Reviews on the "Rumble in Baltimore", aka, Republicans Retreat, aka, "GOP Pants on the Ground"!

[FrenchieCat]

Ambinder:

Obama's Question Time: An Amazing Moment

More than the State of the Union -- or on top of the State of the Union -- this may be a pivotal moment for the future of the presidential agenda on Capitol Hill. (Democrats are loving this. Chris Hayes, The Nation's Washington bureau chief, tweeted that he hadn't liked Obama more since the inauguration.)

... Republicans may have wished they had spoken to John McCain about what happened to him in the presidential debates before they decided to broadcast this session. The president looked genuinely engaged, willing to discuss things. Democrats believe that he tossed away the GOP talking points and lack of real plans into a bludgeon against them. "The whole question was structured by a talking point," he told Jeb Hensarling.

He displayed a familiarity with Republican proposals that seemed to astonish those who asked questions of him. And at the end, Republicans rushed up to him, pens and photo cameras in hands, wanting autographs and pictures.

Ezra:

There's a value in proving that you understand the other side's ideas deeply enough to disagree with them. And that was the message of Obama's session. Not that the Republicans were right. But that he'd looked hard enough at their ideas to realize they were wrong.

Amazed that Obama knows offhand that Ryan wants Medicare vouchers. More amazed he can explain it offhand. This is a command performance.

Today's session, if it becomes a regular event rather than a one-off, provided part of the answer. He'll debate them directly. But that may be tough to do. Republicans are already spreading the word that they made a mistake allowing cameras into the event. Apparently, transparency sounds better in press releases than it does in practice.

But if this is to be the last of these we see for a while, make sure to take the time and watch it, or read the transcript. It's some of the best political television I've seen in memory.

Benen:

I'm reasonably certain I've never seen anything like it. GOP House members were fairly respectful of the president, but pressed him on a variety of policy matters. The president didn't just respond effectively, he delivered a rather powerful, masterful performance.

It was like watching a town-hall forum where all of the questions were confrontational, but Obama nevertheless just ran circles around these guys. I can only assume caucus members, by the end of the Q&A, asked themselves, "Whose bright idea was it to invite the president and let him embarrass us on national television?" .

Note, however, that this wasn't just about political theater -- it was an important back-and-forth between the president and his most forceful political detractors. They were bringing up routine far-right talking points that, most of the time, simply get repeated in the media unanswered. But in Baltimore, the president didn't just respond to the nonsense, he effectively debunked it.

It's easy to forget sometimes just how knowledgeable and thoughtful Obama can be on matters of substance. I don't imagine the House Republican caucus will forget anytime soon -- if the president is going to use their invitation to score big victories, he probably won't be invited back next year.

Yglesias:

It was sort of like Prime Minister’s Questions and it revealed, simply put, that Barack Obama is a lot smarter and better-informed than his antagonists. A lot. He very calmly and coolly dismantled them.

Obama knows what he’s talking about. A lot of the members of Congress you see on TV all the time talking smack don’t. That’s not always clear to people since the TV anchors interviewing them usually also don’t know what they’re talking about. Judd Gregg’s whining freakout on MSNBC yesterday punctured the illusion of calm confidence and so did Obama’s back-and-forth.

Mike Madden:

Obama demonstrated about an hour into what was easily the most entertaining program C-SPAN (or any cable news network, really) has aired in a long time "You say, for example, that we've offered a health care plan, and I look up -- this is just {in} the book that you've just provided me, 'Summary of GOP Health Care Reform Bill,'" Obama said, casually flipping through the book as Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., stood by. Price had demanded the president tell Republicans how they should answer constituents who don't like the way the White House says the GOP hasn't offered any ideas. So Obama played it deadpan. '"The GOP plan will lower health care premiums for American families and small businesses, addressing America's number one priority for health reform.' I mean, that's an idea that we all embrace. But specifically it's got to work."

Two days after his feisty State of the Union speech, Obama's trip to the retreat started off slowly, with a speech that could have worked almost anywhere with only a few edits ahead of time. And then the question-and-answer session got started, and the event turned into a spectacle, the kind of thing that hasn't been seen in American politics in years -- and probably won't again, once the people responsible for putting it together go back to look at the video.

The president was funny and disarming, but he defended his policies fiercely, and he tiptoed up to the line of calling Republicans liars to their faces...

The whole thing basically went like that: Republican asks obnoxious question rooted in Glenn Beck-ian talking points; Obama swats it away, makes the questioner look silly, and then smiles at the end. It got so bad, in fact, that Fox News cut away from the event before it was over.

Booman:

Obama performed as well as any British prime minister during Question Time. The same cannot be said for the Republicans who, by and large, tried to use dishonest arguments and demonstrably inaccurate statistics only to have Obama tell them to get serious and stop trying to score cheap political points. I can honestly say that if as many Americans watched today's Q & A with the Republicans as watched the State of the Union, our political problems would be over. If we had Question Time, we'd have a much easier time winning over public opinion and sustaining support for progressive policies.

The Republicans certainly will not want to repeat this extremely painful beat-down.

