Obama says he used poor judgment with Access Hollywood
posted at 12:15 pm on July 9, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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When the Obamas allowed a media organization to interview their children, many people wondered at the choice, not just of publicizing the girls but also in the choice of outlet. Access Hollywood? Today, Barack Obama admitted that he used poor judgment and wouldn’t make the same mistake again:
“It was an exception, it was Malia’s birthday, we were in Montana, everybody was having a good time,” he told Good Morning America talk show on ABC. “I think we got carried away a little bit. Generally what makes them so charming is the fact that they’re not spending a lot of time worrying about TV cameras or politics and we want to keep it that way.”
Asked if he regretted the interview, Obama said: “A little bit of pause, Michelle and I, particularly given the way it sort of went around the cable stations. I don’t think it’s healthy and it’s something that we’ll be avoiding in the future.”
Michelle Malkin has the entire transcript from this excerpt. In it, Obama states that he “got carried away in the moment … And, uh, I didn’t catch it quickly enough,” not “a bit”, as the AP quotes. She points out that a television interview of this type is hardly a spontaneous event:
A four-part interview that probably entailed hours of set-up, makeup, mic checks, and post-wrap schmoozing…and he “didn’t catch it quickly enough.”
Snort.
This isn’t the worst flip-flop in the world; Michelle’s children will be greatly helped by shielding them from the press, and no one really wants to see them exploited in this campaign. However, it appears that the Obamas at least tacitly attempted to do just that. Obama is spending July trying to forge a personal connection with the American electorate, in part to distance himself from the notion that he is an elitist intellectual who gets embarrassed by Americans who cling to guns, religion, and their native language. And of all the media outlets Obama could have chosen, nothing says “exploitation” like Access Hollywood.
It doesn’t exactly speak to his judgment, at least as a candidate. He’s been running on the national stage for over eighteen months now; shouldn’t he have figured this much out by now?
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It’s not the biggest thing, but yes it is another example of poor judgment.
drjohn on July 9, 2008 at 12:16 PM
he chose….poorly.
wildweasel on July 9, 2008 at 12:17 PM
But….but….I thought it was his judgement that made him the best candidate for President!
Darksean on July 9, 2008 at 12:19 PM
For a man that bases a chunk of his campaign on judgment, he sure has a lot of judgment errors.
amerpundit on July 9, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Michelle’s transcript was so funny. Any transcript that doesn’t include all his …uhs… is just, uh, dishonest.
RushBaby on July 9, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Classic liberal technique: Do the act, then mea culpa later. Meanwhile, the media will ‘forget’ that he’s having it both ways come election time.
fossten on July 9, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Even poorer judgment… he’s on the Today show with Matt Lauer.
Kini on July 9, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Ed, use more unflattering screencaps! Oh wait, that family is adorable-that would be impossible.
carbon_footprint on July 9, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Truer words rarely spoken.
carbon_footprint on July 9, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Okay, that was weird. Meant to quote this:
carbon_footprint on July 9, 2008 at 12:23 PM
A vote for Obama is a vote for Change….as in changing his decisions…and for Hope….as in hoping that his bad judgment doesn’t screw us all permenantly.
What a loooooser!
ihasurnominashun on July 9, 2008 at 12:23 PM
I don’t think this will help Michelle’s children at all.
becki51758 on July 9, 2008 at 12:23 PM
As I said on Michelle’s blog, why the hell is he going on Access Hollywood to begin with — kids or no kids? Access Hollywood is a fluffy entertainment gossip show that Joel McHale savagely rips each week on The Soup. What next? Are we going to see papparazzi mobbing Obama at campaign appearances? Is he a Hollywood celeb or a Presidential candidate?
The degree of Obama’s self absorption is not to be believed!
Outlander on July 9, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Freakin’ newb.
TheUnrepentantGeek on July 9, 2008 at 12:24 PM
Exactly. And if the people who voted for him could actually find fault in him, stories like these might actually wreck his campaign.
Esthier on July 9, 2008 at 12:25 PM
He didn’t just throw his kids under the bus, did he?
lorien1973 on July 9, 2008 at 12:26 PM
So, he was for publicizing his children before he was against it?
What is the “poor judgment” meter up to these days?
SouthernRoots on July 9, 2008 at 12:26 PM
Inartful change, I hope.
profitsbeard on July 9, 2008 at 12:27 PM
BINGO! We have a winner!!!!
