On the July 14 edition of MSNBC Live, MSNBC aired four segments, between 9 a.m. and noon ET, during which, without the presence of a Democrat, Republican strategists and conservatives debated how to best attack Sen. Barack Obama. In each of the segments, MSNBC ran the same four on-screen texts, reading: “Republicans confused about how to attack Barack Obama”; “Republicans label Obama a serial flip-flopper”; “McCain campaign: 'Nobody knows what Barack Obama truly believes' ”; and “Obama's limited service record a challenge to Republicans.” As Media Matters for America documented, during one of these segments, Republican strategist and MSNBC political analyst Joe Watkins made false and misleading claims about Sen. John McCain's positions on taxes and immigration that went unchallenged. At no point during the day did MSNBC host Democratic strategists, without the presence of a Republican, to discuss how to attack McCain.

From the 9 a.m. ET hour of the July 14 edition of MSNBC Live:

TAMRON HALL (anchor): Meanwhile, there is a growing debate within the GOP about how to best attack Barack Obama. In a recent column, The Washington Post's David Broder compares Obama's knack for throwing off his opponents to that of wartime aviators who would release metal scraps to confuse the aims of missiles being fired against them. He wrote: “The Illinois senator has done a similar trick, throwing out verbal hints of altered positions on any number of issues. This is creating quandaries for the Republicans who can't figure out where to aim.” Well, joining us now live from Washington is Republican strategist Phil Musser; also with us, MSNBC political analyst and Republican strategist Joe Watkins. So, Phil, do you think David's analogy is right here?

MUSSER: I think we need -- I think we need to zero in if Obama keeps throwing the flak. But, look, I think the two compelling messages here that really should be the driving focus of the effort, if I were sitting over there in Arlington and I'm not -- so free advice, take it for what it's worth -- is fundamentally that Obama just is not ready to assume the commander of chief title. And that the change that he is selling to America is largely amorphous change that can cost you a lot of money. And so --

HALL: Well, we've been hearing that, but is it hard -- or has it been difficult for the GOP to make that argument stick?

MUSSER: It has -- well, it has, but in large part because we've had a real trouble with the issue that you alluded to in the lead-in, is that we've had a situation where third-party surrogates have repeatedly thrown the messaging efforts of the campaign off -- off-kilter. And that's, you know --

HALL: On both sides.

MUSSER: -- you know, absolutely. And so, last week, we saw it on both sides, but it's been one of the hallmarks of the 2008 campaign going way back into the primaries that we've seen a lot of third-party advocacy that's really made it difficult for the campaigns to focus their debate in an effective and laser-like way. And so --

HALL: Let's bring in Joe on that.

MUSSER: Yeah.

WATKINS: Yeah.

HALL: Joe, do you agree? Is it the surrogates who are making it tough for the GOP to go after Barack Obama?

WATKINS: Well, this is -- this is a whole new day. I mean, throw away all the rules in the campaign. I mean, this is a whole new day. You've got an African-American who is the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. You've got John McCain on the Republican side of the aisle, and you've got guys like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman [I-CT], the former Democratic vice presidential nominee, now siding with John McCain. This is a whole different world. And when it comes to -- to -- to Barack Obama, I think Republicans are -- they're not going to make it personal because Barack Obama has a beautiful family. I mean, he certainly strikes a wonderful image, standing alongside his wife and talking with his kids, wonderful image. They'll attack him on all the issues because he's flip-flopped. He's made so many big changes. Democrats are having buyer's remorse.

HALL: But is that smart when they can counter, Joe, and say, “Look, John McCain did the same”?

WATKINS: Well, he hasn't.

HALL: I can just bring up one thing: the tax cuts. That's what the -- the Democrats point to.

WATKINS: And that's a great one to try to bring it up on. The reality is that John McCain actually supported tax cuts. The reason why he didn't support the tax cuts earlier is because he said you've got to slow down government spending. You can't spend and --

HALL: Yeah.

