By Jessica Hopper
Rock Center
UPDATED 6:50PM EST -- In the midst of 48 hours of non-stop campaigning in crucial swing states, President Barack Obama said that the tightening of the race between him and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney doesn’t surprise him.
NBC's Williams with President Barack Obama in Davenport, IA. (Photo Credit: Neal Carter/NBC News)
In an exclusive interview with NBC News’ Brian Williams, during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa, the president said that he never believed that the excitement surrounding his historic election four years ago and the achievement of taking out al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden would inflate his likelihood of re-election.
“You guys have some short memories. Folks in your business were writing me off a year ago, saying there's no way I would win,” President Obama said. “These things go in ebbs and flows and, you know, the one thing I've tried to always be is just steady in terms of what I believe in, who I'm fighting for, and, you know, I think that one of the qualities I bring to bear in this campaign is, people see, what did I say I was going to do in 2008? And what have I delivered? And they can have some confidence that the things I say, I mean.”
Both the president and former Massachusetts Governor Romney are fiercely campaigning, criss-crossing the country in the final 13 days of the campaign.
“We always knew this was going to be a close race from the start. And what we have right now is a lead that we’ve maintained throughout the campaign and we are going to just continue to drive home the message that there are two fundamentally different choices in this election about where we take the country,” the president said.
After speaking to the crowd in Davenport, the president’s first stop in an eight-state campaign blitz, Obama sat down with Williams and discussed his relationship with Romney, his lackluster performance in the election’s first presidential debate and his administration’s handling of the crisis in Libya.
Obama defended his campaign’s release of a 20-page document detailing his plan for the next four years. The document was released the day after the final presidential debate and left pundits questioning whether its release was a late move made by a campaign that believes its opponent might be gaining momentum.
“I don’t know why you say that this is late in the game. This is exactly what I laid out at my convention,” the president told Williams. “Every point that’s in there is what we said when I accepted the Democratic nomination, is what we do to build up the middle class in this country and it’s been on our website for weeks and I hope that everybody takes an opportunity to read it, because as folks now narrow their focus on the election, in fact people here in Iowa are voting. You know, the more informed voters are and the more engaged they are about how big the stakes are, the better I think we’re going to do.”
When asked about the dynamic between he and Gov. Romney, the president said that his feelings towards Romney are no different than the feelings other presidential candidates have had before.
“I don’t think anybody would say that while you were in the middle of a campaign that you felt deep affection for the other guy, because, you know, look, you’re fighting for competing visions,” President Obama said.
From Iowa, the president traveled to Colorado and Nevada for campaign events before flying overnight to Florida to continue the second day of his battleground swing.
NBC News cameras have been granted wide-ranging access to the president as he embarks on his multi-state journey in the all-out push to appeal to voters. Clips from the president’s interview will be aired Wednesday evening on NBC Nightly News and Thursday morning on Today, with a complete behind-the-scenes profile airing Thursday night at 10pm/9c on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.
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well he said he would be a 1 term if he didn't get the job done.
job is NOT done now he wants a 2nd term
only liberals can keep eating this BS
Obama said if the economy didn't turn around in his first term, it would likely be a one term proposition. But he did turn the economy around. He was stating a truism; if the economy doesn't get better, people vote against the incumbent. Since he's the favorite to win the election, apparently people think he was successful.
But Romney said on the debate his plan for recovery would take 8+ years also. We cannot just change the economy overnight it took eight 8 years to get into the mess and it takes time to get out of the mess.
People are so used to instant gratitude that they think that is how everything works. Not likely with an economy and unemployment.
NBC "News" is so ridiculously in the pro-Obama camp it is an absolute joke. Even CBS and CNN have stories on their front page about the Libya cover-up today. Nowhere to be found on this propaganda machine. Instead we get another Obama fluff piece. Not a single real journalist in the whole place. A bunch of Liberal hacks all patting themselves on the back for how smart they all think they are. You're on the wrong side of history NBC "News". You're going to look like the fools you all are.
