Blitzer failed to challenge Talent on denial that he is a “stay the course” senator

Written by Brian Levy

Published

CNN host Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge Sen. Jim Talent's denial that he is a " 'stay the course' senator," even though Talent has repeatedly used the expression “stay the course” to describe his position on the Iraq war and his support for legislation declaring that “the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq.”


On the November 2 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer failed to challenge Sen. Jim Talent's (R-MO) denial that he is a " 'stay the course' senator," as his Democratic opponent, Claire McCaskill, has described him. At no point did Blitzer point out that Talent has repeatedly used the expression “stay the course” to describe his position on the Iraq war and his support for legislation declaring that “the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq.”

During the interview, Blitzer asked Talent if it is true he is “a 'stay the course' senator, totally in line with the Bush administration's stance as far as Iraq is concerned.” Talent responded, “No, I don't want to stay anything. You know, I want to win.” However, as Media Matters for America documented, in a June 21 floor statement in support of House Resolution 861, which declared that “the United States is committed to the completion of the mission to create a sovereign, free, secure, and united Iraq,” Talent explained that, he was “voting to stay the course in Iraq until the progress we are making there now ripens into complete victory.” Further, a September 24 Kansas City Star article reported that when given two options -- “Stay the course, or gradually start to pull back in Iraq” -- Talent “favors the former.” “Complete the mission,” the Star quoted him saying.

From the November 2 edition of CNN's The Situation Room:

BLITZER: Let's talk about Iraq right now. Your opponent, Claire McCaskill, she was here in The Situation Room the other day and she described you as a “stay the course” senator, totally in line with the Bush administration's stance as far as Iraq is concerned. Is that true?

TALENT: No, I don't want to stay anything. You know, I want to win. I don't want a stalemate. I don't want to pull out, which really is what she's for. I want to win. And the mission was to remove Saddam, replace him with a government, a democracy that would be able to defend itself and would be an ally in the war on terror. Now, the part of the mission that requires large numbers of troops is training up that Iraqi military, sizing and seasoning it properly so it can defend the country. That's the part that -- where we've been making some progress. And once we get -- once we complete that aspect of the mission, then we won't need large numbers of American troops. That's what I'm for.

BLITZER: Do you have confidence in the defense secretary, Donald Rumsfeld?