I mentioned in a previous diary that FOX's coverage of the first presidential debate of this election cycle seemed unusually ... well ... free of partisan hackery and lies about Obama for the greater McCain good.
Apparently I wasn't the only one. Rupert Murdoch himself was evidently less than thrilled by what he called, in a memo to FOX News anchors (most of whom were not part of the after-debate analysis), "a lack of clear and decisive language and analysis that emphasized either candidate's superiority, in that debate or overall."
In a massive coup for FOX News, both Murdoch's memo and what are being called "three trial runs, one for each general outcome on Election Night," have been leaked a la McCain talking points from a week or so ago.
The hilarity, it abounds.
Here, without further ado, are the transcripts for if Obama wins early, if it's close throughout the night or if McCain wins:
Obama cruises
Chris WALLACE: "FOX News has been tracking election results all night, and analysts at America's Election Headquarters predict that Barack Hussein Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, the former community organizer and native son of Hawaii, with his victory in California will win the 2008 election for president of the United States. So congratulations to him, and of course, we expect Senator McCain, his presidential adversary and the Republican nominee to succeed the two-term President George W. Bush, will call the now President-elect Barack Hussein Obama to offer his congratulations.
"I want to now ask what will maybe now be the first tough questions of the Obama presidency, so to speak. So I want to get all of your takes, if you will, on the situation here. Sean Hannity: Senator Obama, President-elect Obama, has only 320 electoral votes so far tonight, out of 415 total. Is this a good thing for Democrats, or a bad thing?"
Sean HANNITY: "Excellent question, Chris. I think it's a bad thing. According to a lot of liberal, Democrat pundits out there, this was supposed to be a sweeping victory. Yet what did we see tonight? South Carolina: McCain. Texas: McCain. North Dakota: McCain. Chris, these are not states that are geographically close. If you're a hardworking American taking your wife and kids on a road trip, and you visit South Carolina, Texas and North Dakota, you're covering some territory. By not covering more of the electoral, the popular, map, the senator -- and this win hasn't been certified by the electoral board yet, so maybe we should wait to call him president-elect anything -- the senator has shown that sure, he can rally the liberal base in places like New York, like Massachusetts, like Illinois. But Obama is really displaying the fundamental problem Democrats have in this country: The American people do not identify with them. Americans see Democrats as elitists, and that John McCain, a war hero, won Montana, as well, really shows that as well as I think it's ever been shown."
WALLACE: "Karl Rove, your thoughts on why Obama couldn't close in West Virginia and North Dakota?"
Karl ROVE: "Well, Chris, that's an excellent question. I think Obama's negativity -- how he spent so much time talking about the so-called failures of this administration, what he labeled them as, and not looking at how to further the successes of the last eight years of Republican Constitutional authority -- I think that didn't play well with the hardworking Americans who don't want to hear about how government, you know, has failed them.
"And I think also the sense that he wasn't a true American didn't play well there, Chris Wallace. I think that voters were looking for someone they could have a beer with, not someone who could tell them what was in that beer. Barack Huissein Obama doesn't stick out in a place like California, like Washington, D.C., but I guarantee you something: If you're walking the streets of Wyoming and you see a man like Barack Huissein Obama, he stands out, and not just because of his celebrity appeal."
WALLACE: "I think the consensus here tonight at America's Election Headquarters, at least so far, is that Barack Obama is no Richard Nixon, who won 48 states, and no Ronald Reagan, who equalled the mark. And I think that if he wants to appeal to more Americans, he's going to have to adopt maybe a little more of a centrist, maybe a pro-evangelical viewpoint, maybe do some things to demonstrate a pro-business attitude."
Peggy NOONAN: "I think we also need to look, Chris, at the implications of the numbers. Sean talked earlier about the Democrat pundits out there who said the GOP brand was something people were running away from. You had that story about the number of Republicans who supposedly weren't going to the convention.
"People may forget that eight years ago, then-Gov. Bush was elected with a political mandate from the people. They were tired of the immoral and, frankly, embarrassing behavior by President Clinton, and they wanted something new. And when they so forcefully said they wanted something new, that sent a message to the Democrat Party that hey, you know, it's a new game. There's not going to be this, sort of, adolescent, freewheeling activity up there in the White House or in the halls of Congress. President Bush had a clear Republican majority for six of his years guide this nation through the biggest crises we've ever faced, and in those six years, whether you want to talk about reducing taxes or establishing our place in the world militarily, a lot of things happened. A lot of good things happened. And what we've seen since then, since Democrats took the House and Senate back, is a whole lot of nothing. Other than the FISA bill and the bailout, the so-called 'rescue' bill, can anyone here name a bill that was passed in Congress?
