2007, after receiving“feedback” on the proposal, McCain told far-right activist groups that he opposes his own measure.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/9658.html
* McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/blog/electioncentral...
*McCain said he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as“a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.”In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/08/18/mccain-greatest-cri... /
* McCain went from saying he would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade http://mediamatters.org/items/200610310003 to saying the exact opposite.http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/19/mccain-abortion /
* McCain went from saying gay marriage should be allowed, to saying gay marriage shouldn’t be allowed.
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/02/mcc...
* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as “an agent of intolerance” in 2002, but then decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans “deserved” the 9/11 attacks.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6988.html
* McCain used to oppose Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6731.html
* On a related note, he said 2005 that he opposed the tax cuts because they were “too tilted to the wealthy.” By 2007, he denied ever having said this, and insisted he opposed the cuts because of increased government spending.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/us/politics/03mccain....
*In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending “dirty money” to help finance Bush’s presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1880630&page=1
* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June 2007, he abandoned his own legislation.
http://www.nysun.com/national/campaign-finance-effort-r... /
* McCain opposed a holiday to honor Martin Luther King, Jr., before he supported it.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20070115/pl_usnw/dnc__mcca...
* McCain was against presidential candidates campaigning at Bob Jones University before he was for it.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8313.html
* McCain was anti-ethanol. Now he’s pro-ethanol.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15637887 /
* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200610310003
* McCain decided in2000 that he didn’t want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he “would taint the image of the‘Straight Talk Express.’” Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/19/mccain-kissinger /
* McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and acorrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/12/19/mccain-kissinger /
* McCain took a firm line in opposition to torture, and then caved to White House demands.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/20...
* McCain gave up on his signature policy issue, campaign-finance reform, and won’t back the same provision he sponsored just a couple of years ago.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/8066.html
* And now he’s both for and against overturning Roe v. Wade.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/11/19/mccain-abortion /
If someone was to send an email to Charlie Gibson with this list of links and he was to actually read it, I wonder if his brain would melt from the endless "does not compute" loops in his programming.
GIBSON: All right. Senator McCain, good to talk to you. Get all the best.
McCAIN: Thank you, Charlie.
GIBSON: Take care.
Aww... how cute. Man, these guys are tough on McCain.
"Loving John McCain" by Alterman and Zornick says it best about how the media fawns over McCain. Expect more of the same
With grampy calling for 30-40 nuclear plants to be built ASAP, I am surprised that the problems with existing plants have not been highlighted by the dems. I seem to recall that the NRC had list longer than his age of unsolved problems. I guess they all have been solved, Right.
Claims that a political candidate or anyone is shifting positions is the same as saying they are "flip-flopping." The logic that one uses when arguing that someone is shifting positions is called BIFURCATION. One has it in mind that you must take either one position or another.
Also referred to as the "black and white" fallacy, bifurcation is the presentation of a situation or condition with only two alternatives, hereas in fact other alternatives exist or can exist.
Those like Charles Gibson and other media personalities who try to legitimize the logic of bifurcation should not be allowed to broadcast false logic.
Yeah. Here’s Barack Obama waiting around for the MSM to bring up McCain’s reversals. I agree with you. I really really do. When is he ever going to be tough and bring up JUST ONE. In this interview Obama had the perfect opportunity to call McCain a flipflopper but for some reason he just sat there and did nothing;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qnnFWx1R4
WITH?
I mean, they asked both McCain and Obama about Obama's failures, shortcomings, and faults. Now all of a sudden, reporting both sides of an issue isn't enough?
What a nation of whiners...
It's like with Bush's lies. At first the media never mentioned them because they were just speculation by critics. Then they never mentioned them because everyone already knows he lies.
That middle step, where any of Bush's lies is actually mentioned and discussed, is conveniently skipped.
True, the media is not talking about the McCain flip flops, and that is either due to lazy journalism or bias. So Obama has got to start making it into an issue through speeeches and advertising.
Truth is, in addition to flip flops on individual issues, McCain has changed general ideology at least twice - for narrow political interests. He was elected to the Senate as a conservative and was conservative until after his 2000 pres, campaign. Was liberal from 2000-2004. And conservative again 2004-2008.
After losing the 2000 campaign he moderated and in fact became very progressive from 2000 to 2004. Then he flirted with changing parties and was even considered as Kerry's veep.
After not getting the veep slot, he decided if he wanted to run for pres in 2008 he'd need to be a repub and needed to befriend the conservative powers in the party.
So in 2004 he switched to conservative again. What will he do if elected? Who knows -- he has switched positions and ideology so often no one really know anything about what he would do or who he really is. This is a legtimate, big issue that Obama needs to educate the people on.
The media is not doing it so Obama needs to. Quite honestly, I am disappointed he is not doing so. If he is viewing doing that sort of thing as the "old politics" he is misguided. This is one of the few times in recent campaigns where a candidates shifting of positions is truly worrisome enough that it needs to be made an issue. Come on Obama, show some fight!!