Biden Slammed During Florida Interview, Same Anchor Gives McCain Softballs

Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden gave it to Florida WFTV anchor Barbara West Thursday when she asked him a slew of questions straight out of John McCain's talking points.

West began the interview by asking whether Biden was "embarrassed" by Barack Obama's association with ACORN. Biden refuted the false association between ACORN and Obama and rightly mentioned John McCain's speech during a rally sponsored by ACORN in 2006. Watch the interview below:

If you don't think West was laying a trap for Biden with rhetorical questions that are central to John McCain and Sarah Palin's speeches, then watch her treatment of John McCain in an interview on October 14th.

Biden asked her if his interview was a "joke" and wondered aloud who was writing her questions. Conservative writers, like Michelle Malkin, are trying to use Biden's negative reaction to biased questions as proof that he's even more erratic than John McCain. It's a huge stretch. Not only has John McCain increasingly accused the entire media establishment of being in the tank for Obama after years of calling the press his "base," but on Thursday he showed clear erratic behavior by snapping at a reporter over an immigration question:

At one point in the interview, McCain grew frustrated with a Tampa television reporter during her questions on immigration issues. McCain twice said illegal immigrants who have committed crimes would be rounded up. Katie Coronado of WFLA-TV asked if that meant using raids to round up immigrants.

"What did I just say that had any connotation of raids?" McCain said, raising his voice with impatience. "Let me try one more time."

He again explained the idea of forcing illegal immigrants out of the country by issuing ID cards and fining employers who hire illegals. He then softened his tone.

"I apologize," he said to Coronado. "I understand how important an issue it is. I didn't mean to be flip."

The Obama campaign responded to Biden's treatment by canceling a subsequent WFTV interview with his wife, Jill. Obama's Florida spokeswoman, Adrianne Marsh, called Biden's interviewer, Barbara West, "both combative and woefully uninformed about simple facts."

WFTV news director Bob Jordan refuted the bias by saying, "Mr. Biden didn't like the questions," Jordan said. "We choose not to ask softball questions."

Yes, tough questions are great Mr. Jordan, but not if some of them are 100% false or aim to equate the Democratic candidate for president with Karl Marx. Even John McCain wasn't subject to that kind of questioning when he flipped on Ms. Coronado on Thursday.

Comments

[larkar]

A socialist country as Sweden? Do your home work woman...

If Sweden is a socialistic country, what is then a country where the goverment execute people, put people in jail without fair trials and where some people are excluded from certain jobs because of their sexual orientation. A facist country?

This woman is of course very partisan but does that excuse her from being dumber than Oreily? She obviously managed to find a qoute from Marxx. Couldn´t she at the same time try to find some facts about Sweden?

News coverege in the US seem to be more and more inspired by the way the Russian way of covering news: No facts, only opinion.

[concernvoter]

The joke is on Barbara West!!!!

[legalclubs]

Biden only experienced what any Republican experiences while going on MSNBC, ABC, CBC, CNN, or just about any station (with the exception of Fox News) for a Television Interview. The reporter asked tough questions and Biden flipped out. What a baby. Then they cancel subsequent interviews to punish the station for daring to ask questions!

[IndianaMeg]

Yeah, gee whiz, I hate it when those evil "liberal" news venues ask questions about the issues. How DARE they???

That reporter from Tampa was asking him crap about ACORN and other non-issue issues (John McCain attack ad components) that have already been put to rest on numerous occasions. The only reason the GOP and reporters like this lady won't let them continue to rest is because they have NOTHING ELSE to go on. They have to make mountains out of molehills, or they 'd have nothing to talk about. Heaven knows she couldn't ask Biden about the actual issues, because he'd give her great answers and that might make for boring television.

The evil "liberal" news media don't have to make up bogus, crazy questions for McCain and Palin. They can ask them standard questions on the actual issues (the economy, foreign policy, immigration, etc.) and they still come up with the nuttiness on their own. No baiting required!!!