WATKINS: -- cut at the same time. But take the issue of immigration, where John McCain put his own political life and ambitions on the line for the sake of America. I mean, he crafted that bill with Democrats, with Teddy Kennedy among other people, for the sake of America. And so, here's a guy who's willing to take big-time risks, John McCain is.

HALL: But, we're almost out of time, so yes or no, are they having a hard time?

WATKINS: Yeah, they've had a tough time.

HALL: Phil, yes or no, is there a hard time right now with the GOP to attack Barack Obama?

PHIL MUSSER (Republican strategist): Obama has been deft in dodging attacks. But look, one of the things that we need to do, and the McCain campaign, I think, needs to do, is double down on the strategies on where to attack him.

HALL: Right.

MUSSER: This is a little bit tactical. But look, the -- 2008, the online community is driving the debate in a whole different way. The Republican Party --

HALL: It is. It's interesting.

MUSSER: I'm sorry?

HALL: I said -- no, I agree. It's interesting -- the online thing.

MUSSER: Yeah, we need to really double down on our efforts to go, you know, into the blogosphere --

WATKINS: It's like, keep it on the issues.

MUSSER: -- with smart online, you know --

WATKINS: Keep it on the issues. Let them know --

MUSSER: Yeah.

HALL: OK.

WATKINS: -- that Barack -- where Barack Obama doesn't stand.

MUSSER: That's right.

WATKINS: He stands on both sides of FISA, gun control, public finance, a whole host of issues, and as long as Democrats, as well as Republicans, know that, some of them are going to have buyer's remorse.

HALL: OK, well, here's where it stands. That was supposed to be a yes or no from both of you.

WATKINS: It's impossible to get that in this day and age.

MUSSER: Joe's a --

HALL: You get two Republican strategists, and you don't get a yes or a no. Thank you both.

From the 10 a.m. ET hour of the July 14 edition of MSNBC Live:

MONICA NOVOTNY (anchor): To politics now and the growing debate within the GOP about how best to go after Barack Obama. The Washington Post's David Broder says Obama has created a quandary for Republicans by throwing out a hint of altered positions on any number of issues. Joining us now live from Washington is Republican strategist Todd Boulanger; also with us, MSNBC political analyst and Republican strategist Joe Watkins. So, Todd, is David Broder's analogy accurate? Has he thrown out all of these little hints of change, thus confusing the GOP and potentially voters enough that they just don't know how to go after him?

BOULANGER: Well, I think David Broder makes a good point. Barack Obama thus far has been really running an issueless campaign. He's been running a campaign based on image. He's trying to position himself as the future of this country, while painting John McCain as the past. But if -- if Republicans are starting to get -- get under -- behind this and figure that they can go after him based on the issues facing this country, like housing, energy prices, the two wars that we're facing right now. You know, the traditional mud-slinging that's gone on in presidential politics really hasn't been working and quite frankly, they -- it doesn't work. But if you can attack the Democratic orthodoxy in general and Barack Obama's lack of experience and tie them in together with the issues facing this country, yeah, I think it can work. But when you're constantly changing power position and morphing your position it is hard to pin somebody down but that's also a liability over the long run.

NOVOTNY: Joe, both men have been accused of flip-flopping on certain issues. Can McCain challenge Obama on his positions without having to answer for his own shifts of opinion because that is the way -- that is the one way so far that the -- that McCain is going after Obama. They are coming out and saying he's flip-flopping, he's flip-flopping --

WATKINS: Yeah. That's right.

NOVOTNY -- he's just a typical politician.

WATKINS: David Broder's article is very -- is very instructive. It tells us a lot about Barack Obama and part of the buyer's remorse that many Democrats have with Barack Obama, who is a really brilliant guy, but has found himself now on both sides of a whole lot of issues, be it gun control or public finance for his presidential campaign or FISA, a security issue, or even the issue about whether or not to talk to Iran without preconditions. The truth of the matter is that John McCain is going to stick to the issues. He's just going to tell the truth and say, you know what? You can't have it both ways in these things. And as for John McCain, John McCain has a history of being a guy who's put his own political life on the line for the sake of America. He did it with immigration, where he even went against Republicans to fashion an immigration policy that he felt was in the best interest of all Americans.

