At the end of Barack Obama's press conference today in Des Moines, Iowa, the New York Times' reporter Jeff Zeleny leapt up and asked the Illinois senator if he would support the Democratic nominee for president, the assumption being, if that isn't him. Obama glared at Zeleny, then said that he is a Democrat and would support the party's pick but of course he planned to win the nomination.
As a reporter, I'll always support another reporter's decision to ask a question guaranteed to make a candidate uncomfortable. But in this case, I can't imagine what Zeleny hoped to learn with that set-up. In my experience, candidates almost universally respond the way Obama did - unless Zeleny had some strategic goal that's over my head.
Read on...
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee - whom I covered as a reporter at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - was frequently asked if he could back a pro-choice Republican nominee (namely, Rudy Giuliani). Huckabee would always reply that that wouldn't be an issue because he, Huckabee, would win the nomination.
With Huckabee though, the question was more relevant because differences in abortion stances have been a big factor in this year's Republican race. Or at least they were before televangelist Pat Robertson endorsed Giuliani yesterday.