"And so I think two things happened tonight. One is we assured ourselves that practically nothing is going to happen in this country because of this election, which now means Democrats control all three branches of the White House -- four if you count Joe Biden. And two is I don't think we saw tonight the kind of message that tells the losing party, 'Hey, you'd better get your act together.'"
HANNITY: "That mandate point, that clarity of vote point, Peggy, is something that's I think really important for our viewers to consider as they decide how much worse or better off this country is now with the apparent election of Barack Hussein Obama to the highest office in the land."
William KRISTOL: "May I just say, I think there's a deeper question here that we're maybe not addressing. I think we haven't had a potential president with this many unknowns since the last Democrat president we had, back in 1992, Bill Clinton. How many times, back in the Democrat primary season, did Hillary say, or did one of her surrogates say, that this man was not vetted, hadn't crossed the commander-in-chief threshold? Over and over again from the Democrats, we heard that maybe we didn't know everything about this candidate. Maybe we should look a little more closely at people like William Ayers, at people like Rev. Wright, of course, who was such a problem for Obama earlier this year because of his statements, right in front of Obama, about how 'God hates America, God damns America,' pardon my language. I think this guy is still a huge unknown, and that the American people apparently were willing to take a chance on him makes me I think a combination of scared for the future if the electorate is so easily swayed, and on the other hand, confident that once this country is reminded of how these tax-and-spend, liberal Democrats work, they'll say to themselves, 'Man, you know, I really miss George W. Bush. I miss that familiarity. I miss having a guy like me in the White House.'"
WALLACE: Let's go to our FOX First panel and first talk to FOX News anchor and co-host of 'Hannity & Colmes,' Sean, your broadcast partner, Alan Colmes. Alan, do you think there's now an asterisk by this election?"
Alan COLMES: "I do, Chris. I do think there's an asterisk. And I think the American people think there's an asterisk by it. We will never know -- absent what would be a very pleasant surprise certainly to a number of people in this country, we will never know what might have happened if all those questionable votes from first-time voters -- the people who really don't pay attention to the 24-hour news cycle and the analysts -- at this network, in particular -- what might have happened if all those low-information, first-time voters had not been sort of roped into this election, sort of made to feel that this was their election, their time, when someone who is not like most Americans is now benefiting from that.
"I think that if you leave this election to the traditional American, the traditional voter, it goes to a traditional candidate like John McCain and not this sort of upstart we now have in Barack Hussein Obama."
WALLACE: "You mention upstart, and that leads me to a very important question. Lynn Westmoreland, a GOP Congressman representing Georgia's third district. Representative Westmoreland, you've seen a lot of politics in your life, a lot of seminal moments in this nation's recent history. Do you agree with the way some have characterized Barack Hussein Obama, and his family, as being an upstart, as being uppity? Do you think that's fair?"
Lynn WESTMORELAND: "Well, fair is a question of analysis, and this news station, unlike maybe some others, just reports the news, it doesn't analyze it. But I think ... I think you could make the case, if you were analyzing this, that by coming forward so young, yes, Barack Hussein Obama has shown some willingness, at least, to be uppity. Does that mean he's always uppity? No, I don't think so. But I think certainly for a fair portion of this contest, he's been that sort of 'I'm not waiting my turn, I'm not playing the traditional game,' that sort of candidate, and I think it's fair to say that he's been uppity, yes.
"And I think you have to couple that with, certainly, some of what Bill Kristol said. I think we still don't know a lot about this man, and I think a lot of people bought into the hype of the moment, bought into the emotion instead of the issues, and I think there were too many frankly sensitive people who wanted a black president, and I think that dissuaded people from voting for John McCain. And I think that's terrible, and I hope we won't see it again in four years when Barack Hussein Obama is up for re-election -- assuming nothing happens to him between now and then, of course, what with the Rezko trial and that Ayers fellow, who gained such notoriety both as a dangerous radical in the 1960s and then as a friend and, really, mentor to Barack Hussein Obama over the last few years."
WALLACE: "Lanny Davis, the former Clinton surrogate and former special counsel to President Clinton during the Lewinsky impeachment hearings: Sean Hannity made the case a few minutes ago that while Barack Hussein Obama has at least theoretically won the presidency by this network's tally, he could be doing a lot better. How much better might Barack Hussein Obama be doing just now if he'd picked Hillary Clinton as his running mate?"
Lanny DAVIS: "If Obama picks Hillary Rodham Clinton as his running mate, I think it changes the game completely.
"I think you have to reconsider the POW John McCain's choice of running mate. I think he maybe goes with Mitt Romney for financial considerations.