NOVOTNY: Todd, let me ask you, we've heard so much about the undecided voters and what a critical role they'll play in this election. Is Obama at risk of leading undecided voters to think that he has a character problem by making these shifts and by making it clouded, if you will?

BOULANGER: Well, I think, you know, if you look at the polls right now and I think they're pretty static, you know, one of the reasons why John McCain is so close 'cause a lot of people are unsure about where Barack Obama really stands. I mean, look, four years ago, this guy was a back-bencher in a state senate seat, and now he's trying to become leader of the free world. I mean, that's problematic for independent and right-of-center voters. Look, there are tremendous things -- opportunities for him out there, but given his financial advantage and the political whims -- but look, he doesn't appear to be able to close the deal. And that -- that's problematic leading post-Labor Day because, look, John McCain has staying power. He's very good on the issues where Republicans are -- have strengths such as the war in Iraq, which is improved vastly, on housing, on taxation issues. And Barack Obama really doesn't have an answer for those things. And at the end of the day, voters are looking for answers and Barack Obama is going to have to take firm positions come November or he will lose this race.

NOVOTNY: All right, Todd Boulanger and Joe Watkins, great to have you both. Thank you.

WATKINS: Thanks. Thanks, Monica.

From the 11 a.m. ET hour of the July 14 edition of MSNBC Live:

HALL: MSNBC is the place for politics and there's a growing debate within the GOP about how best to attack Barack Obama. In a recent column, The Washington Post's David Broder compares Obama's knack for throwing off his opponents to that of wartime aviators who would release metal scraps to confuse the aims of missiles being fired against them. He wrote: “The Illinois senator has done a similar trick, throwing out verbal hints of altered positions on any number of issues. This is creating quandaries for the Republicans who can't figure out where to aim.” Joining me now is MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan. So, Pat, do you agree with what Mr. Broder's written?

BUCHANAN: Well, yeah, but I don't think it's that difficult. This is the same problem we had in 1972 when I was in the White House with Senator [George] McGovern who came out of the left wing of the Democratic Party -- the far left wing, frankly, of the Democratic Party at that time -- and then he tried to get into the center and we portrayed him both as a leftist and a flip-flopper in different ads. There's no contradiction between the two. I think they should do both of them, but frankly, I think they've got to do that because negatives on Obama are the one thing that's going to win this election. If they can raise his negatives up around 50, 51, 52 percent, they can keep him out of the presidency.

HALL: So, what do you make of the debate inside -- within the GOP that they're having a hard time?

BUCHANAN: Well, I'd suggest they're not very experienced. Look, you can portray someone as a left-wing ideologue and a cross-dresser at the same time --

HALL: Woo.

BUCHANAN: -- the two are not inconsistent, Tamron.

HALL: Now, is it easier to do because Barack Obama is unfamiliar to most folks, still?

BUCHANAN: It is. You've raised a very good point. Barack Obama is undefined. The folks in West Virginia, all they knew about him -- the one thing they knew about him -- was he had this pastor named Reverend [Jeremiah] Wright who was a kook. And so, you've got to fill in the blanks. The Republicans really should be working hard now --

HALL: Uh-huh.

BUCHANAN: -- to fill in those blanks with his left-wing connections. At the same time, if he starts moving --

HALL: Right.

BUCHANAN: -- nail him each time as someone who's switching positions.

HALL: Interesting. All right, Pat. I wish I had more time, but this is it for my hour. Good to see you.

