CBS's O'Donnell: Cruz's Speech 'Could Hurt' GOP's 'Chances of Taking Back' Senate
On Wednesday's CBS This Morning, Norah 'we shouldn't editorialize'
O'Donnell hinted that Senator Ted Cruz's 21-hour floor speech might
jeopardize the Republican Party's chances in the 2014 congressional
race. O'Donnell asked Cruz's colleague in the Senate, Bob Corker, if he
was "concerned that what your fellow senator is doing could hurt your party's chances of taking back the U.S. Senate?"
Charlie Rose later played up how supposedly, "some people are saying this is about personal ambition and being seen fighting for this, because it serves his [Cruz's] own presidential ambitions." [MP3 audio available here; video below]
The CBS anchor brought up the Texas senator's marathon speech with
Senator Corker as it was still in progress. O'Donnell first underlined
that "Cruz has pulled an all-nighter. It's not a filibuster, because the fate of this is really already decided."
She then tossed her "hurt your party's chances" question. The Tennessee
Republican replied, in part, that "it depends on the outcome...all of
us are unified in hoping that ObamaCare will be delayed,
defunded...It's, obviously, the tactics that are being deployed."
Corker tried to continue, but the morning show host interrupted and asked, "But
is Senator Cruz's speech going to do anything to help delay that for a
year, which is the compromise that you guys are pushing for?" Rose followed-up with his "personal ambition" question to his Republican guest.
The two CBS anchors' hounding of Senator Corker contrasts with their kid glove treatment
of Bill Clinton the day before. Rose and O'Donnell went easy on the
former president concerning the possible conflicts of interest
surrounding his Clinton Global Initiative, as well as Hillary's possible
2016 presidential run. In general, the journalists have a history of softball interviews of their liberal/Democratic guests, while hammering their conservative/Republican ones.
The transcript of the relevant portion of the Senator Bob Corker interview from Wednesday's CBS This Morning:
NORAH O'DONNELL: I want to turn now to what's happening in the U.S.
Senate, and what's happening within your own party. One of your
colleagues, Senator [Ted] Cruz, has pulled an all-nighter. It's not a
filibuster, because the fate of this is really already decided. Are you
concerned about – that what your fellow senator is doing could hurt your
party's chances of taking back the U.S. Senate?
[CBS News Graphic: "Beltway Battled: TN Senator On GOP Defunding Debate"]
SEN. BOB CORKER, (R), FOREIGN RELATIONS CMTE. RANKING MEMBER: Well, it
depends on the outcome. I think – you know, all of us are unified in
hoping that Obama – ObamaCare will be delayed, defunded – you know, that
we can do something relative to the individual mandate; that we can do
something relative to the medical device tax. It's, obviously, the
tactics that are being deployed – and, again, we'll see. I do-
O'DONNELL: But is Senator Cruz's speech going to do anything to help
delay that for a year, which is the compromise that you guys are pushing
for?
CORKER: Well, we still have some time, and Norah, as you know, watching
Washington for all the time you have, nothing typically happens until
the last minute. So again, we'll see. I do think the House is already,
as we know, looking at sending something back that's a little different
than a – than a pure defunding – a delay on the individual mandate;
maybe, dealing with the OPM piece. I think you know that congressional
members and their staffs have ended up being dealt with a little
differently than the rest of the country. So, I think there are numbers
(sic) of things that we might accomplish over this next week, as long as
we don't cause this to – to go beyond the time of the government
needing to be funded.
[CBS News Graphic: "Who Is More To Blame If Government Shuts Down?
Republicans, 39%; Obama administration, 36%; Both, 17%; Source: Pew
Research Poll; Margin of Error: +/- #.7 % Pts."]
CHARLIE ROSE: Senator, no one doubts Senator Cruz's opposition to
ObamaCare and desire to defund it. But some people are saying this is
about personal ambition and being seen fighting for this, because it
serves his own presidential ambitions.
CORKER: You know, I think it's best for all of us to – I mean, people
are here for different motivations, and I think to try ascertain what
somebody's individual motivation is – you know, probably is not a good
thing for me to do. But look, I came here to try to help create our
country move – an opportunity for our country to move ahead; to put in
place good public policy. And hopefully, over the course of the next
several days, we'll have the opportunity to do that.
ROSE: Thank you-
CORKER: Thank y'all so much, okay?
— Matthew Balan is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Matthew Balan on Twitter.