"But I think you also have a lot more questions about who really is more ready to serve even on that ticket, between Clinton and Obama. Experience really has to factor in there, because Hillary Clinton has a much longer resume, certainly is a more calculating politician, certainly will stop at nothing to win, and I don't think we've seen that quality from Barack Hussein Obama yet, and I say that as now a supporter of him, though sometimes a critical one. We haven't seen that drive and determination that made Hillary Clinton such a tough candidate and really probably drove a number of her supporters to either write her in, maybe vote for the McCain/Palin ticket or, I think, just stay home because of a lack of enthusiasm for what is a candidate with a very meager, very modest track record and resume.
"We're talking about a guy who hasn't come up through the ranks of politics like most people do. This is not someone who spent a significant amount of time at the national level. This is a guy who took a job at the community level, just organizing people, not really doing much of substance beyond telling poor minorities, you know, the African-American crowd, that their government had failed them. I think that's a message that really doesn't resonate with most Americans, and I think that background really hurt him."
WALLACE: "So do you think he'd be doing better or worse?"
DAVIS: "Oh, better, to be sure. Because with an Obama/Clinton ticket, you've really got two viable presidential candidates -- and Hillary Clinton got more votes in the primary season than Obama did -- on the ticket, plus a third actual two-term president -- one of this network's favorite presidents, I know --"
::loud, nervous laughs all around::
"But I think that's a really strong experience and change ticket because then you have things you'd never had in the White House before: a spouse with presidential experience, a black man, a woman, um, you know, two young kids in there again for the first time since the 1960s, and it's really, to borrow something from the kids, just made of win."
WALLACE: "Made of win. Interesting turn of phrase there, Lanny Davis. And on that note, we'll go to commercial and be back soon with more analysis and maybe some poll results. You're listening to FOX News. We report. You decide."
Close throughout the night:
Chris WALLACE: "FOX News has been tracking election results all night, and analysts at America's Election Headquarters show a very tight, very divided race thus far tonight. For the Democrat Party, of course, Barack Huissein Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, the former community organizer and native son of Hawaii, with his victory in California now leads John McCain, with a number of states still counting votes, and it'll probably be at least a few hours before we know what direction this country will go in for the next four years.
"And of course, for the Republicans, it's the prisoner of war, the American hero, the senior senator from Arizona, John McCain, the handpicked successor to George W. Bush, but not without his so to speak 'maverick' moments, if you will, where he bucked party line and reached across the aisle to work with Democrats on an issue where they really needed to be on-board.
"Sean Hannity, you've been following this election pretty closely for the last year. We've all seen the polls calling for double-digit wins for Barack Hussein Obama in a lot of states that haven't traditionally gone Democrat in recent years. Is there a silver lining in this cloud for Democrats?
Sean HANNITY: "I don't think there is, Chris. I really don't. I think that when you have an upstart, celebrity candidate leading in most of the polls by at least 10 points, and being competitive in 30 states, that if that doesn't translate to more success on Election Day than, you know, winning the states Democrats traditionally win, there's something wrong with the candidate, the party or both.
"And in this case, unfortunately, I think it's both. I think you had a flawed candidate in Barack Hussein Obama, a man who wanted the game to change just for him, just because he maybe isn't tough enough for the gritty, hard campaigning, the hard contrasts we've seen drawn in recent years between candidates, the frankly stark differences between Democrats, the party of taxing and spending, and Republicans the party of the fiscal conservatives.
"And I think the Democrat party really needs to revisit its ideals, its positions, how it tries to influence voters. The Republican Party has clearly tapped into the hearts of voters by really pushing social and religious issues like abortion, like homosexual marriage, like welfare reform, and I just don't see how supporting abortion, supporting special rights, supporting government handouts -- you know, you really could say it all started in the 1980s. Democrats wanted to get AIDS research federally funded, and Ronald Reagan said no. And Republicans have won four of six elections since then and are certainly on target tonight to make it five of seven. So really, from the start of that special-rights platform, it's been a long line of frustrating Novembers for the Democrat party."
WALLACE: "Karl Rove, you came to national prominence -- and deservedly so, I think -- back in 2000 when you helped guide then-Gov. Bush to a decisive win over the Democrat candidate, former Vice President Al Gore. Something we've discussed on this network before, and something I think might still be a factor certainly for some people, is how do you think the financial crisis affected the vote in states like Minnesota and Michigan, with their recent unemployment problems?"
Karl ROVE: "I think one of the things you have to look at with any situation where there's unemployment is that people have to choose between, you know, driving that SUV or that truck to a job interview or church versus driving to the polls to vote. So I think that played a part, certainly.
"And really, coupled with that unemployment factor is the cause which was undoubtedly the Democrats' inability to run the government, something their liberal activist bases charged them with doing, and which contributed hugely to the need we had to 'bail out,' so to speak, the financial sector. So I think the bad economy, which most analysts would agree came on the democrats' watch, played into it.
