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IssuesCitigroup bailout blackout: Network news programs featured no one asserting deal is bad for taxpayers
On their November 24 broadcasts, all three network evening
news programs included reports on the bailout of Citigroup
that included
interviews with supporters of the deal. The report on NBC's Nightly
News, for example, featured clips from interviews with Citigroup CEO
Gary Crittenden and with "[o]ne of Citi's biggest investors,"
Saudi Prince Al-Waleed
bin Talal. However, only the
CBS Evening News' report
included any criticism of the bailout, and that criticism came from Egan-Jones
Rating Co.
founding principal Sean Egan, who said
that the bailout was not large enough. None of the reports featured criticism
of the bailout on the grounds that it is a poor deal for taxpayers, even though
several economists have strongly criticized the bailout on those grounds.
Prominent economists critical of the Citigroup bailout
include:
Andrew Samwick, professor of economics and director of the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center
at Dartmouth College, who wrote of the bailout in a November 24 blog
post: "The technical term for this is a joke." He
continued:
Citigroup has plenty of assets. It
has just written too many claims on those assets. Those holding those claims
need to face the reality that their claims are worth less than they were
promised and adjust to that reality. That means either liquidating the firm,
selling off the assets to the highest bidders, or becoming the new equity
holders of the firm. The FDIC can get involved as needed to manage its
contingent liabilities to insured depositors.
If the government is to get involved
beyond that, it should be senior debt to the restructured entity, not preferred
equity (i.e. junior to the most junior debt) to the existing entity.
New York Times
columnist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, who wrote in a November 24 blog post: "A bailout was
necessary -- but this bailout
is an outrage: a lousy deal for the taxpayers, no accountability for
management, and just to make things perfect, quite possibly inadequate, so that
Citi will be back for more"
[emphases in original].
University
of California at Berkeley economics professor J. Bradford DeLong, who cited Krugman in a November 24 blog post headlined "The Citigroup Bailout: What
Are They Doing," adding: "It is unclear to me why they
aren't just buying common stock. As it is, they're endangering their own
reputations to an extraordinary degree."
Additionally, The Hill
reported in a November 24 article that
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) "criticize[d]
the deal in a statement," and quoted his assertion, "Given the
scope and size of this arrangement with Citigroup and the fact it is different
from the others, Treasury should be prepared to defend that taxpayers are
adequately protected."
Further, in a November 23 blog post, former
Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote:
If you had any doubt at all about
the primacy of Wall Street over Main Street; the utter lack of transparency behind
the biggest government giveaway in history to financial executives, and their
shareholders, directors, and creditors; and the intimate connections the lie
between Administrations -- both Republican and Democratic -- and the
heavyweights on Wall Street, your doubts should be laid to rest.
[...]
This is not a particularly good deal
for American taxpayers, but it is a marvelous deal for Citi. In return for all
the cash and guarantees they are giving away, taxpayers will get only $27 billion
of preferred shares paying an 8 percent dividend. No other strings are
attached. The senior executives of Citi, including those who have served at the
highest levels in the US
government, have done their jobs exceedingly well. The American public, including
the media, have not the slightest clue what just happened.
On Nightly News,
CNBC anchor Erin Burnett's report included interview clips from:
Crittenden, who said: "I think what we've done is increase
the confidence that the company has the strength to do what it needs to in this
environment."
Prince Al-Waleed,
who said: "We have been with Citigroup since almost two decades, and we anticipate to
continue with Citigroup."
Harvard
University economics professor
Kenneth Rogoff, who asserted: "Citicorp is on life support, basically. A lot of the
financial system is basically on a respirator, and it's just being given food through a
food tube in this. It's
not getting it off the respirator." Rogoff later added: "I think
the thing is, is that if we lose financing
in the country, everything goes to stop. It's like turning off the
electricity."
Sandler O'Neil
chief strategist Robert Albertson, who stated, "Of the two, by a large
factor, the financial sector is far more important to our economy than any
single industry, even one as important as autos."
On the CBS Evening News, correspondent Kelly
Wallace's report included clips from interviews with Egan and Jordan
Goodman, author of Fast Profits in Hard Times: 10 Secret Strategies to
Make You Rich in an Up or Down Economy. Egan
asserted, "The $20
billion is about 10 percent of what Citicorp needs to get back to financial
health. They need about 200 billion. They got 20, they need 200." Goodman
said, "Citigroup is one of the largest financial
institutions in the world, and if it was to go under, it would bring the entire financial system
down with it." In the following segment, guest anchor Harry Smith
interviewed former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Arthur Levitt,
who stated, "I think the government is doing what they should do. They
have to help restore public confidence."