[Ron52]

I'm undecided as to who to vote for in the upcomming election. As I understand it, Obama's tax plan includes tripling the Earned Income Tax Credit for low income people and as well as letting Bush's tax cut expire and cutting taxes for income less than $250,000.00. McCain wants to increase the personal exemption to a$7,500.00 per person and cut capital gains and keep Bush's tax cuts. Who do you think will have the BEST effect on the American People and why?

[legalclubs]

Well that's the fundamental question of the election and probably impossible to answer in the limited words allowed on this post. All the Dems will say Obama because he will revamp the war on terror to make sense, fix the economy, and restore America to greatness, but the Republicans will say the exact same thing about McCain.

Most of the issues you presented go strictly to the economy. I personally think Obama is being dishonest by promising no increase in taxes (and even a tax cut) for 95% of the country while at the same time letting the Bush tax cut's expire which will de facto raise taxes on a much greater percentage of Americans then 5%. What...is he going to shrug his shoulders and say ....OPPS... when half the country ends up paying more and say that he didn't raise taxes, the cuts just expired? On the other hand, McCain is such a self-rightious ass with a bad temperment and an even worse VP pick, that I think you have to go Obama. I expect Obama to win, I want him to win, however, based almost 20 years of voting I also expect that many of his campaign promises will fall by the wayside...they're all liars in the end and will do whatever is expedient.

[antiprop1]

Legalclubs:
You have raised many interesting issues here. I expect Obama to win. And when he takes office he will realize that America will not go for high taxes and entitlement programs. He seems like a pragmatic man who will run Clinton style centrist policies.
His economic advisors are from Clinton's team. Is being politically expedient a bad thing after all? After 8 years of 'you are either with us or against us' absolutism we need a change. The current Republican party is being ran by political strategists who pander to a evangelical base. Reason has been replaced by religiously driven ideology so nicely represented by Sarah Palin. I am ready to take a chance on an unproven man before I would try 4 more years of failed policies.

[legalclubs]

continued from prior post...I guess I should also point out that Obama's plan to provide a "tax cut" to the bottom 40% of income earners, those who don't pay federal income taxes, will likely bankrupt Social Security and Medicare. As Obama explained he will only provide the "tax cut" to those who are working and paying "payroll taxes" (payroll taxes are Social Security and Medicare). So, he is essentially removing or reducing 40% of the country from paying into Social Security and Medicare, programs which are already on the brinck of failure. How this doesn't break these programs, programs that are essentially set up for each individual to contribute for their cost of the program, over the next 20 years is beyond me.

[Number15]

In response to legalblubs:

I believe that those bankrupting the system are people who are collecting social security and whose retirement incomes are over the 250,000. If you clearing over 100,000K in retirement income you should not even qualify for social security or medicare.

I also think you need to take a real look at the issues.. not the biased fox or huffpo perspective. I would suggest thinking outside the box for a minute. We need to find a way to improve everyones lives in the United States. We have Iraq veterns homeless in our streets, unable to seek medical care. Those men fought for our right to buy a gas guzzling SUV if we felt like it. We need to find a way to take care of the average person in this country.

I plan on voting for Obama, not because he's Obama. or i think he can solve everything. . I'm am voting for him because i feel as though he's the lesser of two evils. As a woman i hope that he will make good to protect my god-given reproductive rights.

Also ... Bush still has on his desk the HSS regulation that would classify any type of birth control as abortion. He my sign it on his way out. Setting women back to the day's when the pope ruled the world. Please make sure you congressional representatives know about this. Or all men will be using trojans unless you want to have 17 kids.

[NJmikeV]

STOP READING THIS AND GO MAKE SOME PHONE CALLS !
You can do it from home http://www.barackobama.com/index.php

[zenx98]

Joe showed why he's the #2 man! His reaction was spot on! He dismissed the insinuations for what they were and then calmly and methodically dismantled her assertions. Out of the park!!!

[nomorebologney]

the tv station is sending emailed replies (had to do excerpts):

" Barbara West, one of our most experienced anchors, was asked to interview Senator Biden, just as she had been on previous occasions.

