Moderator Olbermann will open AFL-CIO Candidates Forum with question that might push them off guard

[DeepModem Mom]

AFL-CIO Now Blog: Forum Moderator Olbermann: Union Card May Have Saved His Broadcast Career
by Mike Hall, Aug 3, 2007

....The host of MSNBC’s “Countdown,” Olbermann is set to moderate the AFL-CIO’s Presidential Candidates Forum in Chicago on Tuesday evening. The response from union families has been so great that the forum will be held at Soldier Field, where as many as 15,000 union household members are expected.

The forum will be broadcast live on MSNBC starting at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central) and on XM radio....There also will be up-to-the minute commentary and coverage on the AFL-CIO Now blog. Some of the questions Olbermann will ask the seven Democratic presidential hopefuls will come from the more than 2,200 submitted by union members at the AFL-CIO’s Working Families Vote 2008 website....

***

Q. You’ve watched the other debates, I’m sure. Your impressions?

KO: The Democrats have largely been useful in terms of their answers. I think we have seen a lot of gradation of opinion–the most obvious ones being between Sen. Obama and Sen. Clinton on the matter of Iraq, national security, dealing with unfriendly powers. I think we’ve seen gradations, we’ve seen subtleties without, for the most part, the kind of bloodletting that usually accompanies disagreements nowadays in politics. If two people are not in total agreement, no matter where they sit down on the political spectrum, you sit there thinking, “I wonder when they are going to pull the knives out.” That’s how tempestuous a political time we live in. I think the Democrats have largely kept that under control and I think that’s a wise strategy....

Q. What’s your take on the role of unions in politics?

KO: The symbiosis if you will, or certainly the hand-holding between unions and political organizations, is one of the reasons – and people always look at this kind of backwards – that this country became the economic kingpin of the world. Economists will often, and certainly political scientists will often view that as “we did it in spite of the unions.” It is the other way around.

Unions, after all represent the people who are coveted by and boasted of by both political parties and every kind of politician – the proverbial average American. Unions gained a political voice through a form of collectivism. It (union political action) has always been entirely appropriate. It is essential to the welfare of the people who are represented by unions and it is a terrific way to let politicians know what large groups of the public want….The union base might be the last organic collective interest in American politics....

Q. This might sound a little odd, but if you looked up from your notes on Tuesday and saw President Bush behind one of the lecterns and had one question to ask – and as implausible as this sounds, he would answer truthfully (laughter) – what would it be?

KO: Oh boy (10 seconds of silence)….Who convinced you to go to war? I think the “who” would precipitate most of the answers regarding the “why,” rather than the other way around. I could ask the question either way, but I think “who” would give us a full outline....

***

Olbermann also says he has pondered opening the AFL-CIO presidential forum with a question that “might push them a little off guard.” But we can’t tell you what that is – don’t want to ruin the surprise.

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/08/03/forum-moderator-olbermann-union-card-may-have-saved-his-broadcast-career/

[Tarheel_Dem]

1. k&r....n/t

[avrdream]

2. I love seeing them pushed "off guard".

It makes them give honest answers and the viewer gets to see how mature each candidate is.

No matter who I am for, I am proud of the way the Dems have handled the debates.

[Berry Cool]

3. I love what he says about the Republicans in the debates:

The Republican ones that I’ve seen–there have been as many on the first occasion as 10 guys acting as if they have just fallen off the boat and are trying to get into a life raft that only holds two of them, and a couple of the guys in the water already have the oars. Those have been really tense, I thought. It’s a little reminiscent of watching local sportscasters, say, 20 years ago, who can yell the loudest?

Also love his perspective on his role as a broadcaster.

K&R with relish! (not to mention ketchup and mustard)

[DeepModem Mom]

4. LOL! Thanks for adding this, Berry! nt

[Berry Cool]

5. Oh, I thought it might be appropriate

especially after the complaints posted here following his description of how the Republican candidates walked into the Simi Valley debate vs. how the Democrats walked into the one in South Carolina. He said they looked more like a parade of royalty marching in as one, and apparently that comment pissed a lot of people off because they thought he was saying that THEY were royal and noble or something.

Seems to me like his impression was that the Repubs are good at making an impression when they march into a debate, but when they actually open their mouths and start talking...look out.

One more thing, though: I think if * was at this debate and Keith asked him point blank "Who convinced you to go to war?," he wouldn't come out with a full confession as to the lengthy list of neocons who talked him into it. He'd just sit there blankly for a few seconds, as if he didn't know what to say and was waiting for his prompt, and then he'd reply: "Well, if Ah were to tell you who convinced me that the liberation of Iraq was necessary (he wouldn't even use the word "war"), Ah would have to tell you, 'God. The Almighty.' He showed me that this was a tahm in history when Murca had to stan' up for Good in the face of Evil."

And Keith would just sigh and go on.

[mopinko]

6. i've got a ticket for this

i can't wait.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. That is great! Please post a report! nt

[mopinko]

8. i suspect

that i will be unable to NOT post a report. i will drop you a note.

[Berry Cool]

10. I envy you.

If I had a union card today, I'd go. It's going to be like Woodstock, only with Keith and the Dems.

[jillan]

9. Keith moderating!

Really looking forward to this!!!!!!!