On ABC's World News,
correspondent Betsy Stark's report featured clips from interviews with
David Trone, a bank analyst with Fox-Pitt Kelton CCW, and with Jonathan
Corpina, a trader on the New York Stock Exchange. Trone said of the bailout,
"This is the route they should have gone all along," while Corpina
said it was "the news that was the catalyst for the market today.
Everything else just rallied with it."
From the November 24 broadcast of NBC's Nightly News
with Brian Williams:
BRIAN WILLIAMS (anchor): And now to the
sudden fall of Citigroup. Just a few months ago, they were giants, considering
buying Wachovia to rescue it;
now they need rescuing.
So the government stepped in during the night last night. And
this intervention, by the way, potentially putting a whole lot of taxpayer
money at risk. CNBC's
Erin Burnett is with us
for more on this. What an epic story.
BURNETT: It certainly is an epic
story, and you said it. It was so different a few
months ago. And now what we've
learned is Citigroup is simply too big to fail, and the government rescue, as Brian said,
announced last night sparked the biggest two-day rally in the market since
1987.
[begin video clip]
BURNETT: Another government bailout.
This time, Citigroup and investors cheered. The government announcing Citigroup
will get an influx of $20 billion and a taxpayer guarantee for more than 300
billion in troubled assets.
PRESIDENT
GEORGE W. BUSH: This is a tough situation for America. But
we'll recover from it. And the first step to recovery is to safeguard our
financial system.
BURNETT: In return, the government
gets a more than 7 percent
stake in a company
weighed down by failed home, auto,
and credit-card loans.
ROGOFF: Citicorp is on life support, basically. A lot of the financial system is
basically on a respirator,
and it's just being given food through a food tube in this. It's not getting it off the respirator.
BURNETT: Citi shares plummeted more
than 87 percent this
year, 60 percent just last week. Today, with the bailout news, the stock rebounded nearly 60 percent, giving the markets
a sigh of relief.
CRITTENDEN: I think what we've done is increase
the confidence that the company has the strength to do what it needs to in this
environment.
BURNETT: One of Citi's biggest
investors, Saudi Prince Al-Waleed, told CNBC that the company's troubles are
temporary.
PRINCE AL-WALEED: We have been with Citigroup since
almost two decades, and
we anticipate to continue with Citigroup.
BURNETT: U.S. officials didn't want to risk
a Citigroup collapse. With
more than 200 million customers worldwide and more than 300,000 employees,
analysts say the ripple effect would have been catastrophic.
ROGOFF: I think the thing is, is that if we lose financing in the country, everything
goes to stop. It's
like turning off the electricity.
BURNETT: That's why analysts are not
surprised that this government bailout came before any deal had been reached
with the auto industry.
ALBERTSON: Of the two, by a large
factor, the financial sector is far more important to our economy than any
single industry, even one as important as autos.
[end video clip]
BURNETT: All right, Brian, the bottom line here is, I spoke to the CFO of Citigroup today, and he said no management changes.
They're not exactly sure what the restrictions will be on executive
compensation or whether they need to lend more, so there's still a lot of questions. And one of the biggest questions is this: Is this going to be enough for Citigroup, and once we've done this
with Citigroup, do we need to do it with all the other banks? I mean, this isn't the first money that's gone into Citigroup from the
taxpayer.
WILLIAMS: It's all new
territory. Erin Burnett, as always, thanks.
From the November 24 broadcast of the CBS
Evening News with Katie Couric:
SMITH: Now, to the latest bailout of Citigroup.
The government said today it will give Citi another $20 billion from the $700 billion
financial bailout package. And it will guarantee as much as $306 billion in
risky Citigroup loans and securities. Kelly Wallace
reports it's all aimed at preventing the financial giant from collapsing.
[begin video clip]
WALLACE: The market posted triple-digit gains after
the government rescued Citigroup from the brink. The
reason for the bailout, according to many analysts: The bank is just too big to
fail. Until recently, it's been the largest bank in the U.S.
in terms of assets, with businesses ranging from credit cards to home mortgages
to investments, operating in more than 100 countries with 200 million customer
accounts worldwide.
GOODMAN: Citigroup
is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, and if it was to go under, it would bring the entire
financial system down with it.
