Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told NBC's David Gregory today on "Meet The Press" that she would happily accept an offer from former Gov. Sarah Palin to sit down for a coffee, as mentioned in Palin's new book, "Going Rogue."
"I absolutely would look forward to having coffee. I've never met her. And I think it would be very interesting to sit down and talk with her. I've got more than I can say grace over to read, but obviously, in the next week there's gonna be a lot of attention paid to her book. And I'm sure that I'll see excerpts printed and you know, snippets of interviews as I, you know, channel surf in Singapore and in Shanghai and in Beijing. But you know, I'm ready to have a cup of coffee."
Palin wrote: "Should Secretary Clinton and I ever sit down over a cup of coffee, I know that we would fundamentally disagree on many issues. But my hat is off to her hard work on the 2008 campaign trail."
Clinton did say she would also talk about politics: "Maybe I can make a case on some of the issues that we disagree on."
Every day I go to my office and I occasionally see some bickering and backstabbing. It happens everywhere. I'm sure it happens at your workplace as well. The great advantage we have is that our offices don't have cameras broadcasting the in-fighting to America. MSNBC doesn't have that luxury. All week long we have been witnessing unprofessionalism at its best.
Once again, the internal politics of MSNBC spilled over to the set last night, and watching it unfold makes everyone feel good that we don't work there.
Keith Olbermann had another moment of indignation for a guest on MSNBC. Republican pundit Mike Murphy was being interviewed by Chris Matthews on his belief that Hillary and Bill Clinton would campaign for Obama, but when they got into the voting booth, they would pull the lever for John McCain. Olbermann's reaction, which once again may have been off microphone, was "Let’s wrap him up, all right?”
Another new target of Olbermann's wrath could be, of all people, Tom Brokaw, one of the most trusted journalists in history. Page Six of the New York Post reported Wednesday that Olbermann wants Brokaw banned from MSNBC. Brokaw has expressed concerns that by allowing partisans Matthews and Olbermann anchor MSNBC's convention coverage, NBC is sending the wrong jounralistic message for its news organization. MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines told Daily Variety in its report yesterday afternoon that "the claim that Page Six is making is completely and utterly ludicrous."
If the MSNBC folks get so unhinged so easily on their home turf at the Democratic convention, what the heck are we going to see in St. Paul when they are surrounded by thousands of Republicans?
It seems that the media is giving mixed reviews to Hillary Clinton's speech last night in Denver. The party's faithful is on board, but others are not so sure.
Hillary gave a good speech, but it needed to be a great speech. It was a concession speech, perhaps the speech Hillary should have given in June.
Hillary's speech should have been the equivalent of a nomination speech. I didn't hear that. What I heard was a heartfelt thank you to Hillary's "sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits." There was no Obama-like oratorical knock them dead explanation of why Obama has to be president.
More important, Hillary didn't offer a rebuttal to defuse her devastating critique of Obama's lack of experience.
The reasons that Hillary gave for supporting Obama were all ways of saying that Obama is a Democrat. She managed to say some nice “words” about Obama in her speech (she was proud to support him), but subsequently she immediately launched into a litany of the many important issues for which she’d fought and sang out with a paean to all the people who had placed their faith in her.
In the end, it came down to being all about her.
On the other hand, here's a news flash. Hold on to you hats. Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews and Rachel Maddow loved it. Olbermann once again goes just a wee bit over the top (He couldn''t have written it better himself!):
Here is Clinton's speech. It's about 27 minutes long.
CNN talked to a DNC delegate who is a Hillary supporter immediately after Clinton's speech. In an emotional response to a question about who she is going to vote for, she could not give her support to Obama.
If someone like her was not convinced after seeing Hillary speak live, who did Hillary touch last night? Did anyone on the fence change their mind? Will the 18 million people who voted and campaigned for Hillary over the past 12 months switch gears and join the Obama camp? We won't know the answer to that until November.
All is not well in Denver. Matter of fact, it's almost reminiscent of the Wild, Wild West.
The Democratic faithful is split into two camps. The Obama camp wants to control every visual, every word, and almost every thought at the convention, The Clinton camp is busy at work seeing a slight or being offended at anything.
Case in point: The Obama camp has been cooking up a deal where delegates would actually cast their votes from their hotel rooms tomorrow morning. This would put out the image Wednesday night that Unity does exist in the blue universe.
