Kerry/Edwards on 60 Minutes, TONIGHT! N/T

[reprehensor]

[InvisibleTouch]

1. Saw It

I almost never watch TV anymore, but I made a point of catching this. I thought the interviewer was very hostile and disrespectful, and the whole thing seemed designed to make the candidates come off badly. What was the point of the stupid voiceover commentary "Watch the Kerrys' hands here ... you'd think this was their first television interview"?

None the less, some great points and great lines were slipped in, especially by Edwards (on the VP debate: "I'm always polite, but I intend to be myself; I've been myself for 51 years" ... and you could tell it was true; and "I also intend to be tough, because there's too much at stake for the country to do otherwise." Paraphrasing what I remember of the quotes, they're not exact) and by Teresa ("It's the candidate's wife's job to keep him honest, and that means keeping him true to himself"). On the other hand I thought it was a mistake to present Kerry as having no sense of humor, which is surely not what she meant to say, but that's how it came off - and we've clearly seen that's not the case from the wonderful zingers he's fired at Bush and things he's said at rallies. He doesn't have to be a ribald party animal (and gods forbid, we've had enough of that!) to have a sense of humor.

I also loved the response to the interviewer's insinuation that, as rich people, Kerry/Edwards had no business speaking for the poor. The response, by Kerry I think, was "Does this objection come from millionnaire Bush and millionnaire Cheney and millionnaire Rumsfeld...?"

Another thing that really jumped out at me, and I'm surprised I never noticed it before, was how "presidential" Kerry sounded. He's got a great voice, a little bit grave and serious, but also evoking trust and a sense of his steady confidence. Even when the nasty interviewer was needling him.

But lo and behold, what should run in the commercial, but a Bush ad smearing Kerry for "having the worst attendance record in the senate" and "missing the chance to vote on lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors", etc., but "finding time to vote against the protection of pregnant women." What unbelievable bullshit...

So overall I don't think it was a success; it could have gone a lot better, and could have been presented with less bias. To those of us already in the Kerry/Edwards camp, it won't change anything, but I don't think it was great for reaching the undecideds.

[Hippo_Tron]

3. The lady doing the interview was a right wing bitch

My grandfather worked at CBS and said that he couldn't stand her.

[InvisibleTouch]

4. That would explain it.

Like I said, I don't watch TV these days, so I didn't recognize her nor catch her name, but she was definitely not a "fair and balanced" journalist.

[American liberal]

6. I ditto everything you said

I thought Stahl was quite hostile and the overall tone was very right-wing biased and that Kerry/Edwards handled themselves just fine considering.

[DrFunkenstein]

7. You'd Think The Most-Vacationing-President-Ever...

Wouldn't mention attendance!

[Dr Fate]

2. It was a home run. n/t

n/t

[Andromeda]

5. I watched it

but my attention was diverted from time to time so I listened and what I heard impressed me. Kerry seems to adore his wife, as does Edwards, and the two women seem to really hit it off. This is very important! I remember that Nancy Reagan couldn't stand Barbara Bush and she registered her dislike in some not-so-subtle ways.

When the Reagans visited Russia the Gorbachev's gave them the grand tour and Nancy and Raisa Gorbachev had almost an instant antipathy toward one another and it was very public. It was probably the most interesting and amusing thing that happened to an otherwise perfunctory trip. The newspapers had a field day with the story.

But I digress.

Kerry did sound presidential and when the subject of personal wealth came up he said that bringing that up was so ridiculous. Teresa Heinz said that nobody ever brought that up when her husband, a wealthy Senator, was alive but that was because he was a REPUBLICAN and everybody agreed.

What struck me is the fact that this team is so alive and Kerry has gotten a real personal and political boost from John Edwards because they genuinely like each other and have mutual trust and respect.

I didn't particularly like Leslie Stahl but then I've never seen too many interviews she has given that I did like.

[JI7]

8. notice kerry and edwards are eager to defend the other

more so than just themselves. like when the issue of edwards and whether he was experienced enough came up kerry wanted to defend him there and said how he is a lot more experienced and has better judgement than the idiot in office now.

and when she brought up attacks on kerry such as flip flopper and some other crap edwards jumped in to defend him there and said how bush has spend millions in attacking kerry.

[VOX]

9. They both came off very well, in spite of the nasty bias of the interview.

I thought both men and both women came off very well -- personable, witty, *human*, quick on the uptake, deadly serious.

It was comforting to see that, as the campaign heats up, it's quite apparent that these folks won't be pushed around by the media.