I thought McCain did better than Obama in the twin interviews conducted by Rev. Rick Warren in California Saturday. McCain's answers were crisper, more decisive. I recall saying to my wife that McCain seemed ... better prepared.
Rick Warren assured viewers, twice, that McCain had been kept in "a cone of silence" during Obama's portion of the interview. McCain quipped that he had had his ear to the wall, trying to listen. Since the essence of the two interviews was that they contained the same questions - thus allowing an "apples to apples" comparison, as Rev. Warren noted - McCain's not hearing anything of Obama's interview was somewhat crucial.
Today the New York Times reported that McCain's ear was not against any wall, because McCain was not in a room at all. He was in his motorcade for at least half of Obama's interview. It would have been trivially easy for McCain to have gotten word of any or even many of the Reverend's questions.
There is no proof of this (yet). Republicans are claiming this is all Democratic sour grapes, an attempt to account for McCain's surprisingly superior performance.
At very least, the Rev. Warren owes Americans an explanation. If the "cone of silence" he said McCain was in was metaphorical, that certainly wasn't clear in what Rev. Warren said on Saturday. At very least, McCain in a car, in which cell phones easily could have conveyed the substance Warren's questions to Obama, raises questions.
I'm looking forward, more than ever, to the Presidential debates beginning next month, in which we'll know for a fact that both candidates will be hearing all questions at the same time.
2 comments:
Much to our shock and disappointment, Prof, Chris and I TOO thought that McCain did much better than Obama in the interview and we are awaiting word to see what the truth is pertaining to the "cone of silence" as well.
Being "Get Smart" fans, we are truly hoping that we weren't duped by KAOS.
Paul: As always I enjoy your commentary and the forum you provide for us all. This thing is sticking in my craw -- why is this "cone of silence" thing not bigger news. I'm speechless so i'll just jot down my thoughts, so bear with me ...
This past weekend we had the sham of a "debate" during Rick Warren's evangelical presidential Q&A. Rick's Q&A was a fresh spin on the tired, speech-making, so-called debate formats of the past. Then it was revealed that McCain was in a shifting "cone of silence" while enroute to the event. This unfortunate staging of the "cone of silence" gambit was just another signal that we are losing our way as a nation. We can't even properly sequester a presidential candidate for an hour. We do this sort of thing pretty well at Gitmo, on a more permanent basis, all the time .... and McCain is rather proud of his stay at the Hanoi Hilton years ago. It was a natural or so I thought.
When you come to think of it the whole cone of silence illusion is not so alarming. If given the opportunity to gain an edge most ordinary people will seize the moment. Operative word -- ordinary people. That's what we have here -- John McCain & henchpeople are ordinary people. If given the window of opportunity, ordinary people would blackberry the questions while Johnnie Mac was limoing to the event, aka by Rick Warren as the so-called "cone of silence." (I guess not all cones of silence are created equal). Let's all 'get smart' here (sorry, I had to do it). This thing does not pass the eyeball exam. Doesn't it look too tiddy that all the answers were wrapped in short, familiar McCain soundbites (eg, the classic "I will follow Osama to the gates of hell, etc." -- i've heard all this before .. for a minute there McCain was channeling the old speech-making debate format, aka Catchphrases are Us). Typically in a quick back-and-forth Q&A session you don't have the time to instantaneously call up your precise, patented soundbites and neatly tie them into their suppossed extemporaneous answers. In an impromptu session of quick back-and-forth exchanges it just doesn't happen. Take a look at Obama's exchanges with Warren -- they were conversational and stream of consciousness; he didn't know the questions in advance and therefore had to formulate his thinking around it. McCain's answers were short, bullet points of previous proven verbiage that has been red-lighted by Republican wordsmithing consultants as the appropriate taking points that will score with the audience. I have only one answer to the question of how McCain was able to summon a rather calculating answering style: it was an "ABC" moment, asin Always Blackberry Connected .. he knew ahead of time precisely what was coming. As Al Davis would exhort his Raiders football players: "Just win, baby!" Machiavelli would be very proud of his recent convert, John McCain. "Win at all cost" is a driving Republican family value; it has become a cornerstone of American life. In that regard, as his TV commercials proclaim: John McCain is a true American.
You can fault McCain for succumbing to temptation to cheat but the real culprit here is Rick Warren. His debate required that he ensure that a real cone of silence be established and maintained. Obviously, no precautions were taken to have the 2nd candidate in the Q&A securely sequestered. As a religious type Rick Warren is by nature a trusting soul. In American political life, blind trust is a character flaw. Rick was duped by someone seeking the highest office in the land; as a consequence, we are all duped.
It is troubling that as McCain was introduced to the Q&A both Warren and McCain gave the audience the illusion that a "cone of silence" was enforced. At the time they both knew that was not true yet they fed us that line. They were complicit in the charade. We all thought that this was a true level playing field. Unfortunately for Obama (and for the rest of us) that was not the case. It is troubling that Warren and McCain are not being held up to more scrutiny.
Imagine if it was Barack Obama who had cheated. If you take the uproar over the flag pin, multiply that by a billion. If you take the uproar over the bitter comment, multiply that by a billion. If you take the uproar over Jeremiah Wright, multiply that by a 100 million. We would never hear the end of it. Pre-schoolers would be asking their parents why Barack is such a bad man, a very bad man because he lied. How come for McCain there is no backlash? The silence is deafening ... and alarming.
/jimy_max
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