It is our goal at Eyewitness News when interviewing any political candidate or public official to ask them a direct question about an issue currently in the public debate. Last week, when much of the political discourse centered on Senator Obama's statement to 'Joe the Plumber' that he thought 'sharing the wealth' was a good idea, Barbara decided to ask Senator Biden just how far an Obama-Biden administration would go in 'sharing the wealth'. What followed was very pointed, provocative question. We allowed Senator Biden to answer, fully unedited.

We tell our reporters and news anchors to ask the questions that one of our viewers might ask. For example, when Senator Obama visited Lakeland recently, Barbara (knowing her time with a presidential candidate would be limited) asked Senator Obama two questions: first, about drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico; and, second, about his position on the space program. The Senator's answers dominated the news cycle for the next day.

Perhaps more than any other presidential election in recent memory, this current election has stirred passions - some of them quite partisan - in many people. Through it all, we believe our mission is to address vital issues that we will face together, regardless of our own personal views with thorough, even handed reporting."

[SparkyDash]

(amended from 10/28/08 for petition website)
My apologies if this information has already been posted. Many of us are part of a petition gathering signatures requesting that this station, WFTV, apologize to Senator Biden. The questions were egregiously outlandish and obviously posed to embarrass Mr. Biden or stir anger. WFTV and especially Ms. West and her husband were disappointed with the outcome: Senator Biden, you showed Ms. West and America real class. You are a gentleman, and I am so proud to have you on our side. You're a better man and performed superior than most of us would have in the same situation. Please consider adding your name and comments to the petition and writing your thoughts to station http://www.wftv.com/contact/index.html. The petition site is:
http://firedoglake.com/2008/10/27/action-item-tell-wftv-and-barbara-west-to-apologize-for-biden-hatchet-job/

Thank you for your time.

[absolument]

I'll sign those, but not because the question put Joe on the spot, or intended to "embarrass" him, etc. I'll sign a petition to fire Barbara West because she used her "question" to smuggle in a false assertion -- a lie -- that targeting tax cuts at the least wealthy 95% of people amount to socialism. It is only equity to force all citizens to pay their fair share, which tax breaks for "capital gains" evade. West and the GOP are desperately trying to substitute statistics with rhetoric, to sustain the impression that the rich are currently paying their fair share. They are not.

http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=wealth+distribution+united+states

http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=tax+burden+by+income

Hey, thank you for yours!

[bannorhill]

Looking at

http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=6

We find the percentage of federal income taxes by the top 1% of income earners in the US

Year Per cent of total income taxes paid
2002 33.71%
2003 34.27%
2004 36.89%
2005 39.38%
2006 39.89%

One per cent of US taxpayers pay almost 40% of the taxes.
Is that unfair?

[tdelamatter]

Pay THEIR fare share. THEY PAY OVER 45 to 65% OF THEIR INCOME (when you factor every tax rich people have to pay). This isn't rhetoric but truth.

I'm done with this crowd, you guys are very partisan and not equipped to understand what is truly ailing the Nation. I'm sick of this tit for tat arguing. It's not about Republican vs Democrat, it's about people's needs!!!!!

Signing petitions on a women who was only reading what was written for her, signing this silly thing and that silly thing. You guys need to come back to the real world. Put down your Latte and join Humankind, PLEASE!

[QB2626]

Good job Barbara West! Journalists are supposed to ask politicians questions. Not softball questions or a free pass. We might know something about Obama at this point if more journalists asked real questions. If you don't have anything to hide you answer questions.

[Icantbelieveher]

Just like Sarah Palin has answered questions and done interviews from the first day!

[zenx98]

,...so when exactly did you stop beating YOUR wife?

[iamacyborg]

... and does she know you're gay?

[IndianaMeg]

So why didn't she give the same treatment to McCain that you are so in favor of? You don't seem to care that she was lobbing softballs to him.

