Video: Juan Williams says Hope and Change “largely rhetoric”
posted at 5:00 pm on May 8, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
Send to a Friend |
printer-friendly
Juan Williams contrasts the prospects for hope, change, and post-partisanship between the two likely nominees for President, and finds that Obama comes in second. Williams checks off a list of actual legislative efforts by John McCain — a list that still has some conservatives seeing red — and looks for any evidence of action by Obama. Williams manages to avoid the Tucker Carlsonesque feeling in his pants:
Could 18% of Democrats cross over to McCain? Given the polling among Hillary Clinton supporters at the moment, it could go higher than that, and that doesn’t take into consideration the independents who may ask themselves why Obama has done nothing to build a track record of compromise, even in his voting record as a freshman Senator. The Poole reports for the 110th Congress, when Obama should have been running to the center to build on his post-partisanship rhetoric, has him tied for 10th most liberal Senator with Joe Biden, more liberal than John Kerry, Maria Cantwell, Patty Murray, and Harry Reid. In the 109th, his first session, Obama scored the somewhat more moderate position of 21st on the liberal scale, which still left him on the left side of his own caucus and far from the middle ground he claims.
Whither McCain? Surprisingly, he’s more conservative in recent Poole reports than Obama is liberal. In the 110th, where McCain may be protecting himself with more party-line voting than in the past, he’s the eighth most conservative Senator. In the 109th, he was #2, behind only his Arizona colleague John Kyl. The Poole lifetime mark shows him closer to the center, though, as can be seen in the 107th, when he had the sixth-most liberal voting record among Republicans, only surpassed by Chafee, Specter, Snowe, Collins, and Jim Jeffords, who wouldn’t remain a Republican for long.
Williams has this right, and if the election will be won in the center, McCain has the track record of risk taking that Obama claims without any evidence. That indicates that McCain may well get traction among conservative Democrats and could possibly create a re-emergence of the Reagan coalition — if he can figure out how to keep conservatives in the tent.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
I’m not convinced we should want Obama to lose this time around, should we? If you think about it, democrats controlling house/senate/white house and looking like idiots for 4 years can do nothing bad for future prospects.
Clearly the senate/house looking like morons isn’t enough to convince enough people that the current D party is a joke.
Whereas, McCain’s moderatism could really inflict a lot of damage on the party as a whole.
lorien1973 on May 8, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Taking out some of the more poisonous snakes he brings in might help
mymanpotsandpans on May 8, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Obama is NOT a Uniter and has never shown that he can work with the other side, McCain always works with Democrats, he works with Democrats so much that he has earned the nickname “Maverick”
Obama has a track record of the MOST Liberal Person in the Senate, that shows you that he does not work across the aisle and that he is an extremist.
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:09 PM
I HOPE you CHANGE to a video server other than RED-LASSO.
Noplayo.
wordwarp on May 8, 2008 at 5:10 PM
And yes, I installed the newest Flash. The software blows. It is a friggin’ 1.0 build!
wordwarp on May 8, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Unless you want the Supreme Court and Federal Courts to be set back 15-20 years so that they can legislate more from the bench, then do nothing and get Obama elected.
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:11 PM
He listens, though! And after he listens he goes along with what he thought originally. Isn’t that, essentially, the same thing the left whined about with Bush?
lorien1973 on May 8, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Giving a speech to La Raza will hurt him vote wise much more than it will help him. He’s treading on pretty thin ice.
a capella on May 8, 2008 at 5:11 PM
If it’s Redlasso I don’t even try anymore.
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Ed, you are the only 21st century writer I know of that regularly uses the word “whither“. As a surveyor that regularly writes words like thence, whence, etc. in legal descriptions, all I can say is carry on dude.
txsurveyor on May 8, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Given McCain’s record in the Senate, would they really be “crossing over”? I’d say its Republicans who would have to cross over to vote for McCain.
Cicero43 on May 8, 2008 at 5:13 PM
I’d prefer it though if we weren’t at war. Four years is a long time for another terrorist attack to happen on our soil.
