It’s just a flesh wound….

Posted on April 30, 2008 by garychapelhill

Riverdaughter, I see your Life of Brian and raise you a Holy Grail:

I just got done watching Hillary on the O’Reilly show. What a great interview. You know, I remember what all the Obama bloggers were saying before he went on Fox. His campaign promised he was going to take them on, he would be tough. So what did he do? He threw them all under the bus. Now Hillary goes on Fox, not with nice guy Chris Wallace, but straight to the belly of the beast, The Factor with Bill O. She not only was tough, she was smart, funny, and anwered everything he had without missing a beat. Her reaction to Bill’s question about Fox being fair to her was to reply with just a touch of sarcasm, “I wouldn’t expect anything but fair and balanced coverage from Fox”. She looked happy, like she’s having a good time, and most importantly, like she knows what the hell she is talking about. That is how you “take on” Fox.

After the interview Bill had on a couple of Obama supporters. They both agreed that Hillary did a good job. Then Nancy Skinner took Bill to task for implying that Obama’s campaign had derailed. Rough transcript:

Nancy Skinner:…all these distractions about Wright, I got to take you to task for one thing Bill, when you said that Rev. Wright, that this had derailed Obama’s campaign. I don’t even think thats close to the truth.

Bill O: Well then you’re not reading the polls Nancy.Because the polls came out today. Obama’s unfavorable rating went up 11 points. So you’re not reading the polls.

Nancy Skinner: It’s a speed bump, its not being derailed obviously, and its over.

Now, my partner and I just saw Spam-a-Lot a couple weeks ago, and he turned to me after she said that and said, “yeah, its just a flesh wound, no big deal”.

**UPDATE: Fox just reported Clinton up by 2 pts in NC in new Insider Advantage poll. Flesh wound indeed!!

**UPDATE II:  I almost forgot, if you listen to the video closely I believe the black knight uses a certain word that means wilting flower, which may or may not be offensive.

Filed under: General

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39 Responses

  1. katiebird, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:10 pm Said:

    Gary,

    “Fox just reported Clinton up by 2 pts in NC in new Insider Advantage poll.”

    UP by 2? Does that mean she’s ahead of BO by 2 points? Or up 2 points over the last poll?

    !!

  2. riverdaughter, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:14 pm Said:

    Gary: Great scene! She has learned how to keep it lite. I mean, what’s O’Reilly going to do? Bleed on her? Too good!

  3. garychapelhill, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:14 pm Said:

    Yeah, can you believe it??? 44-42. Haven’t seen the actual poll, just heard it in passing on fox. Great news!

  4. Nature Guy, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:17 pm Said:

    Hillary did a great job! She was relaxed, funny, and held her ground well. I was very proud of her! I am looking forward to watching part 2 tomorrow.

    Go Hillary!

  5. bostonboomer, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:17 pm Said:

    OMG! She’s ahead in NC? I wonder if she could actually win there? Wouldn’t that be great? Then Obama would have to drop out, and Howard Dean and Donna Brazile could stop yelling at the superdelegates to make up their minds.

    It’s all over but the shouting.

  6. riverdaughter, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:21 pm Said:

    Hey, you guys, until we hear it from SUSA we should just consider these polls as showing trends. SUSA is the gold standard. Besides, it’s better to campaign like you’re 2 points behind and take nothing for granted.

  7. garychapelhill, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:22 pm Said:

    I can’t find any documentation on line yet, they are reporting they same over at MyDD. Insider Advantage Poll in NC, Hillary Clinton: 44%, Barack Obama: 42%. I’m guessing the remaining 12% are undecided. If that’s right, its huge. I really feel like things have been changing big time here. We will see…

  8. bostonboomer, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:23 pm Said:

    The SUSA poll came out Monday, didn’t it? Hillary behind by only 5? That didn’t include the Wright stuff though.

  9. bostonboomer, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:24 pm Said:

    Gary,

    If that many are really undecided, it is very good for Hillary. She has been picking up most of the late deciders in all the primaries.

