2008-08-31T19:00:36Z tag:voices.washingtonpost.com,2008:/the-talk/284 Copyright (c) 2008, WashingtonPost.Newsweek Interactive 2008-08-31T19:00:36Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-08-31:/the-talk2008/08/mccain_suggests_bush_has_endor.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb Sen. John McCain today issued some of his strongest criticism of President Bush over an aggressive interrogation technique, clearly suggesting that the president has endorsed torture. During an assessment of the Bush presidency on "Fox News Sunday," McCain discussed the administration's use over "waterboarding," a technique that has been used to interrogate terrorist detainees. "Waterboarding to me is torture, okay? And waterboarding was advocated by the administration, and according to a published report, was used," McCain said. "I obviously don't want to torture any prisoners." McCain also said that he opposed the "spending spree" in the Bush years and wanted to take bigger steps to fight climate change. He gave the president credit for preventing another terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11, 2001. The issue of waterboarding has been a central one for McCain, a former prisoner of war who sponsored in 2005 the

washingtonpost.com 2008-08-24T17:29:00Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-08-24:/the-talk2008/08/debating_the_wisdom_of_choosin.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb A day before the start of the Democratic convention, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani criticized the selection of Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) as Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, saying Biden underscores Obama's flaws. "Senator Obama has made a choice more out of weakness than strength," Giuliani said today on ABC's "This Week." Giuliani, who ran for the Republican nomination, said the presumptive Democratic nominee should have chosen Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Obama's chief rival in the nomination process. "She had 50 percent of the Democratic vote. Obama has 50 percent of the Democratic vote," the former mayor said. "You almost have to go to extraordinary lengths to avoid her as the vice presidential pick of the party." Giuliani was the only Republican to appear on the five interview shows. Top Obama advisers, who declined Saturday to elaborate on how the Illinois senator made his

washingtonpost.com 2008-08-17T18:33:35Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-08-17:/the-talk2008/08/gates_rice_say_russia_will_fac.html

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said two decades of work to bring Russia into the international community must be reassessed in the wake of its actions in Georgia, while Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that Russia's actions "look like they do belong to the Soviet Union." The Bush administration's two senior defense and foreign affairs officials made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows with harsh words for Russia, citing consequences for Moscow but offering few specifics. "There's no doubt there will be further consequences," Rice said on "Fox News Sunday." "There have already been significant consequences for Russia." She said, for instance, that "any notion that Russia was the kind of responsible state, ready to integrate into international institutions" is now a nation "in tatters." Gates said Russia's march toward integration, encouraged by the United States, is being reevaluated. "I think that there has been an effort by

Zachary Goldfarb 2008-08-10T19:49:42Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-08-10:/the-talk2008/08/mccain_aides_georgian_ties_bec.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb The presidential campaign veered Sunday into a discussion about the escalating conflict between Georgia and Russia, with a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama suggesting that Sen. John McCain's criticism of Russia stems from his campaign's connections to Georgian political leadership. "His campaign is run by lobbyists that represent Georgia and other countries," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) said on ABC's "This Week," a clear reference to Randy Scheunemann, McCain's foreign policy adviser, who has been a registered lobbyist in Washington for the Tbilisi government. That drew a sharp response from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), reported to be under consideration as a McCain running mate. He said it was wrong for the Obama campaign to focus on any ties between members of the McCain campaign and the Georgian government. Georgia is "an example of Senator McCain's push to spread democracy in that part of the

The Washington Post 2008-08-03T22:00:31Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-08-03:/the-talk2008/08/kerry_accuses_gop_of_character.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb The 2004 Democratic presidential nominee accused the campaign of Sen. John McCain of trying to impugn the character of Sen. Barack Obama in this year's presidential race. "They're trying to scare you," Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "They are engaged in character assassination." "They've decided they can't win on the issues, so they've decided to try to destroy his character," Kerry said, quoting his Senate colleague Russ Feingold (D-Wis.). Kerry's comments alluded to a McCain TV advertisement that debuted last week. The ad, which compared Obama to celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, raised an important point, McCain ally Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) said on NBC. "Notwithstanding his celebrity status, is Barack Obama ready to serve?" said Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential candidate. He said the question was particularly relevant after Obama's trip to Europe, where

Post Editor 2008-07-28T03:30:44Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-27:/the-talk2008/07/mccain_obama_spar_over_the_oth.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb In dueling appearances on the Sunday talk shows, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama attacked the other's foreign policy and refused to reconsider publicly their earlier positions. McCain reiterated his view that Obama's policy of favoring a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq within two years puts politics before prudent policy. "Senator Obama doesn't understand. He doesn't understand what's at stake here, and he chose to take a political path that would have helped him get the nomination of his party," McCain said on ABC's "This Week." Referring to his call last year to increase the number of troops in Iraq, McCain said, "I took a path that I knew was unpopular because I knew we had to win in Iraq. And we are winning in Iraq. And if we'd have done what Senator Obama wanted done, it would have been chaos, genocide, increased Iranian influence,

