If You Can’t Stand the Heat…

How does a campaign respond to tough questions?  By completely cutting off the station that asks them.

I’m sure by now you have seen the video of Barbra West doing her job, unlike any other journalist, and actually asking VP candidate Joe Biden difficult questions (video below).  My favorite comment from Biden is “he’s not spreading the wealth around”, which is of course contrary to Brack Obama who says that he thinks it’s a good idea to “spread the wealth around”.

What I really can’t stand from this interview, is that it really isn’t that tough of an interview.  Ms. West is not asking any followup questions and is just giving Biden a chance to clarify some of the stupid things that he and Obama have said recently.  The Obama camp then responds by completely cutting the station off from the campaign.

Here’s where they lost me.  Obama and Biden should have LOVED to face these questions.  There were no follow ups, and it was a perfect opportunity to address the concerns that people have of the campaign.  Instead, Biden tries to laugh it off, can’t believe Ms. West is serious, and barely tries to help his own cause.

Meanwhile, the interview was on WFTV, a Floridian news station.  It goes without question the importance of Florida to any Presidential election, and yet Obama and Biden comepletly blow an opportunity to set the record straight.  Factor in that WFTV is one of the more widely watched news networks in central Flordia, and Obama-Biden might have actually done more damage then good.

Am I wrong in thinking that this interview wasn’t even that difficult?  He just had to answer the question/clarify an earlier statement, and move on.  Biden couldn’t even get through that, and now the Obama camp is in a tizzy because a media outlet has never asked them a remotely difficult question before.  How can they possibly come off looking good from this?