  10. garychapelhill, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:25 pm Said:

    Riverdaughter,

    absolutely right, and even if it were where we are at, those 12% undecideds will determine who wins. No time to start feeling comfortable

  11. bostonboomer, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:26 pm Said:

    Here is BTD’s post on the SUSA poll–Barack ahead by only 5. That was yesterday.
    http://www.talkleft.com/story/2008/4/29/113359/438

  12. Pat Johnson, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:39 pm Said:

    I can’t believe this!!! This afternoon she was behind by 5 points and closing. This is so cool! Tuesday cannot come soon enough.

  13. Coldblue Steele, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:42 pm Said:

    Hillary exuded confidence in the O’Reilly interview. No hem, no haw, just Hillary winning over another skeptic.

  14. ronkseattle, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:46 pm Said:

    I guess I’ve missed a few developments today, and have a lot of catching up to do – not all of it here.

    Gary, good to have you on board. Remarkably, NC may very well end up being ground zero in this battle of the titans – “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

    I see the Monty Python references are well in hand, but here’s a favorite jot of wisdom from William S Burroughs:

    A fool is bad news, and it rubs off. Don’t let it rub off on you.

    Quoted in the NYT article was WA DNC member (and hence automatic delegate) Eileen Macoll – reflecting increasing doubt on Obama’s inevitability. David McDonald (quoted elsewhere) is likewise noncommittal. There’s more, but not mine to say, and remember re superD “commitments” that it’s vote in convention is the one that counts.

    The closing graf of the NYT piece is Narcissism 101:

    … “I don’t think that he showed much concern for me. More importantly, I don’t think he showed much concern for what we’re trying to do in this campaign and what we’re trying to do for the American people.”

  15. riverdaughter, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:52 pm Said:

    ronk: you’re such a tease. ;-) It’s killing me.

  16. garychapelhill, on April 30th, 2008 at 10:54 pm Said:

    ronkseattle,

    thanks, and yeah, fool rubs off, and it don’t come out easy.

  17. JSky, on April 30th, 2008 at 11:01 pm Said:

    thanks for the video. it’s so funny and so appropriate.

  18. Eleanor A, on April 30th, 2008 at 11:13 pm Said:

    “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”

    (dying laughing)

    Aw man! Can you just imagine the headlines next day if HRC wins?!!!??!!

    I know, I know, we can’t get our hopes up….(Personally, I hope it’s “Hill on Wheels!”)

    Last night was trolling another site that shall remain unnamed and man, the Obamites are getting worried. A couple of them brought up some good points:

    * The AA vote in NC is around 30%, but apparently there are 1.3 million independents in NC, mostly whites and mostly “undecided”. These are our people, HRC supporters!

    * They claim SUSA undercounts AAs in states with large AA populations, anyone got 411 on this? I’m feeling a lot better over it if other polls are picking up the swing, though.

  19. taxismom, on April 30th, 2008 at 11:18 pm Said:

    link

    InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Survey: North Carolina Democratic Primary: Hillary Clinton Takes Lead Over Obama

    http://www.southernpoliticalreport.com/storylink_430_370.aspx

    What’s their track record?

  20. Janis, on April 30th, 2008 at 11:26 pm Said:

    My fave bit of the O’Reilly interview was when he kept saying “I” meaning rich people, and she kept dragging it back to “we.”

    I love that woman, I do I do. :-)

  21. Eleanor A, on April 30th, 2008 at 11:34 pm Said:

    Hm. Trying to track down info on Insider Advantage, with no luck so far, but did find this page on a boodle of others:

    http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/010/trans010pollposition.html

  22. Ryan, on April 30th, 2008 at 11:57 pm Said:

    I’m taking this one with a grain of salt. On a related note, I wish I could find full clips of these interviews online. Or transcripts, anything but a 30 second clip.

