While she grilled Rick Santorum's press secretary over his debate
performance, CNN host Soledad O'Brien asked an Obama aide nothing even
approaching a critical question on Thursday's Starting Point, and even
teed her up to bash Republicans.
O'Brien mirrored her own network's treatment of President Obama in
Wednesday night's debate – avoiding critical questions on the
President's record and past statements. Instead, she kept the focus
squarely on Republican missteps in her interviews with both Republican
and Democrat staffers.
Hosting Santorum's press secretary, O'Brien questioned her on the
candidate's explanation of his past voting record. "Do you think that
was not a great way to portray that?" she asked of his debate answer on
his past record. In contrast, O'Brien teed up President Obama's deputy
campaign manager by asking her what "vulnerabilities" she saw in the GOP
candidates.
In her interview with Santorum's staffer, O'Brien also played a
criticism by Santorum's opponent Ron Paul and asked if it was "going to
get a lot of attraction" with a national audience.
[Video below. Click here [1] for audio.]
O'Brien added her own snarky comment about Santorum: "And, of course,
your candidate Santorum lost his race, as well by I think – by 18
points. So I know that everybody sort of likes to throw that back and
forth among the candidates, but that's the reality of it," she flatly
told her guest.
Meanwhile, the CNN host's questions to Obama's staffer were complete
softballs. First, she asked if the campaign team took notes of the
Republican debates. Then she asked of any "vulnerabilities" in the GOP
field.
That question was followed by a clip of Mitt Romney talking about
immigration. O'Brien then teed up the staffer by asking what
"opportunity" she saw in Romney's immigration plan.
A transcript of the segments, which aired on Starting Point on February 23 at 7:01 a.m. and 7:34 a.m. EST, respectively, is as follows:
[7:01]
O'BRIEN: Alice Stewart is the national press secretary for the Santorum
2012 presidential campaign. Nice to have you with us this morning.
Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it. So there were some comments
from, different – if you scan the headlines. Some people said he did a
great job in the debate. Others said he was, quote, "deep in the weeds"
in the debate. How do you think it went?
(...)
O'BRIEN: Yeah, but people – particularly Mitt Romney was really trying
to attack him on that. Because at one point they were talking about, for
example, Title 10, and they also talked about, he used the words taking
one for the team. I'm going to play you some of the chunks from the
debate and then I'll have you talk about it on the other side. Listen.
(Video Clip)
RICK SANTORUM, Republican presidential candidate: I think I was making
it clear while that I have a personal moral objection moral to it, even
though I don't support it, that I voted for bills that included it. And
I made it very clear in subsequent interviews that I don't support
that.
(Boos)
SANTORUM: I've never supported it, and on an individual basis, have voted against it.
It was against the principals I believed in, but when you're part of the team, sometimes you take one for the team.
(End Video Clip)
O'BRIEN: So let's talk about that comment, took one for the team,
because I think some people are thinking about this morning and thinking
that that may be an unfortunate way to put it, as if, sort of
Washington is all about two teams going at it and it's the American
people who are stuck on the sidelines. Do you think that was not a great
way to portray that?
(...)
O'BRIEN: And, of course, your candidate Santorum lost his race, as well
by I think – by 18 points. So I know that everybody sort of likes to
throw that back and forth among the candidates, but that's the reality
of it.
(...)
ALICE STEWART, deputy press secretary, Santorum 2012 presidential
campaign: The people have taken a look at the record. They're not
listening to the misrepresentations by the other candidates. They're
actually looking at the records of these candidates and they see that
Rick Santorum is consistent on the issues, he has not gone back and
forth on key issues –
O'BRIEN: May I stop you there for a second, just because I just want to
– before I – I want to go back to something that you said, and I really
want to counter it with what Ron Paul said last night when you talk
about the true conservative. This is Ron Paul's take on that. Listen.
(...)
(Video Clip)
JOHN KING, CNN political correspondent: You have a new television ad that labels him a fake. Why?
RON PAUL, Republican presidential candidate: Because he's a fake.
(Applause)
SANTORUM: I'm real. Ron. I'm real.
PAUL: Congratulations. No, I find it really fascinating that when
people are running for office they're really fiscally conservative. When
they're in office, they do something different and then when they
explain themselves they say, oh, I want to repeal that.
(End Video Clip)
O'BRIEN: That seemed to get a lot of traction, certainly with the
audience last night. Do you think that kind of attack is going to get a
lot of attraction outside a bigger audience?
(...)
O'BRIEN: But some of what he says is I regret having voted for that. Or
I wanted to take one for the team and that's why I did that. So some of
what he says is actually saying, I did it against what I believe
because there was sort of another agenda there, right? That's what he
said last night in the debate.
STEWART: When he got to Washington and saw the waste, fraud, and abuse
that was going on with members of Congress, he has taken on the
position, he is firmly opposed to earmarks. He supports a moratorium on
earmarks. And that is something that he took going to Washington and
seeing the waste, fraud and abuse that went on.
O'BRIEN: After doing a lot of earmarks. He talked about that in the
debate last night. He talked about specific earmarks that he supported.
So I'm going to agree to disagree with you on that one this morning.
[7:34]
O'BRIEN: A pivotal debate in Arizona last night. Five days ahead of the
elections there and Michigan, as well. Rick Santorum trying to really
earn the top spot. He's been the frontrunner sort of kind of. But Mitt
Romney also sort of kind the frontrunner lost a little ground. All that
conversation meant the two of them were going at it and at each other
last night, but President Obama did not go untouched in the debate.
[HEADLINE: Obama Takes a Beating at AZ Debate: Team Obama responds to attacks]
(...)
O'BRIEN: Brings us right to Stephanie Cutter. She is President Obama's
deputy campaign manager. It's nice to have you with us. Thanks for
joining us. You know, I envision that you all as you watch the debate
sit there and take notes and you're like ah, weakness on the GOP on
this, is that true? Is that how it works?
STEPHANIE CUTTER, Obama deputy campaign manager: If we sit around and take notes?
O'BRIEN: Yes, you all watch the debate together and you strategize –
no, truly, off of like what you think are the highlights and low points
of the debate. Is that how it works?
(...)
O'BRIEN: Well, I was going to ask you, if you sit around, what do you
think? Did you see last night as vulnerabilities in the GOP that you
were all sitting around taking notes on, as I predicted to happen?
(...)
O'BRIEN: What do you think about immigration? You point that out as a
potential weakness. And let me play a little chunk of what Mitt Romney
said last night and then we'll talk on the other side of it.
(Video Clip)
ROMNEY: The right course for America is to drop these lawsuits against
Arizona. I'll also complete the fence. I'll make sure we have enough
border patrol agents to secure the fence. And I will make sure we have
an e-verify system, and require employers to check the documents of
workers.
(End Video Clip)
O'BRIEN: So when you heard Mitt Romney laying out sort of his
immigration policy and plan if he were president, where do you see
opportunity in that?
(...)
WILL CAIN, CNN contributor: I got to say, Soledad, it's just odd to me.
So is the Democratic position then not opposed to earmarks? Is it not
opposed to deficit spending? Not opposed to running up big budgets? I
mean, if that is a right – a hard right position, what does that mean
the left's position is?
O'BRIEN: I thought what she was saying was that when she says move to
the right, and I hate to speak for Stephanie, certainly, but wasn't she
sort of saying like you're trying to get points with the Tea Party?
-- Matt Hadro is a News Analyst at the Media Research Center