WALLACE: This is the second time the
feds have come to the aid of the struggling financial giant in weeks. After
first pumping 25 billion into the bank last month, the government is injecting
an additional $20 billion, with strings attached. The money will come in
exchange for shares that will pay 8 percent back to the taxpayer. Citigroup also agrees to place limits on executive pay and
help homeowners facing foreclosure. But some analysts say the bailout doesn't
go far enough and that the company will need much more from Uncle Sam.
EGAN: The $20 billion is about 10
percent of what Citicorp needs to get back to financial health. They need about
200 billion. They got 20, they need 200.
WALLACE: Citicorp stock shot up
nearly 60 percent today to just under $6, but the stock market rally might be
short-lived. Shares of
other major U.S. banks
like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have lost more than 50 percent this
year. President Bush signaled more bailouts may be needed.
BUSH: And if need be, we're going to
make these kind of decisions to safeguard our financial system in the future.
WALLACE: Why rescue Citigroup
and not the Big Three automakers? The
Treasury secretary says the $700 billion bailout bill is for the financial
sector only. Help for anyone else requires Congress to change the law. Kelly
Wallace, CBS News, New York.
[end video clip]
SMITH: Earlier today, I spoke about the financial crisis and the
government bailouts with former Securities and Exchange Commission chairman
Arthur Levitt. I asked him if Citigroup's need for a
second bailout means the crisis is even worse than we thought.
[begin video clip]
LEVITT: I think it probably is worse
than we thought, but I think the government is doing what they should do. They
have to help restore public confidence.
SMITH: A lot of people at home are
sitting watching this and they're saying, "These folks on Wall Street have been
preaching economic Darwinism for decades. Why not let them fail? They made this
mess, why not let them fail?"
LEVITT: The implications of failure
now are global. They cut across the economy at every level. We're talking about
three basic pillars of the economy: finance, automobile, and housing. If all three of those tank, we
have an economy absolutely in the depths of despair. Can't happen.
SMITH: Barack Obama puts his
economic team in place today. It's two months until he takes office. Is this
audacious, or is this good management on his part?
LEVITT: This is smart. I mean, we
have an administration that is virtually powerless, certainly a president whom nobody listens to. What
we've seen now with the new administration is we have a shadow administration
in power, in place, acting in a constructive and in a cooperative way with the
secretary of the Treasury, Hank Paulson. We cannot afford a lost two-month period where public
confidence would disappear. We cannot afford that.
SMITH: Arthur Levitt, thank you so
much for your time this evening.
LEVITT: You're quite welcome.
From the November 24 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson:
CHARLES GIBSON (anchor): For the second day
in a row, stocks rallied on Wall Street. The Dow industrials rose nearly 400 points, fueled by
news that the government had bolstered the terms of its bailout of Citigroup,
whose stock soared nearly 60 percent
just today. Betsy Stark is here with terms of what the government is going to
do with Citigroup.
STARK: Charlie, some say Citigroup,
with $2 trillion in assets and 200 million customers around the world, is the
very definition of too big to fail, so after marathon talks this weekend, and with Citi stock heading
rapidly towards zero, the government orchestrated its latest and potentially most expensive
taxpayer bailout to date.
[begin video clip]
STARK: Outside this
Citibank in Manhattan
today, some customers wondered if there is any bank where their money is now safe.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I do not think that my money is safe. I'm very, very nervous
about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Where can you find a bank that is going to stay afloat
these days?
STARK: That chilling loss of
confidence in the U.S.
banking system was clearly on the minds
of government officials as they mapped out a sweeping new plan to keep Citi
afloat. The bank is getting $20 billion in cash from the government's $700
billion rescue fund on top of the $25 billion it received just a month ago. But
now the government is going even farther,
for the first time guaranteeing up to $306 billion in risky assets held by the
bank. If the value of those assets drops, Citi is responsible for the first $37
billion of losses, and
the taxpayer is on the hook for most of the rest.
TRONE: This is the route they should
have gone all along. The approach of giving money to the banks without, you know, carving out or
guaranteeing their
problem assets, you're leaving the fear factor still there. So, this new tactic is a different approach,
which obviously is a response to that stock performance last week.
STARK: Last week, shares of
Citigroup tanked, dropping 60 percent
to less than $4 a share.
UNIDENTIFIED
TRADER: How's U.S. Bank now?
