Russert sees challenges for all three candidates
, NJJN Staff Writer | 04.10.08

NBC newsman Tim Russert, speaking at a synagogue in Short Hills, said all three presidential candidates had “serious and important” questions to answer.

	NBC’s Tim Russert spoke April 2 in Short Hills. Photo by Robert Wiener

For Barack Obama, they concern his potentially “explosive” relationship with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. For Hillary Clinton, they are questions of “truthfulness and her credibility.”

As for John McCain, the Meet the Press host said it is “appropriate” to discuss the presumptive Republican nominee’s age, his position on the Iraq war, and his relationship with President Bush.

Russert, who also serves as the senior vice president and Washington bureau chief of NBC News, spoke to an overflow audience at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun April 2.

“It is very understandable that people hear Rev. Wright and are anxious about him,” said Russert, referring to incendiary speeches in which the Chicago minister “damned” America and suggested the U.S. government developed AIDS to oppress minorities.

That’s why Obama gave his speech on race. But he has to address this again. The burden shifts to Sen. Obama to deal with this kind of issue. It is difficult. It could be potentially explosive. But it is important.”

For Clinton, the challenge is one of credibility after press reports refuted her statement that she came under sniper fire when visiting war-ravaged Bosnia in 1996.

“I think Sen. Clinton is going to have to deal with the whole issue of her truthfulness and her credibility,” said Russert. “People want to believe that when they listen to the president they are being talked to in a very straight manner and there is not embellishment or an attempt to suggest things that just were not the case.”

The impact of such a gaffe cannot be erased with the candidate’s claiming “it was just a mistake, let’s move on,” said Russert. “It doesn’t go away.”

Russert said he “hoped to have more opportunity to talk to Sen. Obama about Rev. Wright and Sen. Clinton about why not just once but three or four times, she chose to misstate what actually happened.”

Russert shared his family’s views on the Democratic candidates, saying his father and three sisters are “the cheapest and most accurate focus group I could ever have.”

“When the whole situation with Rev. Wright surfaced, my dad looked at it not just as an issue of race but an issue of patriotism. He did not like hearing someone, particularly a preacher, saying, ‘God damn America.’ We were all raised in the Catholic Church, and one of my sisters said she was deeply offended.”

But, Russert added, “but some of our priests had offended her, and she didn’t abandon her faith.”
When it came to Clinton’s gaffe on Bosnia, “all four of them said, ‘Why would she just not tell what really happened?’ It was not a story to be embarrassed about. It was going to an area that had once been a war zone but had been secured.”

As for McCain, Russert said, “Certainly his age of 71 is appropriate to discuss. If he is able to conduct himself in an appropriate way during the campaign, it won’t be an issue. But Sen. McCain’s views on Iraq and his close association with President Bush on that issue… All of these are enormously important for us to get our arms around.”

Noting that Obama leads Clinton by 160 elected delegates, while Clinton has 30 more super-delegates than Obama, Russert said the New York senator’s best chance of achieving the nomination is for a stunning victory in the Pennsylvania primary on April 29.

“Then she has to run the table in the remaining primaries and say to the super-delegates, ‘You should nominate me. I am stronger and more competitive in a general election against John McCain. I can win the big electoral states.”

Interesting asset

After wide-ranging opening remarks, Russert fielded questions gleaned from congregation members, presented by the synagogue’s Rabbi Matthew Gewirtz.

Asked if there was “one candidate over another who is better for Israel,” Russert demurred.

“I don’t make judgments like that,” he said. “I don’t want to endorse anybody. I’m very careful. I’m still of that old school that says that unlike talk radio and bloggers and cable TV — where people announce, ‘This is what I believe and if you don’t agree with me you’re wrong’ — I don’t want to sacrifice my ability to sit down with any of them and ask the tough questions.”

Russert said he doubted that Obama and Clinton would run on a ticket together. But he did raise the possibility of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a running mate should Obama get the Democratic nod.

“If you are looking for someone who could bring a real understanding of the economy, someone who Obama recognizes with his outreach to the Jewish community, Bloomberg is an interesting asset for him,” said Russert.

If the Illinois senator wanted someone with greater foreign policy experience than his own, Russert suggested, he might look toward Sen. James Webb, a Vietnam veteran from Virginia, or Anthony Zinni, a retired Marine Corps general and former peace envoy to the Middle East.

McCain might make a similar calculation in selecting a running mate who would shore up his own limitations, Russert said, and perhaps tap a former rival.

“McCain has acknowledged he is not an expert on the economy the way Mitt Romney is, having been an entrepreneur. There are a significant number of Mormons who live in Nevada and Colorado, and Romney has a home in New Hampshire.”

Russert appeared as part of the synagogue’s Cooperman Family Distinguished Speakers Series.

Local stories posted courtesy of the New Jersey Jewish News