Obama Criticizes Debate, Attacks Clinton For Being "In Her Element"

RALEIGH, N.C. — Democratic Sen. Barack Obama dismissively talked about his debate with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and the line of questioning from ABC News' moderators, arguing that it focused on political trivia at the expense of the problems facing average voters.

At a rally in the May 6 primary state of North Carolina, Obama drew roars of approval Thursday when he mocked aspects of the presidential debate that had him on the defensive Wednesday night. He faced tough questions about his controversial pastor, his comments about bitter voters in small towns and his relationship with a 1960s radical.

Deadpanning, the Illinois senator said, "It does not get much more fun than these debates. They are inspiring events."

In criticism of his rival, he called the debate "the rollout of the Republican campaign against me in November" and said it represented textbook Washington politics that Clinton was very comfortable playing.

"They like stirring up controversy and they like playing gotcha games, getting us to attack each other," he said. "Senator Clinton looked in her element. She was taking every opportunity to get a dig in there. That's her right to kind of twist the knife a little bit ... that's the lesson she learned when Republicans did it to her in the 1990s."

The Obama campaign also sought to capitalize on the debate, sending out a fundraising appeal titled, "Gotcha," and soliciting $25 donations.

"Last night I think we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people," Obama told the North Carolina crowd. "Forty-five minutes before we heard about health care, 45 minutes before we heard about Iraq, 45 minutes before we heard about jobs, 45 minutes before we heard about gas prices."

ABC News' Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos pointedly questioned Obama, and Clinton politely challenged her rival.

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"When you're running for the presidency, you've just got to kind of let it ..." Obama said, pretending to flick lint off his pants and jacket.

Another debate between the two candidates seems unlikely. Obama had agreed to a debate in North Carolina on Saturday, Clinton has agreed to a debate April 27 in Raleigh, sponsored and televised by CBS News. The two camps have not agreed on a date.

"I'll be honest with you. We've now had 21," Obama said of the debates. "It's not as if we don't know how to do these things. I could deliver Senator Clinton's lines. I'm sure she could deliver mine."

Later, taking a question from a fourth-grade boy who said he had been elected his class representative at school, Obama asked, "How many debates did you have to have?"

"None," the boy replied.

"None! That sounds good!" Obama said.

[WATCH]

Comments

[Soothsayer08]

I wonder when it will become mandatory for everyone in America to wear flag lapel pins? It will be like the pods in the "invasion of the body snatchers" the true test of patriotism.

[GravitonX]

Fag lapel pins are gay. Real men prefer miltary insignias.

[ProfessorDuh]

That lets out all the young Republican males, I guess.

[mjc]

Obama's wounded whine merely points up the value of the debate. Love how he blames Hillary for the questions and mocks her. What a way he has of avoiding any critical look at his character and beliefs! Makes me even more concerned that he should get the nomination. He's toast............

[Kalima]

You got this information from this non-debate, the ABC farce?
45 minutes of nonsense and less than 15 minutes of issues, I
would say that you deserve a place with David Copperfield
in Las Vegas. Oh, i wish you luck!

[pleeezzze]

Kalima ...I find it very difficult to believe after all this time that Obamans care diddly about issues as long as they can profess their Hate Hillary BS.

Obama can't stand on his own and answer simple questions (or he Refuses to be truthful) . Which is it ??

It's about time someone stopped coddling him and ask those questions .

We have a right to know . You people know everything Hillary has said and done since she was a teenager , but still find it great fun to make up utter lies about her !

[argent1]

The problem I see for Obama is that he fell for it. He could have stepped back on that first question and refused to answer it and gone on to talk about the real issues. The fact that he did not tells me he is susceptible to getting railroaded. I think Clinton is also a pig for going along with the moderation. This has happened in all the debates, to both of them. I am rooting for Clinton, not because I don't like or admire or feel Obama is a great candidate. It's my gut and my own personal right to do so. But I must say Obama is remarkable and deserves the nomination the way it is going. However, if he wants to transcend the dirty politics of yesteryear he has to be the one to step forward at every moment to push back the attack gotchas from the likes of Stephanopolis in the very moment they happen. That will prove to me his true leadership.

[Aywaller]

"The problem I see for Obama is that he fell for it. He could have stepped back on that first question and refused to answer it and gone on to talk about the real issues."

I don't think he could have. Or at least he could have only if Clinton did the same and I am convinced that she never would have. I believe that she would have stuck the knife in deeper and asked why he was afraid to answer the questions. But I agree with your larger point that political candidates in general need to push back on these media-created pseudo-controversies. The problem is they won't as long as we as voters keep responding to them. They work.