The Guardian:

Obama – following on from his state of the union address on Wednesday night – turned the tables by highlighting the Republicans who opposed his policies and refused to bend, yet were prepared to "turn up and cut ribbons" when their constituents reaped the rewards.

Obama also displayed a rare grasp of policy and legislation, wrong-footing his questioners to their face with some stern rebuttal and in some instances quoting their own positions back to them to highlight the contradictions. He mocked the GOP for presenting healthcare reforms as a "Bolshevik plot" – and got a laugh, even from the Republican audience – and suggested that their approach was counterproductive:
I think we can confidently predict this is the last time the Republicans invite the president to a similar format. Indeed, because the hall the Republicans are holding their event seemed to have just a single TV camera, Obama literally took the spotlight away. Republican questioners showed up as shadowy figures, and when caucus leader Mike Pence kicked off the Republican questions at first he couldn't be heard at all.

At the end, shaking hands with the president, Pence's face looked as if he'd sucked a lemon for an hour – and in a way he had.

The net effect is that Obama looked serious, reasonable and intelligent. The Republicans got to sound like whiners, complaining about various pet peeves and chewing over their old laundry list of tax cuts and opposition".

John Cole:

For some reason, the GOP allowed the cameras to roll at their retreat during a question time session with President Obama, and he spent the next hour and a half depantsing them. Pretty funny stuff:

If Mike Pence really is regarded as one of the deep thinkers for the GOP, I’m beginning to understand why they refused to admit Terri Schiavo was brain-dead.

Time:

It was amazing television - watchable, interesting, feisty and even a little dramatic. I was reminded of the campaign when, in a single speech in Philadelphia, Obama neutralized the Jeremiah Wright issue that could have sunk his candidacy. The environment and subject matter are obviously completely different now, but Obama proved again that he performs best when he's up against the wall. Today, at the caucus meeting, he went right after Republicans on their turf and, in my opinion, owned them.

(thanks Prosense & Daily Kos for the links :hi: )


VIDEO: Sen. Barack Obama described that he's best as a counter puncher back in 2007





:rofl:

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. I roll on the floor everytime I read John Cole's quote:

"If Mike Pence really is regarded as one of the deep thinkers for the GOP, I’m beginning to understand why they refused to admit Terri Schiavo was brain-dead." :rofl:

[SeattleGirl]

2. I was just going to say the same thing!

:rofl:

[goclark]

10. That was a real winner! Loved it!

[SemiCharmedQuark]

3. And the GOP? How did their performance come off?

[monmouth]

4. If the nation truly watched, their collective IQ rose many points...n/t

[Hamlette]

5. Got an email from the WH with the whole thing and the best quotes "bookmarked" so I watched again

it was better the second time around. You could focus on how astonishing Obama is. After what the GOP has put this country, the democrats and this president through, how could he remain so calm? He completely destroyed the GOP and their know nothingness and talking points but it did it without any cheap hits, no sound bites, no talking points. I would have been screaming by the time Pence finished his BS first question.

I've never seen anything like it. (It even cooled the temp. around DU for a day or two).

This is why we voted for Obama. This is why we trust him. He keeps his head while all around him are losing theirs.

Do you think Plouff had anything to do with the decision to push for cameras?

edited to add I LOVE The Cole quote. He's a very funny, smart guy. If you don't read him everyday, you should. His comment section is usually pretty good too.

[FrenchieCat]

6. I don't know if Plouffe is the reason for Obama being Obama

But if bringing someone in who's ear has been closer to the ground than others, than Kudos for whomever made the decision to bring him back.

In addition, I think that Obama is schooling the scardy Kat Democrats who don't seem to know how to handle Republican attacks against the current policies.

Democrats running in 2010 should certainly remind those who will be voting that in the 8 years that Republicans had control, they never did anything about health care cost (other than to increase them with their brain fart Medicare Part D, which included no recourse for Drug price negotiation), and so, whatever "ideas" the GOP has now, they should have implemented them when they could, and the fact that they didn't says more about their hypocracy and phonyness. Also, Democrats need to remind everyone that Obama won the election, and so did the Democrats......so why is it that Republicans believe that it is their ideas that should be implemented? 8 years, and the ideas enacted in that time led to where we are.

Hope the Democratic politicians get that!

[grantcart]

7. Something has obviously changed

Sandwiched in between the SOTU and the Mauling in Baltimore was the signing of the $ 8 billion for Rapid Train development.

What was so remarkable about that was how relaxed Obama and Biden are. These guys aren't faking it. They know exactly what is going on and are not stressing about it. The comparison between that and the Republicans grimacing while whispering to each other in panic at the SOTU couldn't have been greater.

[Hekate]

8. Absolutely delicious quotes! It was the best performance on live TV I've ever ...

... seen by a sitting president. Ever.

I love this guy. The DUers over in the Go Dark forum have no idea what they are missing.

Hekate

[quiet.american]

9. GREAT post, Frenchie! Can't enough of this stuff! nt

[OregonBlue]

11. It was a thing of beauty Obama schooling the no-nothing, do-nothing crowd. Unfortunately, it's

already starting to fade and Dems are sniping at each other again.