The buzz in the blogosphere today is how well John McCain did in Rick Warren’s presidential forum. The Obama campaign must be really concerned about this because in response, the campaign is now accusing John McCain of cheating. Yes, you read that correctly. Obama’s camp is accusing McCain of cheating, and Andrea Mitchell is running with it. From MSNBC via NewsBusters:
(Videotape)
SEN. JOHN McCAIN (R-AZ): Defeat it. Couple of points. One, if I’m president of the United States, my friends, if I have to follow him to the gates of hell, I will get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. I will do that and I know how to do it. I will get that done.
(End videotape)
MR. GREGORY: Andrea Mitchell, that’s a pretty clear contrast.
MS. ANDREA MITCHELL: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, there was the crisp, immediate, forceful response by John McCain, clearly in a comfort zone because he was with his base. And Barack Obama, taking a risk in going there but seeing an opportunity. And a much more nuanced approach. The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because that–what they’re putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.
MR. GREGORY: Right.
MS. MITCHELL: He seemed so well prepared.
Unbelievable. Barack Obama got his ass handed to him last night because he is a light weight and that’s it. There is no other reason, and for his camp to completely malign Senator McCain’s honor and integrity is just plain offensive.
According to the Obama camp John McCain couldn’t possibly have had a great night because he was able to call on his deep bench of knowledge that’s a result of a lifetime of experience in government and military service and international relations. No. According to Obama, that couldn’t possibly be the case. It has to be that he cheated.
How utterly pathetic.
But, you know, Obama can keep up this charade that he’s in the same league as McCain and then toss insults when he fails to measure up because it will illustrate even more that Obama is about as qualified to be President of the United States as Bozo the Clown.
Update: Betsy Newmark reminds us that it was Andrea Mitchell who carried Obama’s water without question back when he found himself in trouble for not visiting the troops in Germany.
Update II: Rick Warren responds to the Obama camp’s accusations and says McCain didn’t hear any of the interview between Warren and Obama.