[GravitonX]

Hillary should be counting her lucky stars she is beside such a gentleman won't hit a girl even if she's opened up on him. Had it been me...I'd done pimpslapped that scandalous ho on stage. She's been taking advantage of the rule since the start. I'll hit you, but when I get crowned I'm gonna cry and be the victim.

[cramos]

It is a Girl on Girl fight now!

Nothing manly about him....Annie Oakley, Gotcha Politics....no class

[Kalima]

What a silly little girl you are.

[riverhouse]

You know Obama can't hurt Hillary's feelings. That makes her cry and that drives up for sympathy votes from the idiot class.

[StephenJK]

Typical Obama supporter blather and misogyny. What a joke you are. NEXT!

[GravitonX]

Bury Hillary in the Carolinas. I'll bring bring the shovels.

[CindyKay]

Personally I Believe she should be Cremated , Why On Earth would We want to pollute Mother Earth with that Liars Carcass???
Put Her A** in an Urn & Let Billy Take Her Home!!!! No One Else Wants Her.

[StephenJK]

Drama Queen much? A wee-bit overdramatic like your man, Obama? Straight up theatrical in fact. And by theatrical I mean he's an actor. In fact, Obama doesn't know ANYTHING about governance. All he has to support his claim of being "The One" is the fact that he slept at a Holiday Inn Express last night. He's nothing. Just a paper tiger in an empty suit with a helluva lot more prowl than prowess. In short, Obama is a caricature of himself and useless as a politician. They should just move to Sudan and help his cousin out over there.

[CTmom13]

Be sure to sign the moveon.org petition………..It was also mentioned on ABC’s Good Morning America

Maybe if there is enough backlash the news networks will think twice about the distractions issues in the GE

http://www.moveon.org/

[SaskiaStars]

3, 2, 1,.............here come the trolls attracted to the word "moveon.Org" like moths to a flame................too funny.

BTW, thanks for the link - signed it.

[pleeezzze]

ever heard of swifboating ?? well thats what it is .

You people need to remember you asked for it .

It can and will work Both ways .

[vsign]

Like Imus says - he is a pussy. We all saw it. 10 million people watched.

Obama waiting until he gets to his elevated stage to mock with derision and dismissiveness the debate was revealing.

He is so immature and unprepared to be our President - it is embarrassing to the whole country.

Reminds me of when the Rev Wright story broke and after a few questions - he walked away from the press conference and refused to answer any more questions.

This egomaniac is going to evolve into a dictator. He cannot even answer our questions with grace.

He is a fumbler - a bumbler. It makes me upset at every Obama supporter who propelled him to the stage.

[SaskiaStars]

that is your opinion, the majority of the voters disagree with you.

[vsign]

51% to 49% of democratic voters who have voted in the primary.

That is hardly a comfortable lead.

He's going to get beat in the General so badly - you will weep.

We will all be laughing at him when this is over.

[cinnysmom]

I didn't see anyone questioning Hillary's love of America. Why not? She wasn't wearing a flag pin, but that's ok huh? It makes me upset that you are such a narrow minded fool. What 10 million people saw was nothing short of a sham. I would say the same thing if the moderators had questioned Hillary's patriotism, but they didn't.

[swanky]

Nobody can question her patriotism, there's no grounds for it. On the other hand, given his associations with anti-Americans, it's perfectly reasonable to question his patriotism especially when he refuses to acknowledge any of its symbols. It's more urbanelitism that's going to get him pummeled. How's he going to counter McCain on that issue?

[amiblueyoubet]

You listen to Imus, agree with him? He also says Clinton is the devil, still want to quote him?

[mhoiles]

Snobama! He is such a pu$$Y. She mopped the floor with him. There is no way this guy can be president, no way. Totally weak.

[Kalima]

TAXI!

[americanwhocares]

Are you a Billary troll by any chance, or maybe a republican troll? Could go either way, but i guess Billary!

[mhoiles]

No, just a registered voter who watched the debate. BTW, if snobama get the nomination you will be trying to suck up for my vote, but since you are such a arogant snob I will be voting for John McCain.... see ya in November! LOL!

[ForeignCommenter]

I think one thing that has been completely missed in the media about the debate (and that I missed myself) that came up on Countdown* was Hillary's stance on middle east: she committed to going to war there if ANY country there attacks ANY other country. That's quite a huge commitment, and should be taken into serious consideration and puts her anti-war sentiments into completely new light. Do the people of United States really want a president that will commit to war in such a manner?