"And then I think the third factor you have to look at is just how much political gridlock we had these last two years. Look: When you have a president with an agenda, the president's the one who runs this country, and your job as a politician is to serve him, not to do whatever crazy things your feminist, your homosexual activist base wants, like that shameful fair pay act or that quote-unquote special rights hate-crime bill, which wasted valuable time congress could have spent on FISA before it expired and this country became so vulnerable to the terrorists. So I think a general lack of confidence in the democratic leadership told people that yeah, this guy speaks really well, he drew those celebrity comparisons earlier this year with those stinging ads from the McCain campaign, but the people weren't sold on him as anything more than a motivational speaker. And I think if this economy were on better footing, if you had more Democrats in Congress doing their jobs and fewer just talking all day, that maybe there are more people voting in those battleground states, and I have to think, based on what I've read, analysis and all of that, that most of those votes probably go to the Republican, John McCain."
WALLACE: "Peggy Noonan, as someone whom some people charged with being overly critical of Sen. McCain's vice presidential pick, how much did Alaska's native daughter help Republicans in downticket races?"
Peggy NOONAN: "I think, obviously, that it wasn't just about the female voters, Chris. I think that helped a lot, seeing someone you can really identify with, a hockey mom with a sense of humor who clawed her way to the top, some might say. I think seeing her succeeding in the climes of Alaska, in such cold weather, and seeing her raising a family, I think a lot of voters identified with that, and I think the combination of picking Gov. Sarah Palin, who had an approval rating through the roof throughout much of this campaign, both as a governor and in the polls, helped reaffirm tremendously John McCain's strengths.
"And I think this was a real maverick move by McCain. I think to go with someone whom the country is unfamiliar with, someone from a small state demographically, not worth certainly a lot of electoral votes, showed that McCain really was country first, and I think that really resonated with voters, who might have said, you know, that they disagreed with McCain maybe on one or two issues, maybe something serious, but they saw his bipartisan record, his record of being a maverick reformer, and they saw this reaffirmed with his pick of Sarah Palin, and I think it's one of the reasons the McCain/Palin ticket is not many electoral votes away from a well-deserved win, a win they fought very hard for, and a sign of good things for America's future.
"And I think one other thing I'd add is, look: Yes, Senator Obama looks like he is going to be the next president of this country. Is that going to stop people from voting Republican now, today, or in the future? No. I think Alaskans are going to say, 'You know what? Yes, Barack Hussein Obama is the next president, but he's not our president. We're proud of our governor, and we're here to represent her and put country first and vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin.' And I think it's a pretty powerful statement to know already that, barring some real surprises, the election is over, but a lot of very proud Americans are still voting for the only presidential ticket with a woman on it."
WALLACE: "William Kristol, same question for you, regarding John McCain and his Arizona base and the Southwest in general."
William KRISTOL: "As a pundit, one of the things we're called to do is to keep up not just with the political world but the so-called blogosphere. And one of the blogs that has been louder, I guess, than others this last year is the fringe, the left-wing Daily Kos.
"Now, ::laughs:: some of you may think it a little strange to bring up the Daily Kos on this network, certainly, given how little credibility they have with us and how Bill O'Reilly really nailed them a year or so ago with his comments about how they were frankly harming the country. But I want to bring up something that the Daily Kos leader said about the Southwest and the West. He said, and I'm paraphrasing here, that quote, 'What we're seeing with Gov. Schweitzer, with Gov. Richardson, is a rebirth of the Democratic Party' -- his words, not mine, Democratic Party -- 'in that part of the country. These two men, and a lot of other Democrats in the leadership, have provided so much energy. Don't be surprised if we turn a few of those states blue.'
"Well, I'm not surprised the Democrat Party hasn't turned those states blue. Yes, California, Oregon, Washington, the, frankly, the left coast and the special rights, special interest groups live there. But then you get into New Mexico, into Colorado, into Utah, and that's where you need a maverick, someone the Hispanics can look at and say, 'You know, amigo, I don't like what you said about immigration, but you're a rebelde' -- a maverick; I looked that up for some, you know, culture -- 'and I respect you, and I respect your war record, your service to our country, and I believe you when you say you have the experience to lead this country into the future.'
"Only a maverick could do that. Only a man with a record for sometimes doing his own thing and having it work out for him, who championed campaign finance reform and worked on both sides of the aisle, could draw support of legal immigrants who maybe felt a little unhappy with how, I guess, some politicians were portrayed by some networks as wanting to curtail the actions of illegal aliens entering this country, breaking the law. And I think also, too, those legal immigrants recognized that this immigration debate isn't about them. They have their papers. They know English. They're not part of this problem we have now."
