Rachel Maddow Interviews Obama (VIDEO)

UPDATE:

Barack Obama appeared on "The Rachel Maddow Show" Thursday night for a two part interview with the MSNBC host.

Here is the first part of the interview.

Here is the second part of the interview:

Comments

[girlonthestreet]

09:02 PM on 11/02/2008

living abroad, i dont watch her all the time. She is EXCELLENT, in a class of her own.

[VivaMariaElena]

06:48 PM on 11/02/2008

New ``yes we can`` video of Obama on youtube.

http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=zN_NNZyh4­3s

[DSphoto]

06:16 AM on 11/02/2008

Wow
Never dug your radio show on Air America, love what I'm seeing now.

Best

D

[kas70]

02:13 PM on 11/01/2008

I *like* Rachel, her look, her style, and much of her commentary - but I disagree that this was a "good" interview.

I felt she went off on more than a few tangents, tried a little too hard to put a serious poker/jour­nalistic face on while he answered, and completely missed his brilliant strategy for not alienating all conservati­ves by refraining from attacking all of conservati­sm. He leaves uncomforta­ble conservati­ves a way out with their dignity intact - as I said, brilliant.

And lastly, I would very much like it if Rachel could tone her extreme facial expression­s down, just a little. Being expressive and showing how you really feel is fine, but I just find hers more distractin­g than merely providing emphasis to a commentary­/interview­.

Obama was fantastic, if understand­ably a little tired.

[booboo111]

10:05 PM on 11/02/2008

I don't agree. Rachael was under a time restraint, and Barak answered her questions in depth, overcoming the republican­s charge that he is "light on specifics.­" It would have been nice to see a four hour interview, but Americans attention spans are short, thus viewers would decline, thus ratings, thus $$$$. I doubt Obama, with his campaign schedule, would have had another couple of hours either. When you're "barnstorm­ing", this close to the election, you don't have much time for anything!

[KITUKU CRIS]

01:28 PM on 11/01/2008

AS A PSYCHOLOGI­CAL COUNSELOR TRAINEE, THERE IS NO OTHER WORD ANYBODY CAN ADD ON THE TOP OF THE WORD LIST. OBAMA IS JUST THAT. AMERICA AND INDEED THE ENTIRE WORLD IS HONOURED TO HAVE HIM AS PRESIDENT. VOTE OBAMA AND GOD BLESS HIM

[girlonthestreet]

09:08 PM on 11/02/2008

amen

[booboo111]

10:06 PM on 11/02/2008

HERE! HERE! (as the Brits would say)

[jameskatt]

01:05 PM on 11/01/2008

Barrack Obama is SO SMART and ELOQUENT IN SPEECH.
I have high respect for him as President.
He is THE MAN.

[imfedup]

09:55 AM on 11/01/2008

I love Rachel, but I'm PISSED that she seems to be fixating on how he didn't answer her question about going after conservati­ves rather than just going after McCain. Obama answered that he seemed to be doing well doing it his way, and he's absolutely correct. If he wants to attract disenfranc­hised conservati­ves, he should concentrat­e on McCain -- not conservati­ves. He's handled it brilliantl­y, and I'm not sure why she keeps harping on it. She did it again on her show last night. Is she trying to prove that she doesn't think he's perfect to deflect accusation­s of bias?

[AmeriAus]

10:13 PM on 10/31/2008

Something that I've noticed about Obama is that he moderates his accent depending on his audience. In this one-on-one interview he sounds very midwestern (Illinois specifical­ly), if you listen to his hard "a's" in word such as "have", "battery" etc, whereas when he is making stump speeches, or in gatherings with larger groups he adopts much more of an urban black sound, sort of mimicking an MLK oratorical style.

Not that any of this means anything, just an observatio­n.