Esthier on May 8, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Yeah. The supreme court argument really doesn’t get to me. I think its more of a boogeyman anyways. The court agrees on the vast majority of stuff that comes it’s way anyways. Its really on a few cases every few years where it makes a difference. Then the law gets rewritten and everyone goes back to their corners.
lorien1973 on May 8, 2008 at 5:15 PM
This “most liberal” tag simply has NO weight! Why we keep framing Obama like that is a mystery to me. Like the left/liberals/Democrats care!
“Strongly Partisan!” “Rigidly Partisan!” “Uncompromising!” (oddly a term conservatives like - but an anathema to the left).
Obama needs to be framed as a “zealot” who will repulse Republicans AND “moderate” Democrats. Also as a “politician” who will say anything to get elected and then will be content to do nothing like the current congress.
That’s the ticket.
Agrippa2k on May 8, 2008 at 5:16 PM
They’re going to take away Juan’s brutha card if he keeps this up.
baldilocks on May 8, 2008 at 5:17 PM
As far as I know hope is change and change is hope. One can not have hope unless one is willing to change and one can not have change unless one is hoping for a hopeful change. I hopw that Juan hope that change can happen and if he doesn’t, then he will hopefully change for hope. All that matters right now is hope and change. Hoping to change and changing to hope is what hopefully makes change happen.
bloggless on May 8, 2008 at 5:17 PM
I thought they already did.
txsurveyor on May 8, 2008 at 5:19 PM
You wouldn’t know that by reading some of the comments here. They put him somewhere between Karl Marx and Jane Fonda (not saying which one is further left).
29Victor on May 8, 2008 at 5:19 PM
it is an odd word.. >:D
It makes you think of “wilting”.
However the definition are completely different.. not sure why he uses it though, if he’s a McCain supporter..(Maybe Frank Luntz should give him some pointers)
:}
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:20 PM
The real question is whether we can “hope” for McCain to support Republicans and conservatives at all.
It appears he will likely rally Democrats first, and then peal off a few Republicans to do things that will make me cringe. What’s worse is that he might choose to take on issues that appeal to Democrats first (global warming, health care, etc.).
Agrippa2k on May 8, 2008 at 5:21 PM
And, although I hate to complain about free stuff; wordwarp is right about redlasso.
29Victor on May 8, 2008 at 5:21 PM
McCain’s legislative efforts have got Obama’s beat six ways to Sunday.
Is it Obama/Kennedy “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”
or is it McCain/Kennedy “Comprehensive Immigration Reform”?
Is it Obama/Feingold “Campaign Finance Reform”
or is it McCain/Feingold “Campaign Finance Reform”?
I rest my case.
MB4 on May 8, 2008 at 5:24 PM
Here’s the skinny on Redlasso: they have licenses to propagate these broadcasts through the Internet, which YouTube lacks. They allow us to cut our own clips, which is very handy. That’s why we use RL for these items, although if we can get it elsewhere, we try to do it.
AP and I have been in contact with RL over the last few days explaining in clear terms the frustrations all of you and both of us have had with RL. They’re trying to resolve the problems.
Ed Morrissey on May 8, 2008 at 5:24 PM
“Juan Williams says Hope and Change “largely rhetoric””
That’s why Juan is paid the big bucks.
locomotivebreath1901 on May 8, 2008 at 5:25 PM
or wither or wilt or wilting
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Dude, did we get a big fish in Iraq? Fox news flash
Matticus Finch on May 8, 2008 at 5:27 PM
I hope this is not too off topic but read some of the blogs at McCain’s website blogs. Thanks to the minds and thoughts here and at MM, I feel I’m fighting unarmed opponents.
Les in NC on May 8, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Well.. the need to get that player fixed or something on the server side, because the video seems to stop after about 20-30 seconds, sevenload and youtube will buffer in front of the playing video and you can see what is being buffered with redlasso it does not do this..
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:30 PM
I thought they took it away from him for his book a few months ago.
