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Obama Shuns Press Conferences, Sits With 'EXTRA's' Mario Lopez
October 26, 2008 6:56 PM
On Oct. 24, 2007, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that as president he would hold regular press conferences and "not just call on my four favorite reporters."
But the Democratic presidential nominee hasn't held a full press conference -- submitting himself to more than a handful of questions from his whole press corps -- in more than a month, since Sept. 24, 2008, in Clearwater, Fla.
The candidate often bemoans the media asking silly and superficial questions. The media isn't focused on the important issues facing the nation, he complains.
On Saturday in Nevada, Obama sat for an exclusive interview with Mario Lopez, the actor who played "A.C. Slater" on "Saved by the Bell," to air on the TV show "EXTRA."
According to the promotional materials from "EXTRA," "Asked about the tragic news that (actress Jennifer) Hudson's mother and brother were killed Friday in Chicago, Obama states, 'Oh it was heartbreaking, in fact I'm still trying to get a phone number to call her at this tragic time. She is somebody who has campaigned for me, she also lives in my community. So, we're really going to have to help her and pray for her and her family during this difficult time.'"
One of the problems his press corps has in gaining access to the frontrunner is the fact that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., whose life used to be a roving press availability, has cordoned himself off from the media except in drips and drabs.
Earlier this year, many in the media thought McCain's reputation for access and openness would force Obama to follow suit; instead the opposite dynamic has played out as Obama's campaign justifies Obama's refusal to take questions by pointing to his far less accessible rival.
-- jpt
October 26, 2008 in Obama, Barack | Permalink | Share | User Comments (361)
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I happen to be a conservative, and I have a message to your other conservatives out there. When you're blogging your comments, you often start well and then end with some sort of unoriginal polemic like "Atlas is Shrugging...bless this great nation!" Would you guys stop copying random phrases of other radical libertarians and start thinking on your own? You would do yourself and other conservatives a huge favor by posting well-thought, logical comments - not absconded propaganda. Seriously!
Posted by: jacuzzi | Oct 27, 2008 4:50:55 PM
I know I will be labeled a racist or, at best, an Obama hater, but why will he not hold a news conference? Answer: He is like a guilty man who knows that it is better to remain silent and let the police think you are guilty than to talk and remove all doubt. If he answers tough questions, he will be found to be someone he does not want us to think he is: a socialist who does hold this country in high regard as it now exists. He wants to re-do this country in the likeness of Saul Alinsky, but he cannot say it outright. GOD HELP THIS COUNTRY IF HE GETS ELECTED!!!
Posted by: Donald Duck | Oct 27, 2008 4:48:41 PM
MarkD - (Sylvie - you can copy this if you wish) Try this for scare tactics - You and your comrades want to hand over the "football" to an unaccomplished socialist! Keep in mind that the "football" is the portable communication system that the president takes with him to in order to authorize commanders in the field to arm and use nuclear weapons!!! That power should not be given to an empty suit!!!
Posted by: Jenny | Oct 27, 2008 4:40:00 PM
Well, I guess The McCain campaign was right, he is a celebrity. He goes where the cameras are and the lights are bright! Why do a boring press conference. Come to think of it, I bet Sharpton and Jackson are green with envy.
Posted by: Electricalcheck Pete | Oct 27, 2008 4:33:30 PM
This is what we were afraid of. He flip-flopped again (just like when he said he would use the presidential campaign financing system to limit the ridiculous costs of presidential campaigns). He is really good at a teleprompter but when he has to speak from the heart, he seems to do no better than Joe "the Freudian Slip" Biden. And it's getting worse, not better. If nobody is going to hold his feet to the media fire, I guess it's a smart move on his part to hide from reporters.
Posted by: R. Daniels | Oct 27, 2008 4:23:52 PM
Leading sheep to the slaughter. The Pied Piper is upon us. Stupid stupid people. America has oficially been dumbed down.
