A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Harold M.

Last night presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama appeared on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews in West Chester University in Pennsylvania. If you missed it, we’ve posted the video below for your viewing pleasure [1].

During the show, Sen. Obama fielded tough questions from Matthews and the student audience on a host of topics such as being tough enough to be president, superdelegates, gay marriage, merit pay for teachers, and of course the comments and his association with former pastor Jeremiah Wright. As the media adds their spin on the answers Obama supplied, one couldn’t help but notice how fundamentally sound, and confident the senator was throughout the entire session.

Chris Matthews himself stated during his critique of Sen. Obama afterwards on MSNBC’s 'The Verdict [2]' that, “He is tough, and very self confident.”

As a viewer, you had to be impressed with Obama’s poise while in the “hot-seat.” When Matthews painted a hypothetical crisis scenario where as president, Sen. Obama may receive a 3 am phone call about terrorist hijacking a commercial jet, Obama didn’t back away. His response included:

“... the most important thing that you need is somebody who is going to exercise good judgment. And judgment is not simply a matter of sounding tough or talking tough. It is a matter of weighing and making good decisions under stress.

And, if you think about, for example, John F. Kennedy, his biggest mistake was going ahead with military action that hadn’t been thought through.

His greatest triumph was actually showing restraint in a very dangerous, difficult situation.”

Was every answer all encompassing? No. Yet he provided sound responses that made common sense and directly addressed each issue. When specifically asked about his stance on gay marriage, the senator didn’t falter. Instead he stated plainly,

“I’m not in favor of gay marriage, but I’m in favor of a very strong civil union.”

We all know this to be the de facto stance of the Dems on this issue. However, to validate and clarify his response Sen. Obama further added:

“And I think it is very important that the state makes sure that they are not denying the same kind of rights that have historically been denied, because when I think about a same sex couple not being able to visit each other in the hospital, when I think about them not being able to transfer property, or to pass on benefits, I that’s contrary to what most Americans believe, and that’s why I’m going to change it when I’m president of the United States.”

Obama. Poised, confident, dare I say ... “presidential”?

While watching the show I kept waiting for that hiccup, that snag, or that one question or group of questions that will cause Obama to stumble.

It didn’t happen.

In fact, what I failed to see throughout the broadcast was that typical squeamish waffling against giving a direct answer that we’re used to seeing from politicians. Giving the "political" answer hurt Michael Dukakis back in the 2nd presidential debate of 1988 [3] when he was asked the infamous death-penalty question.

Even when confronted head on about the comments of Jeremiah Wright (I’m sure everyone knows my personal stance on those comments by now), Obama both “denounced and rejected” those controversial remarks by stating, “You know, this is somebody who, on the one hand, is a good man, but said some things that I deeply disagree with.”

He didn’t run and hide. He didn't tap dance. There was no skating around the issue. No waffling.

Whether you like or loathe Sen. Obama's politics, I'll be darned if he doesn't demand your respect.

Click here to view the entire transcript from the show. [4]

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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