WALLACE: "We go now to our FOX First panel, and we'll begin with you, Lanny Davis, the former Clinton surrogate and former special counsel to President Clinton during the Lewinsky impeachment hearings: Lanny, you've been part of the game of politics for a number of years now. We're seeing in these exit polls that the working-class white people, the folks who have lived in the mills and the factories, are not gravitating to the Democrat, the union guy, just because he is a Democrat. How much are white blue-collar workers hurting Obama in Ohio, Michigan and other working-class states?"
Lanny DAVIS: "You know, I think this shows the prescience of Hillary Clinton from back when Barack Hussein Obama was still trying to nail down the party's nomination. Yes, he'll get the arugula-eating crowd. Yes, he'll get plenty of the urban vote, so to speak, the blacks, the African-American vote, certainly his share of the youth vote. But go to the coal towns of West Virginia, the steel mills in Pennsylvania and the factories in Indiana, and certainly the industrial sectors of Ohio and Michigan.
"Go look at those 45-year-old men, those middle-aged white men, those hardworking white American men, traditional voters, and tell me: Are they black? No. Not African-American. Not young. Not elite. Barack Obama may be an American, they'll tell you in private, but he's not their vision of an American. An American does not have a foreign father, does not share part of a name with a dictator, does not go bodysurfing, uh, does not ... does not associate with that pastor, the Rev. Wright. So I think that where Hillary Clinton would have mopped up with those voters, would have been dominating those exit polls at this point, hardworking Americans still aren't convinced that a man who wouldn't wear a flag lapel pin is really going to stand for them.
WALLACE: "Alan Colmes, something Peggy Noonan and William Kristol touched on earlier was the native, hometown appeal of Sarah Palin and John McCain. Is there something you see, do you think, about those candidates, or something you maybe don't see in Barack Hussein Obama or Joe Biden, that would give you a reason to say, 'Hey, I need a candidate for president who really loves his country, and I'm not sure this candidate does'?"
Alan COLMES: "I think you've tapped into something really important, Chris. Remember, earlier we had that event where Michelle Obama, wife of Barack Obama, talked about how, quote, 'For the first time in my life, I'm really proud to be an American,' unquote. I think that had to play in the minds of voters who, yes, were voting on issues, but at the end of the day were also voting on character. I think that lack of pride in one's country is something that starts in the home, in the family, and I think if that isn't something Michelle grew up with, maybe it's something that's developed since she and the senator started, uh, living together -- as man and wife, I mean. Don't mean to imply anything there.
"But I think you're absolutely right. Yes, the economy is not in great shape right now. And yes, people are hurting at the pump, and food is more expensive. But people also need something they can believe in. And if the most important person in the world to Barack Obama had to have her husband run for president for her to really say she now loved her country, it makes me wonder not only if that's even true now, but if maybe some of that -- maybe -- has rubbed off on him."
WALLACE: "On Senator Obama."
COLMES: "On Senator Obama, yes. I think you have to ask that. And I think that if you have a president who doesn't almost weep at the idea that he gets to defend his country, our country, from enemies foreign and domestic, if that doesn't really move his soul and cause him and all those around him to really be outstanding, patriotic Americans, then I think you really have to question his motivation.
"And I would also say that when Senator McCain's wife came back -- the next day, I think it was, came back and said -- you know, that she had always loved her country, I think that was as stark a contrast as we saw this whole election cycle. You can talk about mavericks, about bipartisan records, about the theme of so-called change, talk all you want about those issues, but at the end of the day, America's patriots maybe have a hard time voting for a man who doesn't love his country so much that it rubs off on his wife before her husband runs for president."
WALLACE: "Lynn Westmoreland, a GOP Congressman representing Georgia's third district. Representative Westmoreland, you've seen a lot of politics in your life, a lot of seminal moments in this nation's recent history. Do you agree with the way some have characterized Barack Hussein Obama, and his family, as being uppity? And if so, do you think that's hurt him tonight, maybe explained some of the poor exit polls and results in states the campaign thought he'd win?"
Lynn WESTMORELAND: "I think you could make the case, absolutely, that a man who's been in the senate for all of two years when he declares for, you know, runs for president, and he's in a field with all these senior, these veteran legislators, then certainly the question of if he's uppity comes up, and I think that's a valid question regardless -- I think, regardless, really -- of whatever other implications that kind of word might have with some people. But I think you really have to separate yourself from the politics of the past and really just examine the question without some of that divisive history, I guess, because the American people demand real, honest answers to real, honest questions. And I think tonight is showing that the Democrats still don't have those answers."
WALLACE: "Well, we'll now go to commercial, and maybe in that time the Democrats will come up with some answers. And when we come back, maybe we will be able to call a state for John McCain, or maybe I guess Barack Obama, and get a better idea for where this country is headed in the next four years.