  23. garychapelhill, on May 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am Said:

    I just saw this on SUSA, the report card for the PA polls.

    http://www.surveyusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/pa-99point51percent-counted-democratic-primary-752pm-on-042308.JPG

    the Insider Advantage (which has Hillary up by two in NC) had Hillary winning by 7 so they were pretty close.. they had undecideds at 9, so the majority must have broken for Hillary ( I feel they might here too). They also did the poll the day before the primary, so was one of the last polls taken. I thnk that is good omen for NC (at least I choose to believe it is)

  24. lambert strether, on May 1st, 2008 at 1:05 am Said:

    Off topic, but here is a combination of snark (from me) and linky goodness on the WWWV fiasco in NC.

    It seems that the OFB have bullied the WWWV into no longer registering women in NC. I’m not connected to a lot of women’s organizations, but I bet people here are, and people should know about this.

    The beauty part is that the WWWV’s efforts would probably have benefited Obama slightly, but the OFB are so conspiracy-minded and paranoid that they just had to go after them. Haw.

  25. Carolyn Kay, on May 1st, 2008 at 6:47 am Said:

    So Nancy Skinner is supporting Barack Obama?

    Did she reveal that she ran against him in the 2004 Democratic primary?

    Carolyn Kay
    MakeThemAccountable.com

  26. Davidson, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:04 am Said:

    Can you believe this?

    A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to “heal the rift in our party” and unite behind the Illinois senator.

    Joe Andrew, who was Democratic National Committee chairman from 1999-2001, planned a news conference Thursday in his hometown of Indianapolis to urge other Hoosiers to support Obama in Tuesday’s primary, perhaps the most important contest left in the White House race. He also has written a lengthy letter explaining his decision that he plans to send to other superdelegates.

    “I am convinced that the primary process has devolved to the point that it’s now bad for the Democratic Party,” Andrew said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

    Bill Clinton appointed Andrew chairman of the DNC near the end of his presidency, and Andrew endorsed the former first lady last year on the day she declared her candidacy for the White House.

    Andrew said in his letter that he is switching his support because “a vote for Hillary Clinton is a vote to continue this process, and a vote to continue this process is a vote that assists (Republican) John McCain.”

  27. garychapelhill, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:08 am Said:

    Carolyn,

    That’s how they introduced her on the panel, and that’s how she was presenting herself. She didn’t mention running against him.

    Apparently she unsuccessfully ran for congress in Michigan in 2006 as well.

    http://www.skinnerforcongress.com/

    I suppose it is a shame she didn’t win, as I think a democrat is almost always better than a republican, and I really don’t know much about her. But what I found amusing was her insistance, along with almost every other pundit, that the Wright scandal is having no or very little effect on Obama, even as most polls coming out show the opposite to be true (fair or not). Obviously the Obama campaign itself found this out through their own polling, hence Obama’s “angry” denunciation of Wright on Tuesday, imo of course.

  28. garychapelhill, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:12 am Said:

    Davidson,

    It’s early and I need my coffee. When I first started reading I thought the first line said,

    “A leader of the Democratic party, Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama…”

    then again, I would have sprayed the coffee all over my laptop…
    : )

  29. riverdaughter, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:19 am Said:

    WTF is going on with Andrew?

  30. Davidson, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:27 am Said:

    Gary: Ha!

    RD: I’m guessing $$$. Why he has to hurt our chances in the GE, by not only supporting Obama, but attacking Clinton is beyond me. Seriously, that line about how a vote for Clinton basically only helps McCain had me screaming at the monitor.

    I can only hope he doesn’t have much influence in IN or amongst supers.

  31. garychapelhill, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:28 am Said:

    The cynic in me makes me think that these daily announcements of SD’s for Obama has been orchestrated to try to stop his campaign from hemoragging. Its not the first time we’ve seen former Clinton supporters turn their back on them. What I find most insulting is his insinuation that a vote for Hillary is a vote for McCain.

  32. bostonboomer, on May 1st, 2008 at 7:40 am Said:

    Gary,

    I think you could be right about the orchestration. In Indiana, most of the party leaders on the state and local levels support Hillary, so these people coming out for Obama are very much in the minority. At least that’s what my mom in Indiana tells me. She is active in the League of Women Voters and follows Indiana politics pretty closely.