Obama lapdogs, NBC and Brian Williams, pulling out all the stops to get their favorite rank amateur re elected. Why do you even have the word "News" after the NBC? Pure propaganda is more appropriate.
Yeah, he should have gotten Fox news...
Count all the times he says 'I'.
It will take 2-3 generations to recover from the debt hole that's been promised to the Baby Boomers. When it's over the US will no longer be the pre-eminent economic power in the world.
The congress and the president can do very little to change this.
NBC/NEWS is a "bought & paid for" slanted Republican news caster, so don't put too much authority on what they say! I believe Brian Williams, as honest as I am sure he wants to be, has to deliver for them! Otherwise, he'll end up like Dan Rather! Dan Rather "tried" to tell the truth and it cost him his job! CORRUPTION AT ITS FINEST!!
So, if you watch excerpts of the Obama/Williams interview on NBC NIGHTLY NEWS please realize, it will STILL BE SLANTED! BOUGHT & PAID FOR!!
TR,
Is that a joke? NBC is REPUBLICAN slanted?
NBC will only understand if people stop watching their network. A journalist is supposed to be impartial. The bias here is obvious. I have quit watching all NBC shows including the news show. I used to TIVO every 6:30 p.m. newscast. No more. I will never watch another NBC channel. I switched my toughest TV addiction last Sunday watching the Amazing Race versus watching my Bengals lose to the Steelers. Have to admit, not many other NBC shows I liked anyway so it was an easy ban.
I don't know, this morning all the articles were really anti-Obama, so maybe it depends on the time of day?
Romney's plan is said to take 8-10 years, now there's a no lose situation. If he's elected and things go wrong, it's Obama's fault, if things continue to improve, it's Romey's doing, if nothing changes, it'll take more time, 8-10 years and after he's out of office. I can see him now in 4 years, we need to stay the course 4 more years...
Talk about covering your a$$
I'd rather stay the course we've started 4 years ago and see where we are in the next 4 more years. Actually 2 years when the mid terms come around and Congress is on the hot seat.
The President is telling what he told us when he got elected, that this was going to be hard. This was before we even had a clue of how bad it was going to get. Romney is telling us what we want to hear, rainbows and unicorns. He also told primary voters what they wanted to hear (and barely convinced them) and I am sure he will have a different story, depending on the target audience all the way to election day. The only one that seems authentic to me is what he told his donors behind closed door about the lazy 47%.
You sure do mean the things you say, like if you are a success and own a business that you did NOT build it your self, the government did it for you, LIAR in CHIEF.
Take Back America
Romney/Ryan
Take back America from what. Obama got elected, it's not like it was some military invasion.
st, why is that all the GOP takes that comment completely out of context?
Is it becasue you are ignorant or a liar? Has to be one or the other.
Take it back from the mooches. Where will we be in another 4 years when we run out of working peoples money. Take America back from the Liar in Chief.
More people working now then when the GOP left the WH.
Get your facts straight.
GOP blames Obama for deficit. Can anyone name one program that Obama initiated that increased the deficit by a mterial amount, aside from the stimulus that almost all economists here and abroad know was necessary to avert a depression?
On the flip side, we have the Iraq War, the Afghan War and tax cuts for the rich that increased the national debt by some 3t.
The deficit has actually gone down every year of Obama's presidency. The myth that he's increased spending is one of those lies that people believe without question.
All the Obama hating ..... will still not get Romney elected.
The last debate exposed Romney for the straw man that he is, poor guy looked positively clueless.
Romney is like an actor on a call-back trying out for the part of president on the 'west wing' - no substance, no integrity, no character.
Romney looked like he was leaning towards voting for Obama in that last debate.