Nahanni on July 9, 2008 at 12:28 PM
The money quote…
right2bright on July 9, 2008 at 12:32 PM
That man has no shame. What is the media doing at a kid’s birthday party?
HawaiiLwyr on July 9, 2008 at 12:33 PM
Mallard T. Drake on July 9, 2008 at 12:34 PM
What lightning-quick reflexes! He failed to react until long after his daughters were apparently ambush-interviewed at this party. If his daughter had run out in front of a car, she would have been in an ambulance, halfway to the hospital, after someone else called 911, before Barack said “Malia, stop! Don’t run out in front of that car!”
aero on July 9, 2008 at 12:36 PM
I actually have no problem with him showing off his family in the course of his campaign. Seeing how a candidate interacts with his family is actually quite revealing to me. It’s the disingenuousness of claiming that they’re off-limits, then shoving them in front of the camera, and then having the audacity to claim that they were taken by surprise. Obama seriously thinks we voters are idiots.
aero on July 9, 2008 at 12:39 PM
impossible, he doesn’t have poor judgement.
ctmom on July 9, 2008 at 12:40 PM
Gafferican American
ronsfi on July 9, 2008 at 12:40 PM
When I heard he was appearing on TV with his children, after loudly whining that people should leave his wife out of things…I was immediately reminded of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson.
Carl Rove invaded my privacy and put my life in danger! Now shut up! I have a photoshoot to do and a book to write!
ynot4tony2 on July 9, 2008 at 12:41 PM
That mentality has worked for him so far. Some people still believe he’s a “new kind of politician.”
Esthier on July 9, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I agree. Now I will admit that I am guilty of occasionally watching AH or TMZ, but I don’t want to see presidential candidates on there. It’s all fluff and stories about which drunken celeb had a wardrobe-malfunction the night before. Not quite sure why a president would want the assocation.
His followers see him as a rock star, so that’s why he did the interview.
Dubn8tr on July 9, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Now, if Obama will just promise to quit using his judgment, he’ll be golden.
—-
Looking into my crystal ball to 2012m I see a reporter asking President Obama: Can you tell us what you think to be the single biggest non-mistake of your first term?
Dusty on July 9, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Pimping my kids and walking on water. So what’s the
problem small people. Bye, Gotta catch a bus.
Texyank on July 9, 2008 at 12:45 PM
I dont see anything wrong in letting them be interviewed.
Obama is turning into the “Sorry” candidate.
faraway on July 9, 2008 at 12:47 PM
What I saw of the interview made him seem like just another guy with a family. Too bad everything surrounding it makes him look like a two faced media whore who is pimping out his kids.
snaggletoothie on July 9, 2008 at 12:47 PM
LOL+!
Sublime!
profitsbeard on July 9, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Look people, all this criticism of Obama is not going to help Michelle keep fruit in the house for the kids. Won’t someone think of the children?!?
Defense Guy on July 9, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Bingo, it the hypocracy that gets me…
HE can use his children for air time, and softball interviews… but like his wife, they are off limits for everyone else.
Sorry, can’t have it both ways.
Romeo13 on July 9, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Tsk Tsk. Barry, before you lecture us about how “embarrassing” Americans are, perhaps you should start by correcting your daughter, Malia, who has her etiquette all wrong.
Buy Danish on July 9, 2008 at 12:49 PM
What gorgeous daughters; I am sure happy that Obama doesn’t want them ‘them to be punished with a baby’.
carbon_footprint on July 9, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Talk about poor judgement. They let their 10 year old read People magazine? Angelina Jolie is an “important” person? Someone who wore a vial of her boyfriends blood around her neck, has tatoo’s all over her body, children out of wedlock this is an “important” person in the Obama household? And he wants to tell me what language my kid should learn?
ctmom on July 9, 2008 at 12:50 PM
BUT BUT - Let us not forget - his family is out of play.
What a phony. Pimping a 10 yo child.
iam7545 on July 9, 2008 at 12:50 PM
big pimpin
custer on July 9, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Are Mulligans allowed for POTUS?
Kini on July 9, 2008 at 12:52 PM
I didn’t watch the clip, did he actually quote Billy-Ray Cyrus?
