Graham and Hatch Call Out Obama on Mid Term Vote

Re-posted Graham: People Don't Love Republicans - It was Obama Overreach

Greta Van Sustren did a couple post election interviews that provided forthright, honest, at times very blunt assessments of the election results. One with Senator Lindsey Graham, the other with Senator Orrin Hatch. Both these Senators have worked across the aisle in the past, and have received heat from there own party for doing so.

GretaVan Sustren: What did you think about the Presidents press conference yesterday? Were you convinced that he was properly chasten because there was a message from the American people; or not? You shake your head no.

Senator Lindsey Graham: Well, I just don’t think he understands that it was his policies that got him into this mess. You know President Obama came in with a wave of hope. The American people picked this young man, they were hopeful he could change things, and the policies, health care and the process passing health care was everything different than he said it would be. The stimulus package, the financial regulation bill, the amount of debt, the growth of government – people rejected his policies. He lost his own Senate seat. Illinois voted for a Republican, a moderate Republican, how much clearer message can you get/give to the President. People of Illinois, like him personally, saying you’re going the wrong way. We want to check and balance you, and I don’t think he understands that. It was policies not personality that got him in this mess. People don’t love Republicans. It wasn’t like people in Illinois woke one day and said ‘Boy, I’ve been a Republican all these years and didn’t know it. It’s the Obama overreach."

Senator Orrin Hatch has been very critical of the health care legislation. He provides a unique perspective because he has often worked with Democrats specifically on health care legislation like s-chip. His entire interview is worth viewing, but he provide an amusingly blunt assessment of the health care bill when he said...

"I was going to say it was a piece of crap, but that would not be fair to some people who were very sincere in trying to do what is right."

Recommend checking out these two interview at the 'On the Record' home page.

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Obama: McCain 'Wildly Inappropriate' for Wounded Troop Criticism

From the AP McCain campaign: Obama shortchanged injured troops

Republican John McCain's campaign on Saturday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling a visit to wounded troops in Germany, contending Obama chose foreign leaders and cheering Europeans over "injured American heroes."

Obama's campaign called the accusation "wildly inappropriate." His spokesman has claimed that the visit to a military hospital in Germany was scrapped after the Pentagon raised concerns about political activity on a military base. Earlier, though, the campaign had said Obama decided the visit might be seen as inappropriate politicking. However, the Pentagon said the senator was never told not to visit.

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"Senator McCain knows full well that Senator Obama strongly supports and honors our troops, which is what makes this attack so disingenuous. This politicization of our soldiers is exactly what Senator Obama sought to avoid," Vietor said.

Obama was flying from London to Chicago on Saturday when the McCain campaign issued a statement from Joe Repya, a retired Army colonel who said Obama had broken a commitment to visit the wounded Americans.

"Several explanations were offered, none was convincing and each was at odds with the statements of American military leaders," Repya said. "For a young man so apt at playing president, Barack Obama badly misjudged the important demands of the office he seeks."

If Senator Obama sought to avoid 'politicization' of his scheduled meeting with the troops, why not ditch the cameras and campaign staff and go visit the injured soldiers quietly under the radar? Apparently it is 'wildly inappropriate' and 'disingenuous' for Senator McCain to confront Senator Obama with facts. The facts remain, as they have from the begining, the Pentagon never told Senator Obama he couldn't visit the hospital simply that he could not campaign there. The facts are that Obama first said he didn't go because he thought it was 'inappropriate' to visit the troops on his campaign's dime. Then he blamed it on the Pentagon. So Senator Obama and his campaign can be express outrage at the McCain campaign if they'd like, but McCain isn't the one snubbed wounded American soldiers.

First Posted at: Obama: McCain 'Wildly Inappropriate' for Wounded Troop Criticism

Obama: Finger on the Button, Woops Not That Button!

The LA Times reports in their article Obama said oops on 6 state Senate votes, that Sentaor Obama accidentally voted the wrong way as a state Senator at least six times. This is sometimes seen as a tactic to appease people on both sides of the issue. So the question is whether Senator Obama literally has trouble voting, or if he just has difficulty taking a stand.

"Barack Obama angered fellow Democrats in the Illinois Senate when he voted to strip millions of dollars from a child welfare office on Chicago's West Side. But Obama had a ready explanation: He goofed.

"I was not aware that I had voted no," he said that day in June 2002, asking that the record be changed to reflect that he "intended to vote yes."

That was not the only misfire for the former civil rights attorney first elected to the state Senate in 1996. During his eight years in state office, Obama cast more than 4,000 votes. Of those, according to transcripts of the proceedings in Springfield, he hit the wrong button at least six times."