STARK: Today, news
of the bailout ignited a powerful rally in financial stocks, Citi jumping 58 percent, Bank of America,
JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley all up dramatically.
CORPINA: Clearly, you know, this was
the news that was the catalyst for the market today. Everything else just
rallied with it.
STARK: And what's in it for the
taxpayer? They get a $27 billion investment stake in Citigroup and the option
to buy more. Plus, Citi has
agreed to do more to help homeowners, to slash dividend payments to virtually
nothing, and put stricter limits on executive compensation.
[end video clip]
STARK: Americans may be wondering if
other banks will now need a government bailout. Today, President Bush said his
administration will do what's necessary to safeguard the financial system.
After today's bailout, those
safeguards now seem to include dealing with toxic assets, an approach Secretary
Paulson suggested was ineffective just a few weeks ago, Charlie.
GIBSON: All right. Betsy Stark, reporting again, tonight.
Published: Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:06:28 GMT - Source: Mediamatters.Org - Read the articleIssuesDennis Miller: "[W]omen on the left hate" Palin "because to me ... it appears that she has a great sex life"
As noted by Gawker.com, on the
November 12 edition of Fox News' The
O'Reilly Factor, radio
host Dennis Miller stated of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R): "I think the left hate her -- mostly women on
the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears that she has a
great sex life." He continued, "I think she has non-neurotic sex
with that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper
East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since [Norman] Mailer signed copy of The Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back
in the early '70s." Miller also said in reference to the Palins,
"[T]hat snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me, and
that's why people are fascinated by it." Moments later, host Bill
O'Reilly asked, "You think that because she looks like a happy,
wedded mom with not so much neurosis, that these people are going, 'We
have to hate her'?" Miller responded, in part: "It's like
Tina Fey's movie Mean Girls.
Women are mean to other women. They look at her, she
looks happy, a lot of them aren't, and they're cranky about her."
Later in the discussion, after Miller said that
President-elect Barack Obama "ought to flatten these punks at AIG
[American International Group]," O'Reilly stated, "OK, and
then arrest [Rep.] Barney Frank
[D-MA], correct?" As the blog Think
Progress noted,
Miller replied, "Barney might want to be arrested." In response,
O'Reilly said, "Oh, jeez.
Ugh," and shuddered. He continued, "OK,
Dennis Miller, everybody. I told you to hide the kids." Before going to a
commercial break, O'Reilly added, "Next up, a
viewer warning -- I'm sorry I didn't give you one before Miller."
From the November 12 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Now, the Sarah Palin
hysteria. I mean, can you believe she's getting more
ink now than the president-elect is getting? Didn't she lose? It looks like she
won.
MILLER: Listen, she's a great dame. People
are fascinated by her because the left hate her. I think the left hate her --
mostly women on the left hate her, because to me, from outside in, it appears
that she has a great sex life. All right? I think she has non-neurotic sex with
that Todd Palin guy. I think most of the women on the Upper
East Side, their husbands haven't been aroused since Mailer signed copy of The
Executioner's Song at Rizzoli's back in the early '70s.
So they look at her, and they hate
her. I think that snowmobile looks like mechanized foreplay to me, and that's why people are fascinated by it.
O'REILLY: So you think that -- cutting through all of the
metaphors that even I don't even understand. Rizzoli's used to be a bookstore.
You think that because she looks like
a happy, wedded mom with --
MILLER: Yeah.
O'REILLY: -- not so much neurosis, that
these people are going, "We have to hate her"? It's -- what, it's schadenfreude? Is that -- how
do you say that?
German?
MILLER: It's called schadenfreude.
O'REILLY:
Schadenfreude. [unintelligible]
MILLER: The Germans
concocted it. It's one's vague pleasure in another's discomfort. Leave it to
the Germans, by the way, to concoct an intricate glossary of pain terminology.
But I think
people have -- I think people have schadenfreude about her. It's like Tina
Fey's movie Mean Girls. Women are
mean to other women. They look at her,
she looks happy, a lot of them aren't, and
they're cranky about her.
Plus, you know, she's still viable to me. Katie Couric is not going to be the interlocutor
that turns me off Sarah Palin. For God's sakes, does
anybody remember Katie Couric during
her first month on the job? Bill Paley and Ed Murrow were turning over in their
graves so fast that they resembled the twin screws on the Thunderball boat, the Disco Volante, when
they threw it into hydrofoil mode.
O'REILLY: I guess
that's a James Bond reference there?
