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ABC anchors asked Obama and McCain about Obama's alleged "shifting positions," but not McCain's http://mediamatters.org/items/200807100012 In an interview with Sen. Barack Obama that aired during the July 9 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, anchor Diane Sawyer introduced a question to Obama about Iraq by stating, "[S]ome of your core supporters have been saying that they sense that you are shifting positions, and you've gotten quite a drubbing on a couple of fronts." Yet at no point during the interview did Sawyer ask Obama about Sen. John McCain's "shifting positions" on immigration reform, taxes, the religious right, and numerous other issues. Further, during the portion of an interview with McCain that aired on the July 9 edition of ABC's World News, anchor Charles Gibson asked McCain about McCain's criticism of Obama for what Gibson characterized as "changing position on a number of ... issues" and whether McCain is "ready, yet, to call him [Obama] a flip-flopper." Gibson did not ask McCain about McCain's reversals, as Media Matters for America documented. From the July 9 edition of ABC's World News with Charles Gibson: GIBSON: Well, John McCain has been hammering away at Obama for his position on Iran, and he's also criticizing Obama for changing position on a number of other issues. And I asked him about that when we spoke this morning. [begin video clip] GIBSON: I'm curious. There's been a lot of speculation in the press about whether your opponent may be shifting positions, in some areas, moving to the center -- a little more right than he was in the primaries. Do you see him shifting positions? McCAIN: It appears so, although I have not been paying real close attention. But I would say on the issue of Iraq, I'm glad he's going for the first time in 900 days. I'm glad that he is, for the first time, asking for a sit-down briefing with General Petraeus, and I'll be very interested in what his position on Iraq is when he returns. GIBSON: You're not ready, yet, to call him a flip-flopper? McCAIN: Oh, it's obvious that what I say doesn't affect American public opinion nearly as much as what he says does. GIBSON: You think so? McCAIN: Well, the -- I mean, the fact is that he has changed his positions on FISA, on public financing, on his agreement that he said he'd go anytime, anyplace, to sit down -- to have a town hall meeting with me. We were before the same organization yesterday. We could have just stood there together and answered their questions. I think LULAC would have gotten a lot more out of it. He said that he would do that. He said that he would take public financing for the general election, if I did as well, and said that he agreed to it. But those things will be judged by the America people, but I won't hesitate to point them out. GIBSON: All right. Senator McCain, good to talk to you. Get all the best. McCAIN: Thank you, Charlie. GIBSON: Take care. From the July 9 edition of ABC's Good Morning America: SAWYER: All right, Jake [Tapper, senior national correspondent]. Thanks to you. And just minutes ago, I had a chance to talk to Senator Barack Obama, and I started with the news from Iran this morning. [begin video clip] SAWYER: Senator Obama, good morning again. OBAMA: Good morning, Diane. SAWYER: Word just in this morning, as you know, that Iran has test-fired nine missiles, including one of them, the Shahab-3, that has a 1,250-mile range. They say it could reach Israel. What should the U.S. do in response? OBAMA: Well, the -- what we should have been doing from the start. And that is, instead of engaging in over-the-top rhetoric, what we should be doing is gathering our allies together in a serious effort to apply sanctions to Iran and encourage them to change their behavior. You know, we also had a report that exports from the United States to Iran have actually increased during the Bush years. And it's that kind of mixed signal that I think has led to the kind of situation that we're in right now. SAWYER: But if Israel -- OBAMA: Iran is a grave -- Iran is a grave threat. We have to make sure that we are working with our allies to apply tightening pressure economically on Iran. At the same time, as we start engaging in the kind of direct diplomacy that can lead them to standing down on issues like nuclear weapons. SAWYER: If Israel decides that because of this, among other things, that they for their own security must strike pre-emptively against sites inside Iran, would you endorse it? What would you do? OBAMA: You know, Diane, I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals in that situation. Obviously, Iran always has the right -- Israel always has the right to protect itself from serious threats, and Iran is a serious threat. Right now, what is most important is make sure that they stand down on the development of nuclear weapons, that they stop funding Hamas and Hezbollah. The United States has to gather up others in the region as well as internationally to apply pressure on Iran. But it's very difficult for us to do so when we haven't shown a willingness to engage in the sort of direct negotiations with Iran that would give them carrots and sticks for a change in behavior. And the last thing I'd point out is that our occupation in Iraq is part of what has strengthened Iran's hand. And it's very important for us to stabilize the situation in Iran -- in Iraq in order for us to be able to be more effective dealing with the Iranian threat. SAWYER: On the question of Iraq, as you know, some of your core supporters have been saying that they sense that you are shifting positions, and you've gotten quite a drubbing on a couple of fronts. This is the question this morning: You have said previously, we will be out, we will be out of Iraq in 16 months. Are you now saying it's your goal or that you might refine that, or do you still repeat, We will be out in 16 months? OBAMA: Diane, I have been as crystal clear now as I was a year ago, as I was six months ago, that we will get out of Iraq carefully, deliberately at a pace that is safe for our troops. Every estimate is, is that we can have our troops out in one to two -- at the pace of one to two brigades per month. At that pace, we would have our combat troops out in 16 months. My position has not changed at all. And what I have also repeatedly said is that as commander in chief, obviously I'd be listening to recommendations of generals on the ground, but it is my job as commander in chief to set up a strategy. It's their job to execute tactics. SAWYER: You are heading out to talk about an economic agenda for women, and Senator Clinton is going to be going out with you. One of the items on that is to close the pay gap, which is now women earning 78 cents on the dollar for men. And yet it's only been closing for about two cents a year over the past decade. How are you going to close that gap? OBAMA: Well, we've got to use all the power at our disposal to make sure that women are treated equally. The idea of equal pay for equal work -- SAWYER: But -- OBAMA: -- is something that I think is fundamental to the American ideal. I'll just give you one specific example. Congress right now could reverse a Supreme Court ruling that came down recently that said that you cannot sue for discrimination even though you didn't know that you were being discriminated against if a certain amount of time has elapsed. I voted to reverse that ruling. John McCain agreed with the Supreme Court that women couldn't get redress in the courts. That is a very specific thing that we should be doing right now. SAWYER: Two quick questions. Vice presidency, what have you decided about the kind of person it has to be and when you're going to announce? OBAMA: Well, it's going to be somebody with integrity, somebody who's competent and can serve as president, somebody who's independent and can offer unvarnished advice to me. But beyond that, I haven't spoken about the vice pres-- SAWYER: Strong military background? OBAMA: Beyond that I haven't talked about our vice presidential process, and I'm not going to until we actually select my choice as vice presidential nominee. SAWYER: Gonna do it before the Olympics? OBAMA: I'll let you know when we introduce the nominee, Diane. SAWYER: All right. And one final thing. We saw you with your children in the last couple of days, the whole family sitting and talking. Is this the future? OBAMA: No, you know, that -- it was an exception. It was Malia's birthday. We were in Montana. Everybody was having a good time, and I think we got carried away a little bit. Generally, what makes them so charming is the fact that they're not spending a lot of time worrying about TV cameras or politics, and we want to keep it that way. SAWYER: Sorry you did it? OBAMA: A little bit of pause, Michelle and I, particularly given the way that it sort of went around the cable stations. I don't think it's healthy, and it's something that we'll be avoiding in the future. SAWYER: All right. Well, Senator Obama, again, thank you for being with us this morning. OBAMA: Thank you. Contact: ABC ABC News ABCNews 7 W. 66th St. New York, NY 10023

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