(*And yes I know Keith Olbermann is Keith Olbermann, but whatever you think of him, he does have the facts right most of the time)

[JackDanielsBlack]

Hmm -- reminds me of "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" McCain. Of course, Obama didn't exactly disavow Israel either. When will someone put America first?

[politicalpunch]

"In Her Element" while Barack sends Clinton a silent message by giving her the middle finger!

[DavePM]

You are nuts. Go back to the Democratic Daily and pander there. Or let's all get distracted by this stupid shit.

[riverhouse]

Hillary is a mud wrestler. She is basically a bitter, mean spirited person and her natural inclination is toward the nasty. She uses and abuses people, and tosses them away. I feel sorry for her. I'm a NYer, I voted for her as a good Democrat even though I resented her carpetbagger status and her assumption that NYers should be honored that she chose to use us for her own ends. She's not going to be president of the United States. She has probably so fouled her nest in the Democratic Party that she won't move well through the ranks in the Senate and may well lose her seat to a Republican like Bloomberg or Rudy.

[magginkat]

I suspect that the debate went just as Obama wanted it to go. At any point he could have told the moderators that he wants to talk about the business of the country instead of old news that had already been beaten to death. Didn't happen.

Now pooooooor Obama can whine about the debate endlessly and he will blame it on Clinton instead of his poor debating skills. He can preach a sermon but having to answer questions has him stuttering and fishing for smart answers.

If you want to see Obama as he really is check out this You Tube clip where he flips a bird to Clinton during one of the debates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DygBj4Zw6No

[riverhouse]

You must not have been watching. Obama repeatedly brought the inane questions to the attention of the moderators and audience and he said several times that they were not addressing the issues that are pertinent to the voters.

[SaskiaStars]

In fact, he actually said that he believes the American people are smarter than that- which of course is true because the numbers show that he has not lost support at all. Apparently he has gotten a bump in the polls, a bump in donations and a bump in super delegates. He answered the questions as plainly and non-defensively as he possibly could and then he would say something like "but this is not going to do anything about the gas prices or the economy"- class act.

The debate was an ambush that Hillary wanted because she mistakenly thought that voters care about these petty non-issues - and the right-wing smear machine had a hand in it by feeding questions to Georgie boy because they want to run against Hillary because they KNOW they can kill her- this was a set up but for different reasons.

Hillary keeps saying that she has been vetted so there is nothing left to find out - but what she and her supporters seem to b e forgetting is that it is precisely because of these things that they already know about her that the the right wants to run against her- they HATE her and they just can't wait to hammer us with Monica-gate, Vince Foster, Whitewater, Chu, NAFTA, Bosnia, etc. They would win in a landslide against her.

[WinceCarter]

All the little Obamaklowns whining so hard about the debate tells you all you need to know. Obama is toast in the GE.

[Toonbytes07]

Keep telling yourself that. McCain picking Clinton as VP is the only way Clinton will ever participate in the GE. Maybe she can try to defeat Obama there?

[SaskiaStars]

not a chance

[Peteyman]

That's OBAMABOT to you, you darn clintonista.

[sef2121]

Living overseas and six hours ahead of EST, I read the news on the debate before I actually watched the whole thing last nigh online. I really do understand what the brew-ha-ha is about. Obama flat out did not answer the questions on HRC's trustworthiness, an issue his campaign has been hammering into the ground for over a year. He could not come up with one example (this is often the case when I ask my friends who are supporting Obaam why they think HRC is untrustworthy, they only mention Bosnia). Obama did get creamed, but ABC was no harder on him than other moderators have been on HRC or Edwards in the beginning for that matter. While issues like the bittergate, the Ayers, Farrakhan and Wright connection and the blatant lie about that gun questionnaire are not as important as the war, they are dealbreakers in the general and Obama left them unanswered. Obama wants to raise taxes on the middle class (SS) but then says he doesn't, then admits he does for SS anyways, then backtracks. Hillary was strongest on the war, gas prices and jobs. Obama needs to get over himself and come up with some new, specific talking points if he goes up against McCain. The same old lines won't work anymore for him, especially not when people start asking him real questions.

[Safire]

Crickets. Stay overseas! You are ill-informed!

I hope that when the Clintons, yes both end up in court on the pending suit, you will be as verbose about them!

Anyways?.... Oh, you are so erudite.

[Toonbytes07]

He avoided answering the question not because he couldn't, but because he wouldn't. He wanted to discuss the issues. Your mentality is the problem and the ground-swell will change the old politics.