As for Red Lasso, update your Flash and see if that helps, and I know its trendy to whine about Red Lasso of late, but we’re all aware of the bugs. Besides, they’re trying to offer some alternative to youtube, so that’s always a good thing.
doubleplusundead on May 8, 2008 at 5:31 PM
Would Senador Straight Talk pull a rapido one like that? Oh, say it ain’t so, Juan.
MB4 on May 8, 2008 at 5:31 PM
My equivalent sista card’s been gone for a while so they stopped sending me notification emails. :-P
baldilocks on May 8, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Well, they obviously need to get something fixed ….
Ed Morrissey on May 8, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Preferrably, but you can’t pick your timing. If another attack did happen, I’d be somewhat interested in the democrat response too. You know, when they had responsibility to do something besides complain. What would they do? It really needs to be put to the test.
lorien1973 on May 8, 2008 at 5:35 PM
That has nothing to do with it, I re-installed Windows(From Scratch) So Obviously I had to go to adobe.com and download the New Flash Player.. Redlasso still does not work correctly.. I have tried several firewalls with the same results.. this is using The latest Firefox and the latest Flash player.. YouTube, Sevenload and all other flash video sites work perfectly..
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:35 PM
But according to a lot of HA posters, McCain is barely to the right of Obamarxist.
jgapinoy on May 8, 2008 at 5:37 PM
LMAO!!!!!!
kcd on May 8, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Jaun seems to be more than a little disgusted with Barack.
At least Jaun is honest and isn’t apologizing for Obama.
Speakup on May 8, 2008 at 5:38 PM
I got a few errors and it had to do with “server timeout” could not retrieve METADATA..
So.. whatever, not sure if its the player itself or their servers not allocating enough bandwidth.
(BTW, I have broadband and can download files Over 700KB’s/Sec so… it shouldn’t be a problem)
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:39 PM
What’s up with Juan? I always thought he was left of center, but for the last month or so he always sounds moderate/conservative.
jgapinoy on May 8, 2008 at 5:40 PM
You think he’s disgusted now? Wait until Juan gets a load of that little dance Obama did in his jeans today….right before he stuck a sock in his pants and hiked his leg.
kcd on May 8, 2008 at 5:41 PM
Sometimes when you sleep with dogs…you get fleas. Maybe he’s itching.
kcd on May 8, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Juan is hard to pin down. Sometimes he’s pretty conservative, then he’ll say something so stupid and leftist that contradicts he said something 20 minutes ago. It’s very weird. He seems right on social issues, left on economic. That’s where I’ve pinned him, but its not always a good fit.
lorien1973 on May 8, 2008 at 5:46 PM
OBAMA, IT’S THIS SIMPLE:
If he can’t unite his own party, he can’t unite the nation and lead the world.
scottm on May 8, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Juan just doesn’t like Obama.
bnelson44 on May 8, 2008 at 5:50 PM
Let’s hope that’s true.
kcd on May 8, 2008 at 5:50 PM
First and foremost, anybody but Clinton has been my motto.
As to the folks that yap about there being no real differences between McCain and Obama/Clinton they have comprehension issues that transcend politics.
patrick neid on May 8, 2008 at 5:52 PM
Heh.
doubleplusundead on May 8, 2008 at 5:54 PM
What about all the other Federal Courts?
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 5:56 PM
And therein lies the rub. If I’m a man of principle, where do I go? Clearly there isn’t a dog in this fight that reflects my vision of where I want America to be, myself being a conservative.
I don’t have my mind made up that I won’t vote for McCain — yet, but I’m 99.9999% sure that if I do, I will go into the voting booth holding my nose and come out needing a long sanitizingly-hot shower.
gryphon202 on May 8, 2008 at 5:57 PM
A quick glance at RCP McCain V. Obama state polls today shows McCain leading in each of the following:
FL +9
OH +3.4
WI +4
TX +5
Obama leads in PA but within the Margin.
Waiting for MI numbers. Adding Romney as VP would probably solidify OH and boost PA. And MI loves Mitt. With any 2 of FL, OH, MI and PA, the Republican wins.
DrW on May 8, 2008 at 5:57 PM
This is so frustrating. It will not play!
