GWB's O'Reilly Factor
Wow - Just caught a clip of Bill O'Reilly's upcoming interview with President Bush, during a profile of the sometimes nasty Fox talking head on 60 Minutes. This could be a big one, a take-down from the right. The interview was taped last week to be presented pre-debate this week and in what I saw, O'Reilly slams a clearly angry President into silence on WMDs and Iraq. Kos already has a post on it. Bush really doesn't do defense very well; remember when McCain slammed him on the attack ads in South Carolina? And Kerry is already responding to the clips that have been released thus far - including Bush's incredible (almost crazy) defense of his flight suit mission accomplished stunt. I'm frankly surprised the Rove machine let the President sit down with the bull terrier - didn't they know he turned on the Iraq policy (like Pat Buchanan and many other conservatives) months ago? The blogs are already lighting up on this. This is a serious opening.
from Amazon.
Beware... This could be Mr. Ego's way of reeling Kerry in so he can make him look defensive and "flippy floppy". Do not under estimate these guys, what looks bad now could turn rosy for them later.
Posted by: Daniel LiBoissonnault | September 27, 2004 at 07:04 AM
Hmmm. Subjecting Bush to tough questioning could be a just a way to lull Kerry so he can . . . subject him to tough questioning? I don't get that one.
Personally, I wouldn't go on O'Reilly's show (if I could help it; so far, I've held out) simply because he's the kind of guy who, to use an outdated adage, makes you change barstools. I sooner talk to him than Hannity, but would prefer to avoid both. Which is interesting, since I agree with them on a great deal.
One thing, Tom, your post was unclear about: it seems to include Buchanan among those conservatives who recently turned against the war (or at least, can be read that way). Now say what you will about him, but he is no johnny-come-lately on this. Not only was he aggressively anti-war from the beginnings of the debate, he was even aggressively opposed to the first Gulf War!
Posted by: Tom K | September 27, 2004 at 02:57 PM
This is irrelevant. O'Reilly has been criticizing Kerry enough that even if Bush looked bad by this interview, Kerry will look worse in the eyes of the typical Fox viewer. I've met Republicans who, while they realize that Iraq was a fiasco, think that Bush is somehow the lesser of two evils. Yes, Bush led us into a war, messed up the country and put us in danger, but how do we know Kerry won't REALLY screw things up?
Posted by: Sulayman | September 28, 2004 at 03:16 AM
Hey, Sualyman, any relation to The Magnificent?
Posted by: Tom K | September 28, 2004 at 12:17 PM
Yes, I have it on good authority - it is Sualyman The Magnificent.
Posted by: Tom W. | September 28, 2004 at 08:34 PM