Sen. Barack Obama during a town hall-style meeting in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, April 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
by John McCormick
RALEIGH, N.C. – Sen. Barack Obama displayed what could be considered some disrespect toward his Democratic challenger today, as he playfully acted as if he was dusting off his shoulder while talking about last night’s debate.
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The Illinois Democrat told an audience here that Sen. Hillary Clinton had the “right to kind of twist the knife a little bit.” But, speaking at times in sarcastic tones, he also made clear that he did not like last night’s broadcast.
“Last night, Sen. Clinton and I had our 21st debate of the year,” he said triggering a few boos, but not because he meant to say 21st of the primary campaign. “I will tell you, it does not get much more fun than these debates. They are inspiring events. I mean, last night, I think we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that mattered to the American people. It took us 45 minutes.”
Obama said the debate was a reflection of how Washington works, while also perhaps displaying his own growing impatience with the long nomination fight.
“They like stirring up controversy, and they like playing gotcha games and getting us to attack each other,” he said. “And I have to say, you know, Sen. Clinton, you know, looked in her element. She’s, ah, you know, she was taking every opportunity to get a dig in there, you know.”
Obama said Clinton was “only airing negative attacks on TV in Pennsylvania, like most places.”
“Look, I understand that because that’s the textbook Washington game. That’s how our politics has been taught to be played,” he said. “That’s the lesson that she learned when the Republicans were doing that same thing to her back in the 1990s.”
Obama said he could handle the heat, then brushed himself off.
“When you’re running for the presidency, then you’ve got to expect it, and you know, you’ve just gotta kind of let it,” he said, pretending to dust something off his shoulder. “That’s what you gotta do.”
Obama said he believes most Americans want to focus on issues.
“The American people, I think they’re saying all across the country: not this time,” he said. “This time, we’re not going to be distracted. We’re not going to be confused by a bunch of bamboozling and hoodwinking. Not this time. Not this time. This time, this time the American people are serious because these are serious times.”
After one supporter told him she thought he had been “pummeled” in the debate, Obama was again forced to address his performance.
“I know some people were frustrated with last night,” he said, adding that it felt like it was the “rollout of the Republican campaign against me” for the a potential general election campaign.
“It happened just a little bit early, but that is what they will do,” he said. “They will try to focus on all these issues that don’t have anything to do with how you are paying your bills at the end of the month…There is no doubt that I will have to respond sharply and crisply, and then pivot to talk about what exactly are we going to do for the economy and what are we going to do about the war in Iraq.”
Obama then turned his focus to likely Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
“Look, the fact of the matter is that John McCain is a genuine war hero and I respect him for that, but he is running for the third Bush term,” he said. “He wants to continue the war in Iraq for perhaps decades, or at least a military presence by the United States for a very long time. And he doesn’t take much into account how much it is costing us, not just in terms of lives, but also in terms of money that we could be spending here at home. On the domestic side, all he’s interested in are tax cuts for the wealthy.”
Obama said he is looking forward to a general election debate.
“If the Republicans come at me, I will come right back at them, and I will come at them hard,” he said. “I will be honest with you, it is a little harder to do with a fellow Democrat because I’m trying to, you know, show some restraint. I won’t have as much restraint for the Republicans.”
When another woman in the audience asked Obama about his participation in another debate later this month in North Carolina, he sounded uninterested in any additional debates and defended his past performances.
“We’re trying to figure out what our schedule looks like,” he said. “But I’ll be honest with you. We’ve now had 21, and look, in the previous three, you know, we did very well and so it’s not as if we don’t know how to do these things. I could deliver Sen. Clinton’s lines. I’m sure she could deliver mine.”
Obama said if he agreed to a debate in North Carolina, voters in Indiana, where there is also a May 6 primary, would also expect one.
“We’re just trying to figure out what’s the best way for me to reach as many constituents as possible in a relatively short period of time,” he said. “We’re going to try to resolve it as quickly as possible.”
ABC News said its debate Wednesday evening was the most-watched of the 2008 presidential cycle, with an average of 10.7 million viewers.
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Before the event, Obama told an overflow audience outside that North Carolina could help him “wrap up this nomination.”
McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds responded with a statement: “John McCain welcomes an issues-based debate, but Barack Obama can’t defend his vote to de-fund our troops in the field, even after he claimed it would be irresponsible to do so. Barack Obama’s dismissal of the values of small town Americans is bad, but his record on the issues is almost worse. Voters will reject Barack Obama’s agenda to raise taxes on small businesses in order to further bloat government programs and regulation.”