Posted by: Patrick | Oct 27, 2008 4:23:27 PM
A birth certificate? Of course he can get a US birth certificate. Even the Chinese have a copy, although it says Obama is 18 years old.
Posted by: Buzzer | Oct 27, 2008 4:16:43 PM
I admit that Jenny's post is a good one. And I have to say that I read it in another forum the other day posted by someone else.
It doesn't mean it doesn't have merit. But people should acknowledge when they use someone else's words and not post them as their own.
If Jenny was the one who posted it in that other forum, I apologize for my error.
Posted by: Sylvie | Oct 27, 2008 4:09:31 PM
Barack is the most secretive presidential candidate in years. His life is off-limits to anyone who dares venture into finding out more about him. The press has insulated him from actually answering substantive questions. The press is in for him and want to see him as president. He hasn't been held to near the scrutiny as McCain or Palin have. I'd be scared to find out just how much a Socialist he actually is. Although he's letting some slip out and that's why he's HIDING from them. Joe, Big Mouth, Biden found out what it's like to be asked a question that should be asked of them. He didn't like it and censored the station that had the nerve not to throw him another softball question. "I pity the fool who thinks he or she can ask me a question that's not on the approved list!!!"
Posted by: Timmeh | Oct 27, 2008 4:04:23 PM
Hey--to those in King County and/or Seattle I am another conservative
voice in this bastion of left leaning liberals!
I still smart fromWashington State's stolen gubernatorial election in 2004. There was fraud, and the government did nothing including the judges.Dino Rossi WILL be our next republican governor as he is favored here! We are an independent lot and our state will be blue for Obama unfortunately.
Now, our King County Council is trying to get us to vote yes for a charter amendment to increase the threshold for petition signatures from 10% to 20%.
KC is a microcosm of socialism and it stinks! Lots of stuff gets passed by them without a vote, thus we fight by
petition(and usually win!)
NO WAY even on a local level will KC
take away our right to the petition process.
Obama would bring us this type of socialist government but on a large Federal scale and that spells DANGEROUS!
Posted by: Littleleers | Oct 27, 2008 4:04:06 PM
Bill-
I may try to copy and paste what you wrote (and I will give you credit!) You are so right on in your questions here.
Sarah Palin has been loathed and detested but if she does one thing - I hope she gets people to think about Who Obama is? We DO NOT know this man. We know the picture the media has painted of him - that is all. Our obsession of the Hollywood culture is going to be the death of this nation as people look to Obama's charisma, "yes man" attitude and his feel good marketing campaign. Never mind that he lies through his teeth (as would any good politician)No America - we do not know this man. And I can not trust a man I do not know and I can not vote for a man I don't trust and dont know. McCain- still a politicain but I believe as an old soldier- he IS doing this for his country.
Obama? Wants to CHANGE this great country?
Are you ready for that? Are you ready to see the end of a USA that your parents and grandparents knew?
With changing values towards a "One world nation" and a doomed "socialist" perspective - Obama can not be the right choice here. Never in the history of this great country has any Presidential candidate been associated with as many Anti-american - groups, remarks, individuals. Why? And How? can that be? He is running for the most important position in our country.
Get educated. Get informed and make the right decision. McCain/Palin 2008.
Posted by: Gotmoxie | Oct 27, 2008 4:02:45 PM
Right on, Jenny.
Add onto that Obama's connections to Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.
Don't believe the pollsters or the MSM--this race is close.
Posted by: Sara | Oct 27, 2008 3:57:54 PM
lol to bill Obama's life has been accessible and greatly scrutinized. The problem is that despite the circumstantial discrepancies regarding acquaintances during his academic tier his integrity remains intact. The plumbers hypothetical question was blown out of proportion when McCain's desperation made the man famous and hence forth put joe under scrutiny. Everything we know about Joe we know more about Obama but lol like many dumb white Americans you will want to see what you want.
Posted by: Dave | Oct 27, 2008 3:47:28 PM
Thank you Jenny -
for your right-on posting.
