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Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

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Q&A with BHO

February 24, 2008 5:42 PM

This afternoon, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, held a press availability in which I got to ask him a question. I wrote a fuller story about his response (which you can read HERE), but here's the transcript of that exchange.

Tapper: There is clearly an attempt by conservatives and Republicans to paint you as unpatriotic.  And this is the case they make: They say you didn’t put your hand over your heart...

Obama: Once!

Tapper: I am just telling you what they say and I have a question afterwards. That you didn’t put your hand over your heart during the national anthem, that you no longer wear an American flag on your lapel pin, that you met with some former members of the Weather Underground and now they are questioning your wife’s comments when she said she hasn't been proud of the U.S. until just recently.  How are you going to fight this image that is clearly out there on the blogosphere and in the conservative world that if  you become the Democratic nominee they are going to use to try to defeat you?

Obama:  Well look, there’s always some nonsense going on in general elections, if it wasn’t this it would be something else. I mean as you will recall, first it was my name, right? That was a problem. 

And then there was the Muslim email thing and that stuff hasn’t worked out  so well. And now it’s the patriotism thing.

And the way I will respond to it is with the truth. That I owe everything I am to this country. You will recall the reason I came to national attention was a speech in which I spoke of my love for this county and that, you know, the notion that I am disqualified because at one event I was signing the national anthem but failed to put my hand over my heart while I was singing, if that were the case that would disqualify  about three fourths of  people who have ever gone to a football game or a baseball game.

And my wife’s comment: I think she already clarified this, she was very clear about it. She simply misspoke. Because what she was referring to is this was the first time she’d been proud of politics in America. And that’s true for a lot of folks who had been cynical and disenchanted. She spoke about how she’d been cynical American politics, for a very long time but she’s proud of how people are participating and involved in ways they haven’t for a very long time.

As far as the American flag pin, I mean when we start getting into those definitions of patriotism that’s a debate I’m happy to have, because I will come right after them. This is a party that presided over a war in which our troops did not get the body armor that they needed, or sending troops over who were untrained because of poor planning, or are not fulfilling the veterans benefits that these troops need when they come home, or undermining our constitution with warrantless wiretaps that are unnecessary.

That is a debate that I am very happy to have. We’ll see what the American people think is the true definition of patriotism is.

- jpt

February 24, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (24)

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Jack Tapper Thanks for asking that question finally the media worm is turning. Why did he only respond 50% to your question. you should have probed more. I am sick of these fly by media press with half truths.....

Posted by: BHO ruined the democrats | Feb 24, 2008 10:51:33 PM

And the Oscar goes to........

Barack Obama may just wanted to protest the Iraq war in such ways. However, Obama found himself unsure if most Americans view protesting the Iraq war, and support for the country symbols as 2 separate issues.

For instance, NY Mets Carlos Delgado is an example of such backlash as per wikipedia: "He (Carlos Delgado) is also against the occupation of Iraq. In the 2004 season, Delgado protested the war by silently staying in the dugout during the playing of God Bless America during the Seventh inning stretch.................. Angry New York fans booed him and, when Delgado lined out in the bottom of the seventh inning, fans chanted "USA, USA" even though Delgado, like most Puerto Ricans, is an U.S. citizen...
"After being traded to the Mets, in a conciliatory measure, Delgado now stands during the singing of "God Bless America."

It seems like making up excuses "no a big deal" and "nonsense" start to pile up for Barack Obama.

Posted by: Angel | Feb 24, 2008 10:47:57 PM

Fellow Democrats:

Beware the standard GOP treatment of their opponents -- attack their patriotism.

I have a flag lapel pin, and I never wear it, because it has become a phony affectation that doesn't make the wearer more patriotic. (E. g., Bush and Cheney wear them, and they have a decidedly unpatriotic attitude towards our Constitution -- among other things -- and when they each had an opportunity to act on their patriotism during the Vietnam War, they ducked it.

I have other, less showy ways of acting on my patirotism: Yes, I fly the flag on holidays. But I also stay informed, I participate in the political process, and I vote. (I remove my hat for the national anthem but -- horrors! -- I don't always put my hand on me heart. And, BTW, if I'm at a hockey game and I yell "Oh" in the middle, does that make me a traitor?)

I concede, Michelle's statement was dumb; I know what she meant, but it was a dumb way to say it. But come on, people, she's not the candidate; she's his wife! Give me a break.

Posted by: jac13 | Feb 24, 2008 7:39:51 PM

It sounds to me like BHO is trying to back peddle as much as possible now that the media his starting to turn toward him and his wife. Now you see the real BHO. He's not use to this kind of media. How does it feel Mr. Obama. I hope the media pounces right on this stuff and hard, it would only be fair.

Posted by: cpmforhillary | Feb 24, 2008 7:22:50 PM

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