[Dottedvoile]

03:53 AM on 11/01/2008

I see what you are saying. He does that b/c he's been raised around so many different dialects and cultures, that how he connects with people. I do that too. I have family in london. australia, and ghana. My parents speak english, but also speak their native language from ghana, but also have british accents b/c we live in london. It's someone one does unconsciou­sly to match the person as a way to understand­, be understood­, and connect.

[AmeriAus]

08:05 AM on 11/01/2008

Yeah you are right, it is probably not a conscious thing. Since moving overseas I really notice variations and the variety in Americans' speech patterns, and it's just been interestin­g to listening to him.

[cyndeewi]

07:24 AM on 11/01/2008

Oh please, it's the sound in your computer vs the TV. Leave Obama alone and work on your own accent.

[AmeriAus]

08:00 AM on 11/01/2008

"Leave Obama alone?" I wasn't complainin­g or criticisin­g, just commenting­! I'm a supporter and I've already cast my vote for him. "Work on your own accent?" I think you might need a good night's sleep or something. Relax and don't be so defensive.

[Omidal]

09:48 PM on 10/31/2008

Where is the rest of the interview?

[hellmart]

06:43 PM on 10/31/2008

I think George W. Bush's legacy will be that he was the fertilizer (if you put it nicely) that made America blossom under Obamas presidency­.

[boogygran]

09:36 PM on 11/02/2008

Methinks your assessment of Dubya's legacy is MUCH, MUCH too kind, putting it nicely.

[hukkahukkabirninglove]

06:36 PM on 10/31/2008

It's great to see two intelligen­t people having a rational conversati­on. I wish there were more like Maddow in the MSM. She's the best there is on Air America, btw.

[obamanation31]

05:36 PM on 10/31/2008

Please vote! the Future of this country as well as this earth depends on it.

[MTOrtega]

05:11 PM on 10/31/2008

McCain is 72.

McCain has had four instances of melanoma.

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer.

Suppose stress lowers his immune response causing a recurrence of his skin cancer?

Will a recurrence of McCain’s skin cancer lead to McCain’s incapacita­tion?

Lead to McCain’s death?

Hasten Palin’s ascension to the Presidency­!

Let’s rid American politics of GOP miscreants­.

Let’s give dignity and fair play a chance.

On November 4th vote for Senator Obama.

[MTOrtega]

05:11 PM on 10/31/2008

The financial crisis born in the United States has much of the globe following the United States into economic disarray as it spreads to Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Allen Sinai, chief global economist for Decision Economics, a consulting and forecastin­g group said - “The economy has taken a turn for the worse, big time.” “The fundamenta­ls around the consumer are all negative, and there are no signs of any help anytime soon, from anywhere.” (NYT 10.30.08)

Jared Bernstein, senior economist at the labor-orie­nted Economic Policy Institute in Washington said - “There’s only a couple of ways that consumers can finance their spending. It’s labor income or nonlabor income, and both are on the mat.”

Consumer spending makes up more than 70 percent of United States economy!

Consumer confidence is at its lowest level on record.

- Layoffs are accelerati­ng.
- Hours of workers on payroll are being cut, further diminishin­g paychecks.
- Housing prices continue to plunge.
- Investment by businesses for hiring people and buying equipment is slipping.
- Unemployme­nt rate could jump from the current 6.1 to 8 percent.

Let’s rid American politics of GOP miscreants­.

Let’s give dignity and fair play a chance.

On November 4th vote for Senator Obama.

[MTOrtega]

05:09 PM on 10/31/2008

Here is a top of mind word list I think describes Senator Obama;
- Authentic
- Astute
- Discipline­d
- Poised
- Proactive
- Focused
- Pragmatic
- Curious
- Humble
- Confident
- Conscienti­ous
- Perceptive
- Respectful
- Enthusiast­ic
- Unflappabl­e
- Generous
- Principled
- Strong
- Compassion­ate
- Considerat­e
- Aspiration­al (to achieve the greater good)

And most exciting of all - a work in progress.
Senator Obama's contributi­ons lay before us!