"You're listening to FOX News. We report. You decide."
McCain winning
Chris WALLACE: "Mac has done it.
"Pollsters and pundits have been counting out John McCain since last year, and he keeps coming back. And tonight, with surprise wins -- some might say surprise wins -- in Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida, John McCain, the Republican nominee for president of the United States, is ahead of Barack Hussein Obama, the Democrat, on this last day of the race for the White House.
"Sean Hannity, any thoughts on how this has happened?"
Sean HANNITY: "Well, you've mentioned how people keep counting John McCain out, but you know, to joke around for a bit, lighten the mood on what is certainly an unexpected but not undue turn of events, I guess folks in Nebraska don't get worked up over the price of arugula."
WALLACE: "And I think that probably goes the same for the hardworking folks of Kansas."
HANNITY: "Absolutely, Chris. Absolutely. I think when you have those gaffes that Obama has had, with the arugula, with the bodysurfing in Hawaii, the whole 'bitter' thing, how that played in rural, farm country, I think Obama might have polled well among the Democrat elite, but I think the smalltown Americans with their smalltown American values are showing tonight that it's country first, not party first, and that John McCain will always -- always -- be there for them. And even though he hasn't won it all yet -- probably in an hour, we'll be able to say President-elect McCain -- I think we all -- anyone who doubted the McCain campaign's tactics or judgment over the last few months frankly exercised poor judgment and maybe, you know, owes John McCain an apology."
WALLACE: "I think a lot of people really had counted McCain out of it, and I think you're absolutely right with your comment on smalltown Americans."
HANNITY: "And you know, let's just be honest and face it: When you're not looking at voters in New York City or voters in Boston, or Los Angeles or such places, places where celebrity status is hailed, but when you're looking at places that, you know, the pastor is the celebrity, or the quarterback of the high school football team is the town hero, and you really have the same traditional American families living in one place for decades, and not moving around a lot, you know, then I think that represents maybe a lifestyle or a ... you know, the kind of --"
WALLACE: "It's not the kind of person they identify with."
HANNITY: "Exactly. And I know his mother was born in Kansas, but you see how well that's done for him. He's polling, what, 38 percent in Kansas? And his father is from ..."
William KRISTOL: "Kenya, I believe."
HANNITY: "Kenya."
KRISTOL: "Not a lot of Americans living there, really, except maybe some, ah, you know ..."
WALLACE: "Not to put too fine a point on it, but black Americans, but not a lot of them."
KRISTOL: "Right. Blacks. But not a lot of Americans where Obama's father lived."
HANNITY: "And another place where that lifestyle, that different kind of person isn't really embraced, Chris, Bill, is in places like Georgia, which even there, you have certainly plenty of black people, but as Democrats maybe need to learn, and maybe they will after this election, is that just because you give them handouts like welfare, and you restrict what the local election boards can do with that voting act that one of our FOX First panelists has been critical of, you know, even then they don't always deliver enough votes."
KRISTOL: "Maybe they should have voted Irish this time."
WALLACE: "How do you mean, Bill?"
KRISTOL: "I mean, grow an afro -- you know, grow your hair out to some obscene length, or I guess height in the case of the blacks. And then get your facial hair growing, and maybe get a tattoo. And you put on a good shirt, a nice shirt, a collared shirt, like you would wear to an office, and you vote. And then you shave. And then you vote again, and you get your hair cut. And then you vote again, and then you put on -- what do they call those shirts there? I mean undershirts. What do they call them? I heard some urban youth say it, but I was on the phone getting a stock quote from my broker."
HANNITY: "I think they call them, and you'll have to forgive my language on this one --"
KRISTOL: "Heck, Sean, it isn't your language, it's theirs."
HANNITY: "Well, exactly, Bill. But it's ... it's a wifebeater shirt. They call undershirts wifebeaters. I'm sorry to--"
WALLACE: "For any of our viewers who are just tuning in and heard what might have sounded like a very offensive term, we were just discussing what some of the blacks down South, what some of the urban youth call an undershirt. And my understanding, gentlemen, is that in addition to that ... different name for it, I suppose, is that it's often several sizes too large, so you would wear it over some baggy pants, I'm told -- I haven't seen this myself -- and then it would go down to, I think I heard someone tell me the other day on a Katrina special that they go as far as halfway down to the knees."
HANNITY: "Halfway down. That certainly is something."
KRISTOL: "Definitely not your, ah, traditional American wardrobe, I guess."