Posted by: Bob (the programmer) | Oct 27, 2008 3:34:58 PM
don't you republicans see any hypocrisy in constantly supporting the dumb candidate over the smart candidate? i don't wanna have a beer with my president but i do expect him to be smarter than me. GWB ruined the republican brand, McSame boasts of voting with GW 90% of the time. Your scare tactics are not working because the other option is what we're living now.
Posted by: MarkD | Oct 27, 2008 3:29:57 PM
Obama can not talk to Americans but he can talk to those who will kill us!!
Posted by: spock | Oct 27, 2008 3:04:38 PM
THERE IS NOTHING NEW HERE. IT'S ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE RIGHT HERE IT WAS CALLED THE "LYNDON JOHNSON GREAT SOCIETY". THEY EVEN TRIED TO MANDATE THE PRICE OF GASOLINE -- RESULTING IMMEDIATELY IN 2-MILE LONG GASLINES. CAN'T BLAME OBABMA, HE WAS TOO YOUNG. BUT HIS PUPPET MASTERS KNOW THAT THIS HOGWASH IS A WASTE OF OUR TIME. DON'T LIKE BUSH?? OK, THEN, LET'S ALL JUMP OFF A CLIFF....
Posted by: Bill | Oct 27, 2008 3:02:53 PM
Consider this - A Guy named Joe, who happens to be a plumber with ambitions for a bigger business, questioned and challenged a Guy named Barack, who happens to be running for President of the US/Leader of the Free World… And within 24 hours the Media has given us more information about Joe's life than they've given us about Barack's life in the past 18 months.
Thanks to a diligent press corps, we now know about Joe's professional licensing status, his income tax situation, his employment history, his domestic squabbles, his voting record, everything associated with his personal identity; his education…. It's probably been reported somewhere whether he wears boxers or briefs.
Thanks to a lazy press corps…We still don't know what grades Obama made in college; how he got into Harvard; when he met Bill 'the bomber' Ayers; when he stopped doing illegal drugs; his medical history; whether he still smokes cigarettes; the extent of his affiliation with socialist/communist organizations; why he's no longer a licensed attorney; whether he lied on his Bar application;----
Whether he'd qualify for a security clearance if he were just an 'average Joe;' what passport he used to travel to Pakistan in 1981; who his ex-girlfriends are; whether he was or still is an Indonesian citizen; why his Kenyan grandmother insists he was born there; whether he was ever legally named Barry Soetoro or anything else besides Barack Hussein Obama-----;
Why he needed the help of a crook to purchase his family home; where he was on Nov. 6 and 7, 1999; what the long-version of his birth certificate says; why he helped an anti-American, pro-Islamic candidate for Kenyan President against US interests; why he listened to Rev. Wright's sermons for 20 years; how many times he took his kids to a Rev. Wright sermon; what he actually did as chair of the Annenberg Challenge; the depth of his relationship with ACORN…
Well, you get the idea.
But, really, I am SO relieved that the Mainstream Media has done its job vetting Joe The Plumber, who is NOT running for public office, but who had the AUDACITY to challenge Barack Hussein Obama, who wants my vote for President of the United States of America.'
Posted by: Jenny | Oct 27, 2008 2:58:00 PM
THIS WILL SCARE YOU...especially if you are fans of 1984
I was teaching the other day in a 5th grade class and on the board the teacher had a picture story book...of Obama's life.
Our education system is teaching our children that Obama had this wonderful life in Hawaii and then in Indonesia and then he grew up helping people....I actually was so phased by this, I told the kids in the middle of my lecture that I had to stop and regain my thoughts...
So if he is our beloved Messiah...who will be our GOLDSTEIN?
Posted by: JMan | Oct 27, 2008 2:56:11 PM
Yeah, that pesky old CONSTITUTION keeps getting in the way. Maybe ACORN can fix that...
Posted by: Bill | Oct 27, 2008 2:55:35 PM
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