Obama: Let’s have post-Shabbat debate telecast
Friday's first presidential debate (assuming John McCain does attend) will take place after sundown, which means Shabbat-observant Jews won't be able to watch it live. Barack Obama is hoping the television networks will rerun it after Shabbat on Saturday night. Here's his letter to the leaders of the Commission on Presidential Debates asking for their help:
September 24, 2008The Honorable Frank J. Fahrenkopf, Jr.
The Honorable Paul G. Kirk, Jr.
Commission on Presidential Debates
1200 New Hampshire Ave NW Washington, DC 20036
Dear Mr. Fahrenkopf and Mr. Kirk:
Joe Biden and I are looking forward to participating in the upcoming debates, and I appreciate the hard work you and your team have put forth to bring them about. They promise to be some of the best opportunities for the voters to assess the candidates and their views prior to Election Day.
I want to raise one issue, and ask for your assistance. Due to the schedule set by the Commission and presented to the campaigns, the first debate falls on Friday night after the Jewish Sabbath has begun. Unfortunately, that means many Jewish Americans will not have the opportunity to watch the debate live. Because I know there is strong interest in this debate in the Jewish community, and to be as inclusive as possible, I ask for the Commission's help in encouraging the television networks covering the debate to rebroadcast it on Saturday night after the Sabbath has concluded.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,
Barack Obama
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Bill Levinson
09/25/08 05:43 AM
I’ll help Barry out by posting some of his and Biden’s remarks before Friday evening.
Barry: “Reverend Sharpton is a voice for the voiceless, and a voice for the dispossessed. What National Action Network has done is so important to change America, and it must be changed from the bottom up.” The National Action Network is the same group that, while under Sharpton’s supervision, chanted racial and anti-Semitic epithets at a Jewish-owned store (Freddy’s Fashion Mart) in Harlem. Then one of Sharpton’s deranged followers set it on fire and killed seven people.
Biden, condemning a campaign ad that Obama approved (the one about McCain not being able to use a computer): “I didn’t know we did it, and if I’d had anything to do with it, we would have never done it.” Apparently Obama didn’t bother to consult his own running mate first.
Biden, contradicting his own platform on clean coal (and making a liar of Ed Rendell, who touted clean coal during the DNC): ““We’re not supporting clean coal,” Biden said. …“No coal plants here in America!” The Obama/Biden show reminds me of two of the Three Stooges, with Rendell as the straight man who gets the pie in his face.
Glad to be of assistance, Barry.