Obama challenges the press to find any past videos that prove him a flip flopper. And so they did! (Buzzfeed.com)
NBC has never claimed to be fair and balanced - hopefully Comcast will soon realize that the American public is getting more and more turned off by their, and other major networks, choice to have partisan democrats as their anchors and reporters. This is probably the worst it has ever been. CBS is turning the page ever so slightly in allowing some less than favorable reporting for Obama to slip thru. The majors wonder why someone like Fox is so successful - they only have themselves to blame. NBC will most certainly not provide honest and updated reporting on the Benghazzi situation - it should be leading tonights nightly news now that it came out today that the state department watched the attack in real time and the WH situation room was sent e-mails from Libya within an hour of the attack seeking help. The presidents two week cover up is becoming more and more like Watergate each day. Where are you on this story Brian Williams? Why don't you ask the President to expound on those apples for we the American people?
is this the same guy we voted for 4 years ago.........other THAN getting bin laden, what the hell has improved........the economy is in the toilet, gas cost more than milk. my house might be worth what i paid for it by mid century. hope and change my fat a$$...
I thought SEAL team 6 got Osama?
Are you going to blame Obama, the guy you elected to clean up the mess, or the real criminals who turned our economy into the toilet, the unregulated 1%ers and the gop enablers who brought our country to the brink of bankruptcy.
Oh no, worse, you going to vote those folks back into office.
Silly me!
Wow. Another, totally unbiased, pro-Obama puff piece by the media. I am shocked! If one looks at the headlines almost every Obama lead is favorable. Almost every Romney lead is negative.
All the liberal outlets assure us that Obama "won" the debates. Yet I have never seen any objective criteria for what qualifies as a win or lose. It all depends on how you went into the debates to begin with. And the real thing is that the debates were not designed to be a win/lose contest. They were supposed to give voters insight into the candidates' views on issues important to the people. The content was supposed to be the important thing. Not the mark on the scoreboard.
This should be good news for the Romney camp that "Rock Center" and Brian Williams are so pro Obama and that NBC is basicaly endorsing Obama.
NBC and Rockcenter is, more and more, looked at by an awakening electorate primarily to spot the lies and propaganda that are being fed the public.
Same applies to CNN, CBS, Fox, BBC, Reuters, AP, etc.
All propaganda tools of the Rothschild/Rockefeller bankster cult annd whose main "product" is purposely promoted conflict.
And all headed for war crimes tribunals and prison along with the various government "leaders"
Obama is lying sack of crap and a human rights abuser,and Romney isn't going to be any different.They're behinds belong to the Globalist,making them both Globalist Puppets.
Well stated NWOwatchdog!
Thanks! And thanks for caring what happens to our country!
You are most Welcome!
ecovery under Obama has been slow but steady (a fact).
Romney has proposed nothing that would spped it up, but he has proposed programs that will balloon the debt.
like nobaba did right? are you really that stupid? typical libtard, now tell me how the repubs blocked everything nobama wanted to do but this time include, nobama had a super majority the first 2 yrs. That means dems blocked him. Spin that plz. You libtards need to fact check your dribble against history before you open those stupid forward thinking mouths of yours. I cant stand, and neither can this country, your ignorance anymore. Hows france doing with their forward history forgetting thinking?
So 12 million more Americans working & paying taxes wouldn't step anything up? Are you crazy? I know all you Libtards like being lazy & mootching off tax payers but we are BROKE. What part of that do you NOT understand?
Brutha Husseins lies & cover ups is getting him kicked out of the White House. But just keep telling yourself that you have a chance. All the way until Nov. 7th. Libtards will have a hard time facing that day.
I pay taxes, I'm one of the 53%, and we all pay our part - yeah, libtards have no heart .... good to see the 47% folk with no clue voting for Romney - now that is ignorance!
Here's the irony, though ...
... he gets to interpret the "meaning" after the fact
... and we don't find out what he really meant until it's too late.
Brian Williams is nothing more than an obama regurgitation tool. Whatever line the WH tells him to take, he does it. When it comes to politics and the Presidential race, very little, if anything, of what he says can be believed. The only time that I even hear what Williams says is when he is quoted by the other networks because in my book, he has zero credibility.