[Geranium]

John McCain may have told ACORN that they have done some good work, as Joe says on the tape, but then he DENIES any association between ACORN and Obama? I beg to differ, Joe - Obama worked DIRECTLY with Madeline Talbot, an ACORN leader in Chicago, who was so impressed with Obama's organizing skills, that she asked him to help train her own staff - and he did. He also directed millions of dollars to ACORN as a board member of two foundations. Lastly, he was one of the attorneys who represented ACORN against the state of Ilinois to force state compliance with a federal voting access law, the good old "Motor Voter" law. And Barbara West is the one getting vilified for asking honest questions? Don't you think she (and we) deserved some HONEST answers?

[Icantbelieveher]

The problem is this! Associating Obama with ACORN means nothing!!! The investigations into ACORN were put to rest with the last election, when the U.S. Attorneys found nothing to prosecute, which is why Bush had them fired. It was recently found that they were fired illegally!!!

ACORN has never registered a voter fraudulently, because ACORN has never registered a voter!!! It is not their job to register voters or even verify the validity of the registrations they turn in!!! And so if it is a law that states are to allow citizens to register to vote at the DMV, what is the problem with Obama helping to enforce a law?

Your comments mean nothing. Why not check out the voter fraud being committed by the GOP, where there are actually arrests, and will be prosecution. The ACORN accusations amount to nothing but voter suppression and anyone who can look the information up online can refute the accusations. It's why they've moved on from those accusations, because they've been proven false and they helped Obama raise more $$$ for his campaign.

[Darrell34]

Accusations are easy to make...why not share some credible sources and documentation?

[tdelamatter]

Acorn has always been a fringe group of Democrat supporters who try to say they are non-partisan, but lets at least be honest, they are in the tank for Obama. They gave a pittance of money to the McCain campaign in order to try and show they aren't for one or the other. The video's that have been shown from their own meetings clearly reveals who they support collectively. It's not that big of a deal, what is a huge deal is the fact they can procure money from the government then put their own people in. This is the problem of Washington and why normal people feel disconnected. This is what Mr. Obama started his campaign railing against and now he just sits back and tows the political line. It happens to most Politicians and I guess he is no different. What we are seeing with Mr. Obama is how power corrupts people. He may have been genuine when he said he wanted to get rid of Washington crap, but now he is side by side by the insiders insider
( Mr. Biden), and is looking like a normal candidate. To say anything else is to be disingenuous.

The fraud incidentally cannot be looked up online because the internet can be manipulated by the right people, and ACORN has the right people. It is in the court system right now with all the pertinent information.

[Geranium]

Then why didn't Pal Joey answer truthfully?

[ZalaK]

These weren't questions, but rather insinuations posed to force a reaction. She claims she's simply asking tough questions...but I thought informed journalists weren't supposed to lead their subject into the answer they want to hear? This was too staged to pretend quality journalism. Joe Biden's responses were great, given the low caliber interview.

[Darrell34]

What a GREAT set of questions! That TV station should give Ms. West a substantial raise in pay for having the courage to ask the questions the rest of the media refuses to ask.

[tdelamatter]

If you believe this, why did you say this?

"Because someone actually had the courage to ask some real questions? Are you kidding or just stupid? "

[gaja]

I feel sorry for you. Stop listening to the hate speech and get informed. She should be fired. That is not journalism.

[Geranium]

Yours is a statement that would make an Obama Regime Proud.

[swampscrapper]

DId Laura Ingraham have plastic surgery? She looks different than I remember her.

[Digest Fact]

Please email Ms. West. Let her know how much of her joke the interview was. Please be respectful.

barbara.we­[e-mail]­m

[mars4593]

This Republic reporter was on MSNBC this morning with Joe Scarborugh.
She is also married to a republican strategists.
She is located in the I-4 Corridor in Florida which will decide the race for Florida.

She said this morning how she is just a journalist asking tough questions and went on to describe her own views in the very next sentence.

Do people really think because they sound professional their words wont be heard?
I think she would fit in fine at FOX.

[zenx98]

"Do people really think because they sound professional their words wont be heard?"
YES! They do. Worse,...what comes out of their talking heads is burned as bible into millions eager followers. The culture wars are far from over.