From the noon ET hour of the July 14 edition of MSNBC Live:

CONTESSA BREWER (anchor): Is Barack Obama as shrewd as a fighter pilot? In a recent column, The Washington Post's David Broder compares Obama's knack for throwing off his opponents to that of wartime aviators who would release metal scraps to confuse the aim of missiles being fired against them: “The Illinois senator has done a similar trick, throwing out verbal hints of altered positions on any number of issues. This is creating quandaries for the Republicans who can't figure out where to aim.” Joining us now, Republican strategist Andrea Tantaros, and also with us, MSNBC political analyst and a Republican strategist Joe Watkins. Why? Why is it so difficult to figure out where to aim, Joe?

WATKINS: Well, you know, when you change positions as often as Barack Obama does, it's awfully hard, you know, to do that. I mean, here's a guy who was on one side of public finance, strongly for it, and then against it when it came to his own presidential campaign. Against FISA, then for FISA. Against gun control, then for gun control, or is it the other way around?

TANTAROS: I don't know.

WATKINS: I can't remember.

BREWER: Now -- now wait a minute.

WATKINS: I can't remember.

BREWER: Now, because we don't have the Democratic side to this, I'm going to play devil's advocate and just point out that John McCain has had his own changes of positions. First, he was against the Bush tax cuts, now he's for them.

WATKINS: Do you know why he was against the Bush --

BREWER: First, he was -- wait. First he was against offshore drilling, now he's for them. No, I don't want to discuss the issue. What I want to say is you have changes of positions on both sides. Barack -- you're not saying --

WATKINS: But nobody will argue, Contessa, with the fact that John McCain has put his political life on the line, time and again, for the American people. With the cause of immigration, he went against his own party. A lot of Republicans were against him. He fashioned the policy that he thought would work for Americans --

BREWER: But to this --

WATKINS: -- with a Democrat.

TANTAROS: Well --

BREWER: But to the strategy here, Andrea, you've got Barack Obama, who doesn't seem to be confused by John McCain's changes on position, that he aims true and fast, and also because McCain has had some people around him, especially in the last week, that have given a clear, wide open target for the Democrats.

TANTAROS: Well, I think it's two things. You know, I don't think that Republicans don't know how to attack Barack Obama. I think there's a lot of ways to attack him. I think Republicans are having trouble finding their own message. But when they go after him for being a flip-flopper, it's important not to just say you're a flip-flopper, but explain why that's important. Joe brought up the issue of immigration. At least, if you're talking about flip-flopping, you have to point out why it's important. Immigration, John McCain, like his stance or not, he runs toward problems, not away from them. Barack Obama hasn't really told us very much where he stands. On the issue of offshore drilling, John McCain says, you know what? I was against it, but the American people want it. So, that's why I changed.

BREWER: Well, so, are you saying the real problem is -- I mean, there's -- there's another article not related to this about how Barack Obama is not taking town hall questions when he goes to these events. He shows up, he gives his speech, and then he leaves without really opening himself up to --

TANTAROS: Sure.

WATKINS: Yeah.

BREWER: -- what can be wild questions from the audience.

WATKINS: Yeah. Right.

BREWER: Where John McCain seems to thrive on this.

WATKINS: Straight talk.

BREWER: Are you just saying that Barack Obama isn't saying enough for Republicans to aim at?

WATKINS: One of the reasons why the polling data shows him slipping in the polls is because Americans don't know who he is. And now his own core -- some of them are having buyer's remorse. What they bought was a guy who was very left on a whole bunch of issues like taxes and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and now they see a very, very different guy emerging. And it's -- and the problem for them is, is this guy that we bought? Is this what we paid for? I think that becomes the big challenge for Barack Obama.

TANTAROS: Well, I think if Republicans can draw him into the details, which they have not done yet, really draw him in and make him explain, you cannot propose the spending that you're proposing and cut taxes -- things like that put the heat on him. That's gonna bolster what Joe was saying, and that is: Who is this guy? It doesn't make sense. He's making it up as it goes along.

BREWER: Andrea, Joe, thank you very much.