Anybody check the liberal media sites to see how they are reporting the libya email scam? When you do, ask yourself why any story that might hurt a republican is top news and anything to expose dems is buried. Anybody notice that? Libtards won't but then when your top story is a puff piece for promoting nobama, you cant contradict that with a story exposing yet another lie from this clown. And whats with rock center? If regressives had morals they would do their job, report the news with out bias. No shame from libtards, its sad the sheep of this country has let the regressives present so much bias for sooo long we now have to say, "were center" not left or right. RIGHT, sure you are brian williams, thats why you have a puff piece instead of a news story where americans were killed. You dumocraps are so stupid Im not supposted to see your bias? Even after claiming rock center? Libtards please, get some shame already.
OPPS
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/49538649/#49538649
FRONT PAGE TOP...WHAT WERE YOU SAYING?
Well, what he means is that he means it while he's saying what he means, but the question is does he believe what he says he means? Or do we believe what he says he means? I'm confused and I mean it.
Here are some facts weather your happy with Obama or not, Romney has flip flopped on a women's rights, he's flip flopped on health care, he's against47% now he's for a 100% this stuff doesn't scare me to much, modern day politicians lie all day. This is what scares me, now he has flip flopped on foriegn polices, that scares me and millions of Americans and the rest of the World!!! Obama /Biden 2012
Romney in first debate: my plan covers pre-existing conditions.
Romney the very next day: my plan does not cover pre-existing conditions.
That's pretty impressive lying, even for him.
The problem with the GOP in a NUTshell, {or nutcase}
1TruthSpeaker
Or the realization that Reagan inherited a similar economy and turned it around in 14 months. Without adding over $6 trillion in debt in 3 1/2 years. Or having our credit rating dropped (twice under Obama, the only 2 times in history).
************************************************
HAHAHAHA Truthspeaker, NOW THATS FUNNY
YOU WANT THE TRUTH, YOU CANT HANDLE THE TRUTH:
There's no debate that Reagan dramatically reduced taxes in 1981, his first year in office. That $38-billion cut would equal $90 billion in today's dollars. At the time, it represented 1.91 percent of the gross domestic product, which is the total value of goods and services produced in the United States during a given year.
But the following year, Reagan raised taxes dramatically and other increases followed.
The 1982 hike alone, which applied to corporations and individuals, increased taxes by about $17 billion, according to a 2006 U.S. Treasury report. The increase represented 0.8 percent of the GDP. That's why it is sometimes billed as the largest peacetime tax increase in American history. That same year he also raised the gasoline tax.
In 1983, Reagan hiked taxes again. This time it was the passage of the Social Security Reform Act of 1983, which increased payroll taxes to provide long-term funding for Medicare and Social Security. According to liberal economist Paul Krugman, in a June 8, 2004, commentary in The New York Times, "this tax increase more than undid any gains from Mr. Reagan's income tax cuts" for many middle- and low-income families.
Reagan also significantly increased taxes through the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, the Tax Reform of 1986 and the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987.
We asked Loughlin why he mentioned only Reagan's tax cut and not the subsequent increases. He said Reagan's 1984 increase, for example, "was to combat a budget deficit and it was also because of a fear of inflation in 1984."
"When I make the statement it was not to provide an economics lesson, but it was to illustrate that when tax rates are cut, specifically marginal tax rates and business tax rates, historically the economy experiences growth," he said. "If you argue that that's what we need to do right now, grow the economy, then certainly that's a lesson from the past that has some relevance today."
Wendy Schiller, a professor of political science and public policy at Brown University, said Reagan's tax policies and their impacts were complicated.
"He definitely raised taxes. He had to. But they were far more targeted taxes" after the big 1981 cut, she said. "When they talk about taxes, they also talk about the Medicare premium. They talk about the Social Security contribution and the income limit for Social Security contributions. All of those things would be considered taxes."