HANNITY: "Anyway, Bill, you were saying about the African-American equivalent of voting Irish, not that we're --"
KRISTOL: "Oh, I should absolutely have clarified that, thanks. Viewers -- and Chris, if you want to add something in after this, that'd be just fine -- viewers, we're not recommending this, and we're not saying at all that we have evidence of its happening. I was just opining on how a black youth might vote Irish, so to speak, to artificially--"
WALLACE: "Illegally, too, I might add, not that that would necessarily stop such a dastardly act--"
KRISTOL: "Thank you, Chris. It's how a black youth might vote Irish. And the last part of it is, you take off your white, collared shirt, and your tattoo is revealed. And since the poll worker hasn't seen it before, it's new, so you must not have voted yet. And that has to be the last part because otherwise --"
HANNITY: "Well, they'd have seen the tattoo already, so if you put on the collared shirt and went in with that last --"
KRISTOL: "Then they'd just ask you to remove your shirt, and there the tattoo would be, just as the poll worker had seen it all day."
WALLACE: "But you're saying you don't think this has happened, Bill?"
KRISTOL: "Well, I think you'd have seen it, maybe you'd have an argument for it if the poll numbers for blacks were inflated, and maybe they are anyway -- we don't know--"
WALLACE: "I was about to say, we don't know if they are or are not. We just have not gotten a report of anything untoward happening, of anyone voting in an undershirt."
KRISTOL: "Right. We haven't had any reports of this sort of juvenile behavior.
"But anyway, to get back to the point I was making before we descended into this cultural ... study ... is that you just don't see much of the Deep South, traditional conservative home-boy Americans voting for Barack Hussein Obama. John McCain's humble experience resonated with the people of Alabama and Mississippi and South Carolina, and when you have the other candidate really spending half his life outside of the continental United States, going to school in Indonesia and at a madrassa, and the other candidate comes from a family dedicated to military service, and he went to the Naval Academy, I think you have a real difference there culturally, and I think the American people see that.
"And I'd also say that the so-called NASCAR dads, which the elitist Democrats have always done very poorly with -- of course, the photo op with Michael Dukakis in that tank, which, so to speak, caused his chances at the presidency to tank. The Democrats really didn't make any inroads there.
"And further, I think, you know, ... you can register all the new voters you want, but when it comes down to it, the red-blooded Americans in traditional Republican states like Georgia and South Carolina, some of the original colonies, are not going to get watered down by this new blood, if you will, this blue blood."
HANNITY: "Interesting story on that, Chris: There were actually people who had blue blood. Well, blue skin, actually. And I think it's kind of funny that it was a result of inbreeding. Nothing specifically, of course, meant at the Democrats by that, just a historical note."
::group chuckle::
WALLACE: "I want to -- we should get some perspective from our panel soon, but I wanted to first ask Karl Rove: Karl, you were critical on this network a few months ago, critical of both candidates for what you said were ads that maybe stretched the truth a little bit. Do you still think that, and how do you think that whole theme, so to speak, played out?"
Karl ROVE: "You know, it's interesting, Chris. I was critical of both campaigns, and John McCain stepped up and defended his ads, and Barack Hussein Obama did not.
"And I think it's telling that McCain stood up for himself and Obama just let people say he was being dishonest. I don't know why he did it, but it reminded me of the attacks on John Kerry's war record back a few years ago, which many people credit with helping the Bush campaign to derail his efforts to run this country.
"And so, what I take out of this is that if Barack Hussein Obama did not agree with what I thought was a fair and balanced -- had to use the line--"
WALLACE: "It's a good one."
ROVE: "If he did not agree with my assessment, he had chances to say so.
"He could have talked about the charge in one of his many speeches. Or he could have put surrogates out there to discuss differences of opinion regarding, you know, the facts in his ads and the misleading statements.
"But he--"
WALLACE: "Now, I didn't watch every Obama ad, just because it was the same hope, change stuff all the time, and I was after specifics, but I didn't see anything out there to counter it."
KRISTOL: "I didn't either, or I'd have written about it."
WALLACE: "Sean, did you see--"
HANNITY: "I didn't watch any Obama ads except the ones Alan and I dissected on our show, 'Hannity & Colmes.' So if he ever, you know, attacked Karl for saying--"
ROVE: "It's news to me. I kept looking for any sign even that the campaign had heard me. And I didn't write about it in my columns because I figure if you're not watching FOX News, not willing to listen to more than just the left-wing media for your coverage of this election, then maybe you should learn something from this experience."
WALLACE: "So you think it hurt, Karl?"
ROVE: "I don't see how you could argue it didn't. I think that if we talked to voters, a lot of them would probably say that the negativity and lies, and the needless and unfounded associations of John McCain to the president, who is much better than these frankly scurrilous accusations--"
WALLACE: "How do you mean?"