MILLER: I don't even -- Billy, I have no idea.
Help me. Help me, for
God's sake.
O'REILLY: Miller, I hate
to say this, but I think you may be beyond help. I think Bordello of Blood was it.
Now, you've been reassessing in the
last -- in the last eight days the presidential vote. And what conclusions,
Miller, have you come to?
MILLER: Well, two. I'm kind of happy now that it's
over. Because when they showed Grant Park that night and I saw the looks on the
face of some of the
black elders looking up,
who had been pushed aside to lunch counters and bathrooms, and I saw that
catharsis, I thought, well, I intellectualized this would be good for the
country in that way. I had no idea the depth of feeling. It pleases my heart.
I'm happy for them.
Also, the guy looks so smart to me.
I didn't believe anything he said when he was running. But now I know he's so smart
that when two dim, mindless magpies like [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid [D-NV] and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi [D-CA] trundle down there to sell their tired
Willy Loman wares, he's
going to pay them lip service. The moment they split, he's going to look at [incoming White House chief of staff] Rahm
Emanuel and go, "Sharp elbows, dull intellects. We're not listening to
those cats. Do you think I worked this hard to get to this point that I'm going
to parrot what those two idiots say?" So I like the fact that he's really
smart.
And you know something? He's my
president now. And I am not going to do what the left did to Bush. I find it
unbecoming. I hope that Barack Obama does so well that four years hence, I am
salivating to vote for him. I want this all to work, because I love my country.
At some point, I make Lee Greenwood look like the Rosenbergs. And I hope he does great.
But I will not turn my back on
George Bush. Today,
2,619 days since a domestic terror attack on this soil. Thank you to my commander
in chief, and thank you to the troops
for providing us the safety to have an election like that.
O'REILLY: Absolutely.
Now, how skeptical are you going to -- I think your sentiment is noble, by the
way. And particularly in this dangerous economic time when people are really
suffering, you've got to root for Obama to get the economy back on track and
lessen suffering.
But how skeptical are you going to
be? And how -- and what is my watchdog role? See, I'm setting myself up to
watch Barack Obama. You know, and I'm
going to be fair about it. There's no doubt I'll be fair. But I'm going to very
-- you know, watch him closer than I watched Bush because I didn't watch Bush
close enough. I didn't. I admit it. I should have.
So, how skeptical are you going to be about
Obama? Are you going to bring a skepticism in from the beginning?
MILLER: I'm always skeptical about
guys who want to be president, because it seems like its own form of madness to
me. But I'll tell you,
if he wants to earn my goodwill and the goodwill of a lot of people, he ought
to flatten these punks at AIG who keep taking -- these guys party. They make Caligula look like a
shut-in. Enough is enough. We just gave them $150 billion.
We've got to follow them around with
hidden cameras. Take it all back, let them go
away. It's economic Darwinism. If they want to spend like that, they should go
under. Forget the parties, you guys. And I think that he ought to come down
hard on them right now.
O'REILLY: OK, and
then arrest Barney Frank, correct?
MILLER: Barney might want to be
arrested.
O'REILLY: Oh, jeez. Ugh. [shudders] OK, Dennis Miller, everybody. I told
you to hide the kids.
Next up, a viewer
warning -- I'm sorry I didn't give you one before Miller.