[onthegoodfoot]

It appears that the gap is narrowing on just what questions people are allowed to ask Obama.
In that regard, he is an elitist. DO NOT ask me anything relevant or that I don't feel like answering seems to be his mindset.

[majseventh]

She totally creamed him in the debate. You should also read the transcript as it is really revealing and you really get that he didn't know what to say and she was awesome. She did get into detail on Foreign Affairs and that was good.
He has way too many unsavory friends and mentors to say the least. Bad judgement hanging around people like that, or he isn't what he says he is. There is no middle ground here. He joked about it and made fun and says no more debates because he was blown out of the water.
They made him actually answer some questions that show his lack of patriotism and judgement.
Vote for Hillary. Write the superdelegates and ask them to vote for Hillary.
She will beat McCain, not him. He doesn't have a chance.

[Kalima]

Do you remember the children's game called "I have a secret" I think it was called,
where one person is told something and passes it along to the next and so on.
Your post reminds me of this because you believe that your candidate "creamed
him." There were no winners or losers because this was not a debate. When he
left, he wasn't limping. Your girl on the other hand showed her true colours once
again, and could not take responsibility for her Bosnia lie. Getting the troops out
of Iraq in 60 days or a few months is another lie and would be impossible to do.
So if it makes you feel safe and fuzzy to believe that Hillary won this farce on ABC,
go ahead but everyone who looks for the truth, will think otherwise.

[StephenJK]

He simply sucks at debate. There is no need to make excuses. I'm pretty sure most of us could put up a good debate fight v. Obama. Hillary creams him every time. The only people who don't think so are his vociferous supporters. LOL

[Safire]

She creamed him? HAHAHA

She may have gotten her shots in, while in cahoots with the two buffoons that set up the 3 ring circus,
but, nah, she did not cream him!

She just made herself look like the LIAR she is! How about her very long reply as she wound and wound around Tom's question about her lying! Then she admits her LIE, then she lied again, trying to diminish the amount of times she lied! HAHAHA

She admitted it! She is chronic. Oh, she blew him out of the water? LOL

Nah. Time will tell though.

I can't wait until the law suit comes up! She is not only a liar, but she also lacks INTEGRITY!

[vincie]

GET OVER IT. HE IS NOT THE MAN THE MEDIA AND HIS CAMPAIGN LED US TO BELIEVE. SHE LIED ABOUT BOSNIA. WHAT ELSE. HE LIES ABOUT EVERYTHING. HE CAN'T HANDLE HIMSELF IN A DEBATE, THERE IS NO ONE THERE TO TELL HIM WHAT TO SAY. HE READS A GOOD SPEECH, HE READS IT VERY WELL, THAT DOES NOT MAKE A PRESIDENT. SORRY, I CANNOT AND WILL NOT VOTE FOR THIS INEXPERIENCE MAN. ONE AND A HALF HOURS IN THE SENATE AND DECIDES HE WANTS TO BECOME PRESIDENT. HE HAS AN EGO, HE DOESN'T LIKE ANYONE TO ASK HIM QUESTIONS. THAT I THINK IS THE MEDIA'S FAULT FOR BUILDING HIM UP SO MUCH THAT HE HAS TO FALL DOWN. HE REALLY BELIEVES HIS PRESS.

[riverhouse]

HIllary always does well in the nasty parts. It's her natural habitat. I find Obama's human decency and grace to be refreshing. Clinton supporters are either willfully ignoring all the sleaze and scandal, divisiveness and chaos of the Clinton terms in the White House - including more unsavory characters than the White House had ever seen - or are simply ignorant.

The issue of patriotism does not reside in a cheap, Chinese made flag lapel pin. Patriotism is pride of country. Proud to be the American who bombs civilian populations indiscriminately? Proud of an America that can't pay its bills without borrowing from our enemies? That lets millions of its citizens sink into struggle and despair? That incarcerates its citizens at a rate beyond that of all civilized nations? Proud of an America that has trashed its Bill of Rights? That offends human decency by torturing? That sells off its commitment to the welfare of citizens to corporate interests? Do you know that in the midst of this harrowing time for millions of American families, losing their homes and jobs and all hope of any fit future, that the US is giving more welfare support to Israeli citizens than to our own? That we have just given tens of millions in housing subsidies to Israelis while Americans lose their homes and relief is given to the financial institutions taking those houses? This is the government of Bush / Clinton / Bush and will be the government of Hillary Clinton.