Keith Olbermann interview with Barack Obama

As I watched Barack Obama's interview with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann tonight with friends I found myself screaming at the TV, "say it, damn it, say the word!  Say LIE!!"  I was so frustrated by the coolness, the apparent inability to express any righteous anger, the consistent "on message" answers.  So, thinking perhaps my friends and I are old, jaded and out of it, I called my son and asked him to watch the 10:00 PM re-run of the interview (he was at work during the original airing) and give us his opinion, thinking maybe I needed the 30ish response and that it would be different from my own.  Hah!! Not so!  Jonathan responded with nearly the exact reactions I had. 

I do think Obama needs to be careful so he doesn't come off as "an angry young black man" going after a old white man or worse, a white woman.  I think that Biden and both Clintons have to come out swinging so Obama can avoid any racial blow back.  But he's got to get past the "I'm too cool to get angry or show an emotional" reaction to the Republicans LIES.

Jonathan’s take on the interview:

It seemed to me that Olbermann was trying very hard to get Obama to show some grit. I appreciate trying to be dignified and not resort to mud slinging. But honestly! The Dems are all apparently being handled by people who caution them not to seem too liberal. He needs to embrace being a liberal, stop buying into the bullshit that liberal is a "bad word" so he can energize his base and show the undecideds that he's NOT a conservative or Republican. Obama's big message is "if you want the same thing we've had for the last 8 years vote McCain, if you want change vote me"??? I mean, that's great for those of us who are already fed up with Republicans but he has had our vote regardless. Reiterating "McCain voted w/ Bush 90% of the time" isn't enough. We/He needs to work on turning it around to demonize conservatism and make people embarassed to vote for Republicans. He absolutely needs to, if you'll forgive the unintentional racial reference, call a spade a spade. McCain and Palin are LYING!!! they're not "not telling the truth" or "misrepresenting facts" they are LYING!!! He has got to stop letting the conservatives choose the language of this election. 

I'm frustrated, and I think Olberman was frustrated, that Obama wouldn't answer a direct question. He kept repeating talking points. I know he's afraid of answering a question directly due to the media and the Republican spin machine, but the passive "wimp" was what Kerry was labeled as. Maybe we can print up t-shirts, WWBCD... What Would Bill Clinton Do... if I remember my history he was not afraid to respond to dirty Republican tactics. The truth is great but you have to get the truth out there when the bad guys are busy spreading lies.

I'm watching the Dems fuck up a wet dream (again) and it's getting on my nerves. I think Obama would make a good president, certainly better than McCain and I'm very pleased by the choice of Biden as a VP, but if they don't change the way this campaign is being run we're all going to be moving to foreign countries. Thankfully I'm brushing up my language skills.