ROVE: ::pauses::
HANNITY: "I think he's saying that the notion that John McCain, a POW who spent five and a half years being a maverick in the Hanoi Hilton, marched in lockstep with the president, and further that the president had some sort of bad or wrong decisions that McCain might want to distance himself from, is not only absurd but--"
ROVE: "Exactly. Not only absurd but frankly insulting. And favorability polls don't measure the validity of your presidency. They measure if people .. you know, if they like your policies. But if most of your policies focus on something you can't talk about much--"
WALLACE: "Like the War on Terror, which by its very nature we can't talk about much because we don't want the terrorists to know that we know all we know about them."
ROVE: "Exactly. We can't just go broadcasting to our enemies, 'Hey, we're going to come after you,' or, 'Hey, we captured your main guy.' That's a matter of national security, and I think that where John McCain and the president have been in most strident agreement -- and remember that this is, as we've said before, a maverick -- but where the senator and the president have been together, it's been on the War on Terror, and I think that's where the country is right now. Yeah, it'd be lovely if we could have a socialist medical system where nobody gets sick, but sometimes you just have to tell folks that they need to work hard and get medical care for themselves. Because if you want it enough--"
WALLACE: "America is not about handouts. It's about the opportunity every person has, and part of that is securing your own future, not having your government secure it for you."
ROVE: "Thank you, Chris. That's exactly right."
WALLACE: "I want to go now, finally, to our very patient FOX First election panel, made up of FOX News co-anchor of 'Hannity & Colmes,' Alan Colmes; Representative Lynn Westmoreland, who hails from Georgia's third district; and former Clinton special counsel and Hillary Clinton surrogate Lanny Davis.
"Representative Westmoreland, I want to go to you first, partly because your state of Georgia came out strong for John McCain, who looks right now as though he will win at least a narrow, if not a slightly comfortable, electoral college victory over Barack Hussein Obama.
"Representative Westmoreland, you've seen a lot of politics in your life, a lot of seminal moments in this nation's recent history. Do you agree with the way some have characterized Barack Hussein Obama, and his family, as being uppity? And if so, do you think that's hurt him tonight, maybe explained some of the poor exit polls and results in states the campaign thought he'd win?"
Lynn WESTMORELAND: "I'd like to comment first on what you all were talking about earlier with the voting Irish thing for the blacks, the urban young vote. I of course, you know, can't say anything definite, but from the community service work I've been involved with as a representative, and also as, you know, in the community, it's sad to say, I think, but I wouldn't be surprised if you had a few, at least a few, sort of well-meaning but really fundamentally misled youngsters who did what you all talked about earlier with the unruly hair, the afro, and the undershirt -- I know you said the word on the air, but I kiss my mama with this mouth, and I'm not going to sully it for her."
WALLACE: "Fair enough, so you're saying on the voting issue that we shouldn't be surprised if some sort of voter fraud like that does come out?"
WESTMORELAND: "Let me just say that it would disappoint me, but I think it would only shock me because many of these youths are just not that inventive. So the initiative it would take would, yes, would surprise me, but not the criminal element of it.
"And on the other issue, the uppity question, I don't think you can say there weren't uppity elements all throughout his campaign. To run, first of all, as such an inexperienced and underqualified candidate was shocking, to say the least. And while we should recognize -- and Lanny Davis here may want to talk some more about that, and I can see he's chuckling here getting ready to talk about his former candidate. While we should recognize that yes, Barack Hussein Obama did win his party's nomination, it was with ... an awful lot of new voters. An awful lot of people who were not involved in the political process even two years ago. And so I think that in addition to the upstart, the uppity element of the campaign itself, the premise of relying on all these new voters, I think you were putting a lot of uppity, overconfident people in the voting booths and on the street, and as I know, having run political campaigns in the past, you just cannot go into this knowing, so to speak, that you're going to win. You always assume things will be tight, and you plan for that, and you pray about your campaign, and that your voters, your constituents will be healthy, and all of that.
"But one thing--"
WALLACE: "You prayed for your constituents, Representative Westmoreland. Would you mind sharing with our viewers more of that story?"
WESTMORELAND: "Absolutely. One of the things I learned from my predecessor, Mac Collins, was to share your faith with people by holding those prayer group meetings where you have sort of an open exchange of prayer, and at the end of every session, I'd offer up a prayer for the health and success, you know, of my voters. And it's not just about doing it on the campaign trail because, you know, God is always there waiting to listen to you, waiting to see that you know His place in your life. So we have those larger meetings weekly, and smaller ones daily, and it's, you know, one of those traditional elements of my, ah, office, my work for the people."
WALLACE: "Well, that's just a lovely story. And now we are going to have a lovely, short commercial break, and after that, I imagine Alan Colmes and especially former Clinton surrogate Lanny Davis will have some interesting analysis to share with us. You're listening to FOX News. We report. You decide."