  33. garychapelhill, on May 1st, 2008 at 8:00 am Said:

    bboomer,

    great info from Indiana. I don’t think that Andrew will affect NC voters much. In the south, it is in very bad taste to speak ill of friends (unless it is behind their backs, and in a whisper, of course). This sort of public back-stabbing is frowned upon down here.

    I would also like to know what state Andrew lives in, and if he has had the chance to vote yet. It says he will announce in his “hometown” of Indianappolis, but is that where he lives now? you know bboomer? If he has voted already, does that mean he voted for Clinton, and therefore McCain. It really ticks me off when people who have already voted tell me that my vote doesn’t matter, and in this case might actually help republicans.

  34. litigatormom, on May 1st, 2008 at 10:20 am Said:

    Obama: “It’s just a flesh wound!”

    Clinton: “I’m not dead yet.”

    litigatormom to Joe Andrew: “A vote for Clinton is a vote to continue the process, and that scares John McCain.”

  35. ronkseattle, on May 1st, 2008 at 10:21 am Said:

    Re Joe Andrew – panic cuts both ways. Party leaders know our Unity Ponies are about to stampede off a cliff, and they’re fighting over whether to turn the herd left or right.

    Some of them (as Marc Ambinder wrote yesterday) are trying to seal the deal hermetically before Obama’s magic evaporates. Others are bracing themselves to bail out in case the magic evaporates.

    It’s natural that some will choose one course, and some will choose the other, and some will choose to wait and look for signs, and some will close their eyes tight and holler “GEEERONIMO!”.

  37. Make Them Accountable / Media, on May 1st, 2008 at 12:57 pm Said:

    [...] It’s just a flesh wound…. (by garychapelhill at The Confluence) I just got done watching Hillary on the O’Reilly show. What a great interview. You know, I remember what all the Obama bloggers were saying before he went on Fox. His campaign promised he was going to take them on, he would be tough. So what did he do? He threw them all under the bus. Now Hillary goes on Fox, not with nice guy Chris Wallace, but straight to the belly of the beast, The Factor with Bill O. She not only was tough, she was smart, funny, and anwered everything he had without missing a beat. Her reaction to Bill’s question about Fox being fair to her was to reply with just a touch of sarcasm, “I wouldn’t expect anything but fair and balanced coverage from Fox”. She looked happy, like she’s having a good time, and most importantly, like she knows what the hell she is talking about. That is how you “take on” Fox. [...]

  38. Hillary’s Voice » From today’s postings 5/1/08, on May 1st, 2008 at 2:06 pm Said:

    [...] It’s just a flesh wound…. (by garychapelhill at The Confluence) I just got done watching Hillary on the O’Reilly show. What a great interview. You know, I remember what all the Obama bloggers were saying before he went on Fox. His campaign promised he was going to take them on, he would be tough. So what did he do? He threw them all under the bus. Now Hillary goes on Fox, not with nice guy Chris Wallace, but straight to the belly of the beast, The Factor with Bill O. She not only was tough, she was smart, funny, and anwered everything he had without missing a beat. Her reaction to Bill’s question about Fox being fair to her was to reply with just a touch of sarcasm, “I wouldn’t expect anything but fair and balanced coverage from Fox”. She looked happy, like she’s having a good time, and most importantly, like she knows what the hell she is talking about. That is how you “take on” Fox. [...]

  39. Carolyn Kay, on May 1st, 2008 at 4:24 pm Said:

    Gary,

    Yes, Nancy lost the primary against Obama and she lost a run for Congress in 2006 in Michigan, which is where she grew up and where her family is. She’s very smart and I think will make a good member of Congress, if she can manage to win this time.

    She was a talk radio host for a long time. That’s how I got to know her. She was the only liberal on WLS here in Chicago.

    Obama said today that the public is tired of talking about Rev. Wright. Honestly, the guy sounds more like Baghdad Bush every day.

    I send out a newsletter every morning that’s a roundup of info about the race and what the crazy media are doing. Email me offline if you want me to add you to the list to receive it.

    Carolyn Kay
    MakeThemAccountable.com

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