Meet the Press Review

I don't know how many loyal watchers of MTP there really are out there, though here in the District I'm sure there are more than a few. As I watch pretty regularly, I'll be doing a sort of MTP roundup/review on Sundays. MTP, and sometimes This Week with George Stephanopoulos (which I can't watch because I'm currently without a DVR) are almost the only programs on MSM I regularly watch. Other than anything with Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity of course.

Guest: Barack Obama (for the full hour)
Host: Tom Brokaw

Commentary: Seems like Obama's trying to be amazingly careful. I've always thought of him as a pretty opinionated guy with a sharp intellect, but I thought he was really thoughtfully (and not very successfully) trying to weigh his words to such an extent that his statements and occasionally even his message started to sound a little muddled, particularly in the foreign policy section.

Also: This surge stuff is not a winning rhetorical angle for him. It feels like he just wants it to be yesterday's news, which is impossible as McCain's entire campaign revolves around the issue. The politically expedient thing to do is to try to minimize it. Here's what you say if you're Obama:

"Thankfully, the security situation in Iraq has significantly improved. I don't think it's possible for anyone to know whether those improvements were due to increased troop deployments in Baghdad, the Sunni Awakening, internal Iraqi politics, or any number of other factors. Certainly, and I'm sure Senator McCain would agree with me on this, it was due to a large number of different factors, and trying to attribute it to one, whatever it might be is the same kind of simplistic X = Y, black-and-white mentality that's served us so poorly under the Bush administration. I will say this though -- I was skeptical as to whether increased deployments in Baghdad would be productive, as were a great many number of others, both inside of politics and out, including a majority of the American people. And, if my skepticism was unfounded I'm glad. I want increased security for our troops in Iraq, far, far more than I want to score a political point, which was exactly why I opposed our initial involvement in the Iraqi war, another in a long list of issues where John McCain found himself without skepticism -- in that same black vs white, good vs evil mentality that has characterized Bush/McCain policies over the last eight years .

But more importantly, and this is the crux of the issue, I believe the situation as it stands now, for whatever reason, is such that we can successfully redeploy our troops to Afghanistan; the central front in the War on Terror, and back home to the United States so that their long and deeply appreciated service can be applauded by those that care the most -- their families, friends, neighbors, and communities."

A little long maybe, but I think it's a lot better than the meandering response he's been offering up on his "surge" stance as of late.

My last MTP point is about Tom Brokaw. I'm not a fan of him hosting at all, to the point that if it's ever announced that he's doing it on anything other than an interim basis (I know he's at least doing it again next week) this might become the "This Week With GS Review" instead. I don't think he's dynamic, and I think his lines of questioning and mannerisms are plodding. Full disclosure, I've been pretty sour on him since he wrote "The Greatest Generation" which I found to be really...how shall I put this...uncompelling. Why can't they give Chuck Todd a chance? Does he not want to? He's their chief political guy for god's sake. Or even David Gregory, who I feel pretty ish about (though I loved him in the White House press corps) but who is better than Brokaw and has guest hosted for Russert in the past. What does anyone else think? Am I wrong about Brokaw? Who would you like to see?