Stephen Macklin on July 9, 2008 at 12:53 PM
I don’t really have too much of a problem with creating a soft fuzzy family interview for image building if its really a one time thing. I even see the value of using Access Hollywood to as an outlet- there about as soft and fuzzy as they come, have a big audience and are “non political”. The big issue is a reoccuring theme- when questioned critically on anything he folds like a house of cards and starts clarifying, spinning, and ultmimately something else goes under the bus. If Matt had asked why no purple balloons, it would have been “yeah we should have had some there” or even “we wanted them but a member of my staff didnt order them in time.”
avgourmet on July 9, 2008 at 12:57 PM
Obama always seems to be making poor judgements in everything he does. The problem is that when he’s in the white house his poor judgements are going to cost Americans their lives.
Erockk on July 9, 2008 at 1:02 PM
I am not an Obama supporter and am certainly not voting for him but I just watched the videos and thought they made him and his family very likeable. His saying that it was poor judgement was probably just the “politically correct” thing to do–I don’t know. But why the fuss?
Conservatives R Us on July 9, 2008 at 1:16 PM
This isn’t important, but it is telling. At one point when obama is asked how he keeps in touch with the kids he says they have a web cam. His daughter says,”We haven’t used that in forever.” or something like that. You know how you say something and your kid corrects you right there? It’s happened to all of us, but the fact that he was trying to make it out like he uses the web cam to stay in touch with his kids and his daughter outs him on that untruth is funny.
Rightwingsparkle on July 9, 2008 at 1:16 PM
Maybe McCain should do the same thing?
Doesn’t he have more minority children than Obama? That would make a nice family portrait.
originalpechanga on July 9, 2008 at 1:16 PM
I’m surprised the little liberal spawns didn’t do the interview in Spanish or French or while wearing Ashoke Buba dresses and a Che Beret.
Alden Pyle on July 9, 2008 at 1:28 PM
we should start a ‘Obambi judgement error’ clock, leave lots of room. For being the Moo-saih, he sure doesn’t seem to have what it takes. His followers are likely to be led off a cliff.
tarpon on July 9, 2008 at 1:33 PM
Funny how that massive ego of his makes him to these stupid things
ToddonCapeCod on July 9, 2008 at 1:41 PM
You sound . . . bitter.
Grow Fins on July 9, 2008 at 1:43 PM
However, it appears that the Obamas
at least tacitly attempted to do just thatdid just that.Fixed it. (No charge).
AZCoyote on July 9, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Obama makes a bad judgement call every morning when he gets out of bed and opens his mouth to speak.
rplat on July 9, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Get ready for that refrain for the next four years regardless of the party in the white house.
Branch Rickey on July 9, 2008 at 1:48 PM
…and uppitty! Michelle Omarosa is my mentor.
Alden Pyle on July 9, 2008 at 1:51 PM
Matt and NBC will always come through for BO…Matt was surprised at the attention this got. He just got a thrill to set the record straight. They really think we are all a bunch of dumba$$es.
d1carter on July 9, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Obama says he used poor judgment?
Consider it a sneak preview of things to come.
pilamaye on July 9, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Compare and contrast. John and Cindy McCain refuse to use their adult sons, one at the Naval Academy and one who’s already completed his first tour of Iraq as a U.S. Marine, as political fodder. Even when asked directly they say “we don’t talk about that, except to say we are very proud of all our children.”
Barack and Michelle Obama
arewere happy to trot out their preteen daughters to, of all outlets, Access Hollywood. Substance vs. fluff. Very interesting.Gilda on July 9, 2008 at 1:58 PM
This man has the market cornered on poor judgement.
awake on July 9, 2008 at 2:02 PM
I’m sure Mrs. Obama is dreaming of the day she can quit dressing like Beaver Clever’s mother for the cameras. Like the candidate’s wife who was overheard to say “Is the election over? I want to wear my diamonds again.”
Marcus on July 9, 2008 at 2:04 PM
- the Obamunist
Charming? In reference to his children? Isn’t that snobbish word reserved for things like mid-west family farms and the local 4th of July festivities? This guy makes my stomach turn.
NTWR on July 9, 2008 at 2:12 PM
Mistake laden man child.
McCain will eat him up and spit him out in the debates.
fogw on July 9, 2008 at 2:13 PM
No kidding.
We teach our kids to shake hands and look adults in the eye when greeting someone. And, it’s “no-sir, yes-sir, no-ma’am, yes-ma’am.” It really makes me angry when my kid (or someone else’s for that matter) responds with a “yeah” It’s just a matter of respect - just like shaking hands.
pullingmyhairout on July 9, 2008 at 2:16 PM
When did the word judgment acquire an ‘e’ in the middle?