Published: Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:54:37 GMT - Source: Mediamatters.Org - Read the articleEuropeMichael Tomasky on the key moments of the US election
One of the most famous New Yorker cartoons of all time shows two men in 19th-century garb, one sitting behind a desk and clearly a boss of some sort, the other in the boss's guest chair leaning anxiously forward. The boss is speaking. Caption: "I wish you would make up your mind, Mr Dickens. Was it the best of times or was it the worst of times? It could scarcely have been both."The cartoon is memorable because it skewers the pedantry behind the demand for neat categories. Life, as Dickens suggested, is always both. And so is politics. Without further ado then, some nominees for the best and worst of the campaign just concluded.Best speechOthers may be better known, but Barack Obama's thunderous oration at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner on November 10 2007 was a turning point. He was stuck in neutral, and Hillary Clinton looked inevitable. Then he tore the roof off the place. Remember, if he'd lost the Iowa caucuses, he may well have been forced out of the contest. The momentum that led to his Iowa victory began that night.Worst pre-campaign political decision with the benefit of hindsightHillary Clinton's vote for the Iraq war. She couldn't have known how badly the war would go of course. But if she'd voted against it, it's entirely possible that Obama never even would have run in the first place. Being the only top-level candidate against the war was his chief selling point to Democratic primary voters. Worst candidate Many conservatives predicted that Republican Fred Thompson would unite the party and be the answer to their prayers when he entered the race in mid-2007. Instead he always looked like he was wondering "God, when will this be over?" He once even refused to don a firefighter's hat for a photo-op, saying "I've got a silly hat rule." Earth to Fred: hats that people wear when saving little children from fiery deaths aren't "silly".Worst campaignEasy. Rudy Giuliani's (pictured left), specifically his decision to skip the first four GOP primary contests. You know - the ones that mattered. Best Clinton moment Hillary's New Hampshire comeback. Not only the famous crying episode, but the moment when she "found my own voice". Worst Clinton moment Hillary's gaffe when she said she had come under sniper fire when arriving in the Bosnian city of Tuzla? Nah. Hillary saying she and McCain had commander-in-chief credentials while Obama had "a speech he made in 2002"? Getting warmer. But I choose Bill's comparison of Obama's South Carolina win to Jesse Jackson's wins in the state in the 1980s. Both Clintons did their part against John McCain, but the Big Dog's primary season comportment isn't completely forgiven or forgotten.Worst Obama momentIn a New Hampshire debate, saying snidely to Hillary: "You're likeable enough." Cringe-inducing. He'd better keep that arrogant streak bottled up for four years.Worst press conference The controversial preacher Jeremiah Wright's preening appearance at the National Press Club, April 28 2008. The lowlight: the head of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, "is one of the most important voices in the 20th and 21st century". Thanks a lot, Jer.Best "Man, thank God that guy didn't win the primary" momentAugust 8, when John Edwards finally acknowledged his extramarital affair with Rielle Hunter - conducted while his wife had cancer. His career is over. Silver lining: not everyone has a 29,000 sq ft house (2,700 m2) to go home to.Worst McCain lieAmid stiff competition, the nod goes to the television spot in which he accused Obama of cancelling a visit to American troops in Germany because he couldn't take cameras in to capture the moment. Completely false, as he almost had to know at the time, and a particularly toxic allegation.Best Sarah Palin moment Her convention speech. Like her or not, it was a rip-snorter. Remember when Democrats were nervous that she might actually be an asset to the Republican ticket?Worst Sarah Palin moment Well ... golly, let's see. The shopping spree? Not quite, because the damage had largely already been done by then. Clearly, the winner here is the interview with Katie Couric. It killed her. And as for the worst Palin micro-moment within the worst Palin moment, I'd have to go with the fact that she couldn't name a single supreme court decision in the entire history of the country besides the abortion decision Roe v Wade. This was of course before we learned that she didn't know what countries constitute North America.Best classic Joe Biden moment His remark in late October that Obama would be "tested" in his first six months in office by hostile world leaders was clearly his most off-message remark of the campaign. But Biden showed pretty good discipline - for Biden - through most of the campaign. And he probably did help in Pennsylvania, where Obama rolled.Best debate momentObama's wins in the debates weren't so much about moments as they were steadiness and consistency. But forced to choose one parry I'll take this one, from the first debate: "John, you like to pretend the war started in 2007 ... The war started in 2003. And at the time, when the war started, you said it was going to be quick and easy."Worst debate momentEasy. Second debate. McCain. "That one!" Nuff said. Worst strategic decision McCain's suspension of his campaign after the financial crisis hit. It was a bid to look serious, but it looked gimmicky. Obama's more sure-footed response to the meltdown is probably what won him the election more than any other single factor.Best John McCain momentHis speech at the Al Smith Dinner in New York, October 17, where he was both funnier and more gracious than Obama was in his remarks. "Whatever the outcome next month," McCain said, "Senator Obama has achieved a great thing for himself and for his country and I congratulate him." Where was this guy the rest of the time?Worst Joe the Plumber moment His attempt in an interview to defend his belief that Obama's election would mean the death of Israel. The television anchor was aghast and said: "Man. Some things - it just gets frightening sometimes." And this was on Fox News, folks!Best moment for America and the worldElection night. Best upcoming airplane ride to look forward to Next January 20, when George W Bush takes his last trip on Air Force One, back to Texas.US elections 2008Barack ObamaJohn McCainSarah PalinJoe BidenUnited Statesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Published: Sat, 08 Nov 2008 00:04:57 GMT - Source: Guardian.Co.Uk - Read the article
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