Obama in exclusive video interview

This is interesting.... I love how he says what he says.

The war in Iraq is costing us "hundreds of billions of dollars". And then in the second question he responds (about the cost of the war) that we're mounting "billions and billions of dollars of debt that our children will have to payoff".

Talking about the costs of contraception, "We had a glitch in a federal law that was changed which is resulting in exponential increases in the costs of contraception for college students."

These comments don't finger point, place blame nor sensationalize (for instance when talking about the cost of the Iraq war Obama could have said that it was costing us trillions of dollars, since that is what SOME people estimate the true costs to be, but rather than inject controversial figures into his speech, he sticks with facts that everyone agrees upon). These statements by Obama acknowledge the way the situation is without muddling the issues with politics.

To be fair, he did mention Bush's name in the first question... but he essentially said that as long as Bush was in office then we don't have the votes we need to end the war. That is a fact, but more importantly he didn't say that Bush was "blocking" anti-war efforts. He did not say that Bush refused to negotiate. He did not say that the Republicans were the reason we were still in Iraq. So even though Obama did mention Bush's name it was in a neutral way.

This IMO is what a leader should be- someone who looks at reality and facts as they are to solve problems, rather than take potshots at opponents.

Lastly, one additional comment. This is about Obama's sensible tone in this interview vs. the more political tone on the campaign trail... On the campaign trail Obama has to point out where he differs with Bush and McCain, especially when they blast him and claim that Obama is for appeasement (and other positions) that Obama is actually against. But even on the campaign trail I don't think Obama sensationalizes or mischaracterizes Bush's statements and actions, mnuch less makes stuff up.

Interesting observations. I would add that he would know most likley that BlogHer is a community of more than 7 million women worldwide and all along the political spectrum - including many independents, Hillary supporters and McCain supporters. He seems to have done his homework.

After I watched the video I read the comments and noticed most of them were women and most were favorable.

I want to keep an eye on these sorts of interviews and see if they continue (I think they will). I'll also pay more attention to his Bush/McCain attacks while on the campaign trail.

Thanks for the post.

Thanks - the response has been very positive and definitely gives Obama cred with some people he wouldn't have before.

Interestingly enough there is a story out today that McCain claims that Obama is downplaying the Iranian threat.

The converse of this is that McCain is sensationalising the Iranian threat (for political gain) much like Bush sensationalized the Iraqi threat and "imminent" mushroom clouds (through Condi).

McCain went on to say that Obama did not have a clear understanding of the threat Iran poses. Obama said that the US's actions in Iraq benefited Iran the most.

The point being that McCain is sensationalizing the Iranian threat (IMO) whereas Obama is looking at it sensibly and wants to meet with Iranian leaders.