Thread-wide.
whitetop on July 9, 2008 at 2:18 PM
Like Obama, just an error in judgment.
fogw on July 9, 2008 at 2:19 PM
Putting politics aside, it’s a mistake for a public official to parade the kids out in public these days, mainly because it’s a safety issue. There are a lot of kooks out there. Shoot, I won’t even post pictures of my kids or even state my name anywhere on the internet because it’s so incredibly unsafe. For Obama to put his kids on Access Hollywood, no less, speaks volumes about his judgement - not only as a politician, but as a parent.
pullingmyhairout on July 9, 2008 at 2:21 PM
Excuse the change to your comment. But McCain is known to spit and snarl through debates and be thoroughly unappealing. He laughs at his own jokes, condescendingly calls voters his friend, and does other annoying things.
What should be a home run may be a squeaker. But I hope you are right.
JiangxiDad on July 9, 2008 at 2:36 PM
I think his instincts were right on.
He should go to Hollywood. Be an actor.
Stop trying to be the POTUS.
bridgetown on July 9, 2008 at 2:47 PM
Whoooop!
geckomon on July 9, 2008 at 3:16 PM
Is this going to be his excuse (poor judgment, caught up in the moment) when he Nukes London?
- The Cat
MirCat on July 9, 2008 at 3:26 PM
This just goes to show that the DNC will use ANYONE FOR ANY REASON, ANYTIME to get what they want, not what’s in the public interest.
madmonkphotog on July 9, 2008 at 3:37 PM
More like making a poor Parental Decision, this time, and the usual flip-flop follow-up.
KarmiCommunist on July 9, 2008 at 3:41 PM
Bad parent, but of course, he’ll be the Best President Ever.
Anil Petra on July 9, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Classic self-absorbed liberal retards. “Look at us. Look at our adorable children. We’re cool and this is what cool people do — they talk to Access Hollywood.”
What a bunch of losers. Those two little girls have a couple of therapists’ couches with their names on ‘em…
D2Boston on July 9, 2008 at 4:06 PM
Once again the democrats are whoring children to shield criticism. Too bad for them we ain’t scared of that tactic any more!
SouthernGent on July 9, 2008 at 5:15 PM
I thought Presidents and Presidential Candidates try to keep their children out of the public eye especially when they are as young as Lord Obama, Messiah, children are. Does this mean now that Lord Obama, Messiah has allowed a commercial identity to make money for their interviews that the are no longer off limits to most civilized press and blogs? Is the poor judgment due to the fact that some one else from the Chicago political machine is pulling the levers and he does not have the @#$$ to stand up to them?
trw03 on July 9, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Considering McHale shows up on Olbermann’s show on a regular basis, what are the chances he’ll make fun of the Obama interview on “The Soup”?
mjk on July 9, 2008 at 6:18 PM
The only judgment this guy has got is “poor judgment”.
Conservative_SAHM on July 9, 2008 at 6:37 PM
I think it may be a
movmentmovement!Rhinoboy on July 9, 2008 at 7:52 PM
i haven’t gone through all the comments, so forgive me if someone already made this point:
compare obama’s “pimping out” of his kids with mccain’s reticence/refusal to even speak about his own children (both biological and adopted) or involve any of them in his career in any way.
it speaks volumes about who has better judgment (and morals/ethics), don’t you think?
will we see any opinion pieces in the MSM saying as much? i’m not holding my breath…
homesickamerican on July 9, 2008 at 9:15 PM
I think that McCain could have used his kids to his benefit.. adopted daughter from Bangladesh from an orphanage, two sons in the military one serving in Iraq(A Marine) the other in the Naval academy.
Chakra Hammer on July 10, 2008 at 1:01 AM
yes, he could but he hasn’t. i think that says so much about mccain’s “judgement” and about him as a person and as a father, and what it says is all good.
homesickamerican on July 10, 2008 at 1:17 AM
IT WAS, to quote, INARTFUL.
leftnomore on July 10, 2008 at 2:40 AM
A candidate exploiting his own children. Now THIS is…Change.
labrat on July 10, 2008 at 11:45 AM
This guy is a freaking IDIOT putting his children’s faces on Television like that.
But people want him as a PRESIDENT???????????? Good LORD help us!
tx2654 on July 10, 2008 at 11:57 AM