Glynn on May 8, 2008 at 5:57 PM
I am exceptionally surprised every time I watch Juan Williams talk about Clinton and, more importantly, Obama. He gives a fairly balanced view when it comes to the two Democratic candidates. He gives it to us straight (as much as that can be) on Obama. I am impressed because he usually isn’t this way.
Weebork on May 8, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Beware of people and/or motives that seem to be an ‘Operation Chaos’ on us from democrats. It’s a blessing that there is division within the democrats between Obama and Hillary. I feel like someone is planting seeds of ‘don’t vote for Juan McAmnesty because he’s not a real conservative’ that will get a democrat into the whitehouse for the next 4 to 8 years.
wise_man on May 8, 2008 at 6:18 PM
I agree. Every sunday morning he seems to be toting the liberal line, but I suppose when in an arena with more conservative commentators, that’s his response. When it comes to him just offering his opinion, it seems that he’s much more reasonable than he usually sounds like. Needless to say, I like listening to that Juan Williams than when he’s wearing his far-left commentator hat.
wise_man on May 8, 2008 at 6:21 PM
Oprah has the inside track for the Obama Administration’s Secretary of Hope.
Cicero43 on May 8, 2008 at 6:28 PM
Given my Pentecostal upbringing, I can handle them if needed. Just sayin!
SouthernGent on May 8, 2008 at 6:29 PM
I like Juan Williams. He’s mostly like this. He must get tons of adverse mail, though.
Entelechy on May 8, 2008 at 6:36 PM
Paranoia strikes deep,
Into your life it will creep.
It’s starts when you’re always afraid,
And then the man comes and takes you away….
Nichevo
From deep within the secret underground headquarters of Operation Chaos.
(We do crop circles too. Call us for current rates — but whatever you do, don’t tell anyone.)
Nichevo on May 8, 2008 at 6:50 PM
No to La Raza.
No to Amnesty.
No to McCain.
McCain merely has to refrain from sponsoring any unconstitutional bill in the Senate to move to the right.
MCPO Airdale on May 8, 2008 at 7:04 PM
We sent those young people off to fight a war. 4,000 of them have died in Iraq. I supported that war and now it seems a lot of conservatives are ready to say to hell with it, let the Democrats win because we are pissed at Juan McAmnesty or some such insanity.
It is a shame those young people’s sacrifice is something of so little importance to so many who say they support a strong defense.
BTW, I heard that the Democrats are going to put illegals on their health care plan. If the right does not give a damn about the war, maybe they care about that.
Terrye on May 8, 2008 at 7:31 PM
Geee Juan, my mechanic doesn’t have a political record either and he talks a pretty good game about the direction he’d like to take the country. Why don’t we just elect Don because he comes without the racist or terrorist baggage and has about as much experience.
moxie_neanderthal on May 8, 2008 at 8:04 PM
Obama and Clinton have said Amnesty in the first 100days that they are in office..
(Do you think the border will be secured in 100days?) LMAO
Chakra Hammer on May 8, 2008 at 10:06 PM
And after President Obama appoints 2-3 more Stevens and Ginsburgs to the SCOTUS, the “joke” will be on the conservatives who stayed home or “tactically” voted for Obama because McCain wasn’t conservative enough.
irishspy on May 8, 2008 at 10:09 PM
I dont understand the Red Lasso issue. I am a luddite when it comes to computers and the clips always work for me.
HawaiiLwyr on May 8, 2008 at 10:38 PM
Worked perfectly for me.
What kind of processor you have?
drjohn on May 9, 2008 at 8:28 AM
I haven’t always agreed with him, but I have a lot of respect for Williams.
Seems to me like the kind of guy you’d want to have a beer with on Fridays after work.
drjohn on May 9, 2008 at 8:29 AM
AMD Dual-Core 2.8GHZ
Chakra Hammer on May 9, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Except that the only thing making the Dem congress look bad is the president vetoing all their bills to fund the troops. If they had a Dem president that would just rubber stamp them, they wouldn’t look as bad.
Kafir on May 9, 2008 at 1:47 PM