Even when Reagan lowered the tax rate again in 1986, it didn't help the middle class, she said.
"In '81 they kept deductions for things like credit card interest and student loan interest, so if your parents paid your student loan they could take the deduction. In '86 they got rid of all that," said Schiller. "So their overall tax load went up. He didn't yank up the tax rates by a third. He just took away a lot of the really good deductions for them, which ended up really raising the taxes [for] a lot of people who had benefited from the [1981] cuts."
The other question is, did the original tax cut spark "exponential growth," as Loughlin contended.
Taken literally, "exponential" refers to growth at an ever-increasing rate, as when something doubles, then triples, then quadruples. The economy during the Reagan years did no such thing.
When we talked to Loughlin about that part of his statement, he said: "We experienced additional growth after Ronald Reagan cut taxes and that might be a bit of hyperbole to say 'exponentially.'"
In fact, immediately after the 1981 cuts, the country went into a recession. The GDP dropped by nearly 2 percent. The unemployment rate jumped more than two full percentage points, spiking to 9.7 percent.
WELL WELL TRUTH TELLER, I GUESS YOU ARE ENTITLED TO SPEAK THE TRUTH, BUT NOT YOUR OWN TRUTH
What exactly do you mean?
What I mean is this poster cited Reagan inheriting a bad economy and turning it around WHEN IN FACT HE DID THE OPPOSITE
He cut taxes, AND THE COUNTRY WENT INTO A RECESSION{sound familiar??..GW?}
and THEN he RAISED taxes to fix it, JUST AS CLINTON DID AND OBAMA IS TRYING TO DO
The GOP thinks Reagan is their God, but IN REALITY he was the beginning of MOST of this countries problems, and THAT is WELL DOCUMENTED
Reagan or congress raised those taxes ? and more importantly why? who promised him what? So you like history? cool then you will like this link and ask yourself, this is a liberal asking another liberal, not fox, rush, etc so now your ideology and its hypocrisy is on full display. You libtards dont get it both ways, so heres your ignorance on full display, your welcome, glad I could help.
Reagan or congress raised those taxes
DID YOU NOT READ THE WORDS?????
In the end, Loughlin is correct that Reagan cut taxes in 1981.
Yet he omits the important fact that the 40th president subsequently approved substantial increases, an omission we consider significant.
As for exponential growth after the Reagan tax cut, the candidate acknowledges that that's an exaggeration, although he shares the conviction of many others that the 1981 cut played a key role in economic growth in the 1980s.
In an economy as complex as ours, cause and effect statements like Loughlin's are great for a campaign ad, but they make the Truth-O-Meter shudder
http://www.politifact.com/rhode-island/statements/2010/sep/05/john-loughlin/loughlin-says-reagans-1981-tax-cuts-led-exponentia/
MY IGNORANCE????
HAHAHAHAHAHA, oh really?????
you get to have history, but you dont get to make it up
As the nation embarks on a celebration this Sunday of the hundredth anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s birth—with conferences, museum exhibits and lots of speeches—let us not forget that many of the serious problems facing America today began or worsened during Reagan’s presidency.
Why not let Reagan, who died in 2004, rest in peace? Because a growing chorus of journalists, politicians, and pundits are using this hundredth-birthday milestone to rewrite history and bestow on Reagan a Mount Rushmore–like status as one of our greatest presidents.
That’s hogwash.
During his two terms in the White House (1981–89), Reagan presided over a widening gap between the rich and everyone else, declining wages and living standards for working families, an assault on labor unions as a vehicle to lift Americans into the middle class, a dramatic increase in poverty and homelessness, and the consolidation and deregulation of the financial industry that led to the current mortgage meltdown, foreclosure epidemic and lingering recession.
These trends were not caused by inevitable social and economic forces. They resulted from Reagan’s policy and political choices based on an underlying “you’re on your own” ideology
http://www.thenation.com/article/158321/reagans-real-legacy#