Post Editor 2008-07-20T21:00:51Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-20:/the-talk2008/07/mullen_warns_against_obamas_ir.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb The nation's senior military official warned against a plan, put forward by presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama, to remove all U.S. troops from Iraq by early 2010. "I think the consequences could be very dangerous," Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on "Fox News Sunday." "I'm convinced at this point in time that ... making reductions based on conditions on the ground are very important." Obama has argued that a drawdown in Iraq is necessary to increase troop levels in Afghanistan. The Illinois Democrat was in Afghanistan on Sunday and reiterated his call to add up to 15,000 U.S. troops there. "This is where [terrorists] can plan attacks. They have sanctuary here. They are gathering huge amounts of money as a consequence of the [opium] drug trade in the region," Obama said in an interview on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Post Editor 2008-08-02T06:24:23Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-13:/the-talk2008/07/mccain_dumps_gramm_from_his_ca.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb Former senator Phil Gramm, a national co-chairman of Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign, will no longer represent the presumptive Republican nominee, a top McCain surrogate said today, after Gramm said that the United States is a "nation of whiners" and suffering from a "mental recession." "I don't think Senator Gramm will any longer be speaking for John McCain," Carly Fiorina, who like Gramm has been a top economic adviser to McCain, said on NBC's "Meet the Press." Gramm has refused to back away from his comments last week, but McCain quickly distanced himself from his adviser, saying he believes Americans are hurting. Fiorina also rebuffed a reference to Gramm's long ties to McCain by mentioning anew the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the controversial Chicago pastor who ministered to presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama. "With all due respect to advisers, it was also Senator Barack Obama who

Post Editor 2008-07-25T11:57:01Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-07-06:/the-talk2008/07/the_talk_takes_a_holiday.html

The Talk is taking Sunday off for the Fourth of July holiday. It will return to duty July 13.

Post Editor 2008-07-17T04:44:52Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-29:/the-talk2008/06/libertarian_barr_says_gop_is_p.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb Libertarian presidential candidate Bob Barr, a former Georgia congressman, said today that the Republican Party has utterly failed to present a "new program, new leadership or vision." "What's wrong with John McCain is symptomatic of what's wrong with the Republican Party in these first years of the 21st century," Barr said on "Fox News Sunday." "They talk one thing but do something different, and that's become very obvious to the American people." Barr said that he tends to agree with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on issues of civil liberties, while he tends to agree with McCain, a senator from Arizona, on issues of government spending and taxation. "Neither of these candidates is talking about the deep cuts in government spending and returning power to the people that we are," Barr said.

Post Editor 2008-07-08T03:31:53Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-22:/the-talk2008/06/no_talk_this_week.html

We'll resume blogging the Sunday talk shows on June 29.

Post Editor 2008-06-30T22:10:51Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-15:/the-talk2008/06/jindal_says_gop_getting_away_f.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, an up-and-coming Republican sometimes touted as a potential presidential running mate, said his party has taken a beating at the polls lately because it "started defending corruption and spending and other things they would have rightfully condemned in the other party." Jindal, the first Indian American governor and a former House member, said he has talked to presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) several times, but that they have never talked about his possibly serving on McCain's ticket. "I'm certainly supporting Senator McCain, will do whatever I can to help him get elected, but I'm focused on being governor of Louisiana," Jindal said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Post Editor 2008-06-30T22:10:51Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-15:/the-talk2008/06/remembering_russert.html

By Zachary A. Goldfarb At the end of an hour-long tribute to him on this morning's "Meet the Press" on NBC, longtime host Tim Russert, who died Friday, appeared to deliver a final message. A montage of photos -- the final three with his "Meet the Press" staff, with his wife, Maureen Orth, and with his son, Luke -- had just been displayed. "Thunder Road," a song by Russert's favorite musician, Bruce Springsteen, was playing in the background. "That's all for today. We'll be back next week. If it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press. Happy Father's Day, especially to Big Russ up in Buffalo. And Luke, I'm real proud to be your dad," Russert said. With that, the lights on the "Meet the Press" set were dimmed, and the host's chair sat empty.

Post Editor 2008-06-24T23:22:36Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-08:/the-talk2008/06/clinton_will_do_whatever_she_c.html

One of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's top advisers made clear today that the former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination would agree to serve as Sen. Barack Obama's vice presidential candidate. "It's not a job that she's seeking. And it's not a job that she's campaigning for," said Howard Wolfson, the adviser. "But she has made it clear, during the campaign and now, that she will do, as I've said, whatever she can and whatever she is asked." Meanwhile, three other potential vice presidential candidates -Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine (D) and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) and Virginia Sen. Jim Webb (D) - left the door open to serving on a ticket this fall. "I think probably it would be hard for anybody to say no under a situation like that," Kaine said of being asked. "It would be difficult to turn that down," Pawlenty said. Pawlenty and Kaine spoke

Zachary Goldfarb 2008-06-17T04:46:57Z tag:washingtonpost.com,2008-06-01:/the-talk2008/06/clinton_campaign_not_backing_d.html

The Clinton campaign signaled it is pushing on despite being dealt a setback by a Democratic Party rules committee yesterday weighing whether to seat the Michigan and Florida delegations. Campaign chairman Terence McAuliffe would not say whether the campaign would fight yesterday's decision by a Democratic Party panel to seat Florida and Michigan delegates at the summer convention but only count their votes as half. "[C]learly we're going to keep our options open," McAuliffe said. "We'll see where we are when we finish up Tuesday. Then superdelegates will begin to move." McAuliffe added on ABC's "This Week," "[W]e're going to make our argument right up until someone has [won] ... and I believe today, as much as I've ever believed, Hillary Clinton will be the nominee of this party." Appearing on the same show, a top strategist in the Obama campaign said that the end of the Democratic race is

Zachary Goldfarb