The problem is, a move like that would make Clinton supporters virtually disappear.
Supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton furiously circulated petitions on the floor of the Democratic National Convention last night, hoping to stave off a plan to hold the convention's roll call at breakfast Wednesday — out of the public eye — sources inside the delegations said.
Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette, [pictured at right] a former state co-chair for Clinton said she knows the camps are in negotiations about what to do. "My view is we need to come together as a party," DeGette said. "I admire Hillary Clinton greatly, but I think it would be divisive to have a vote on the floor. We need to have a unanimous vote."
Divisive to have a floor vote? That doesn't sound like unity to me. It's more like the Obama camp is forcing a vision of unity on not only the American public, but its own party.
"Whether or not there will be a roll call -- and. if so, under what conditions -- is entirely up to the Obama campaign. And they have not yet decided what the roll call is going to look like."
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, a longtime Hillary Clinton supporter, while appearing at a roundtable discussion yesterday in Denver, took a whack at the mainstream media over its lovefest with Sen. Barack Obama, calling coverage of the presidential campaign embarrassing.
"Running for the most important office in the world, Obama got basically a free pass,” he said on the eve of the Democratic convention.
DENVER -- Three of the most prominent figures in television news agreed during a forum today that media coverage of the presidential campaign has been largely fair, focused on important issues and relatively free of sexism.
Then Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell spoke his version of truth to power.
After the panel discussion with Tom Brokaw of NBC News, Bob Schieffer of CBS News and George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, Rendell offered concluding remarks at a brunch hosted by the Joan Shorenstein Center of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Rendell said that from his vantage point as a Hillary Clinton supporter, the primary-race coverage had focused more on personalities than issues; that sexism was undeniable in the coverage; and that the media’s treatment of Barack Obama during the primaries “was, ladies and gentlemen, embarrassing.”
Michael Calderone of Politico noted that Rendell and Brokaw were going back and forth about the coverage, including Lee Cowan's comments a while back.
Lee Cowan, a reporter for NBC, while discussing the media frenzy around Sen. Obama's campaign, admitted last spring that "from the reporter's point of view, it's almost hard to remain objective because it's infectious energy. It sort of goes against your core to say that as a reporter."
Finally, Rendell took a swipe at MSNBC, calling the cable network the official network of Obama's campaign.
The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden selection is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative - a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image.
Judgment? Biden voted for the Iraq war. But beyond that, even if we stipulate that he has foreign policy chops, how does that make him a good veep choice? It strikes me that any pick designed to cover up a "flaw" in Obama (i.e. "lack of foreign policy credentials") only accentuates those flaws. Make him secretary of state.
Sure, compared to Bayh and Kaine, Biden looks almost passable, but that's a low hurdle to pass. I'd rather not have to choose my poison. I'd rather have candy.
Sen. Hillary Clinton's statement (he's purposeful):
"In naming my colleague and friend Senator Joe Biden to be the vice presidential nominee, Senator Obama has continued in the best traditions for the vice presidency by selecting an exceptionally strong, experienced leader and devoted public servant. Senator Biden will be a purposeful and dynamic vice president who will help Senator Obama both win the presidency and govern this great country."
Only about half of former Clinton voters say they’ll back the Illinois senator — and it’s not clear if the Biden choice will attract or alienate those who have yet to embrace Obama. Former Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson predicted her troops would eventually fall in line but suggested that Biden needed to project toughness — as Clinton did — to win over voters.
But it's going to be a tough sell:
Hillary supporter Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) predicted the move would further anger many of the New York senator’s most hardcore supporters.
"I never thought he would pick Hillary," she said. "I know politics. Things just don't happen that way. Hillary knew that. Anyone who thought he would put her on the ticket is just clueless."
Sanchez said that she had a friend, a staunch Democrat, who is voting for John McCain because "he is so unhappy about what's happened," adding that Clinton supporters have encountered a "disconnect" with the Obama campaign.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Sen. Carl Levin of the swing state of Michigan is on board:
"This is a terrific choice. Joe Biden understands the challenges facing our country at home and abroad, and his long history of bipartisanship in the Senate will be a welcome asset. He will be a tireless and enthusiastic partner for Senator Obama in the campaign and in the White House."
