Countdown Monday: The Big Speech
Posted: Monday, March 17, 2008 8:59 PM by Countdown
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Blogging the Countdown
It's a Big Speech:
It may not have merited the description of a network newscast tonight: "Firestorm." It has received but not earned -- as you will hear later -- a comparison to the saga of Willie Horton in the 1988 election, and a hysterical fabrication that found its way into the New York Times. But in our fifth story on the Countdown: there is no doubt that the issue of Pastor Jeremiah Wright -- specifically his references to quote "God Damn America" and his claim of some American culpability for 9/11 -- is a critical moment for the presidential aspirations for Senator Barack Obama. And in news breaking at this hour: he will address them -- and the larger issues of race and religion -- in a speech tomorrow in Philadelphia...A speech which -- as this day wore on -- became more and more obvious, as perhaps the most important speech by any candidate in any party, yet given in this longest of campaigns.
Delegate Dance: Whether Florida's delegates will ever be seated -- and counted -- at the Democratic National Convention... newly in doubt at this hour... Our fourth story on the Countdown... Democratic party leaders in that state have abandoned a plan to hold a re-do, mail-in vote. Chuck Todd with the latest on that, presently. But at least there's Iowa. The home of the first-in-the-nation caucus is still counting... And Senator Barack Obama has managed to net an additional nine delegates.
ODDBALL: A flaming piano and our first female streaker.
Spilling Blood & Treasure: I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth, banks are going bust. 32 years ago, that made the fictional Howard Beale mad as hell. And he didn't have Iraq or Afghanistan. In our third story tonight... We do.
Worsties...see below.
WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: The editor of the New York Times, Billo and Heather Mills McCartney vie for tonight's top honors.
Billo's Spitz Take: After years of talking out of his seat… Bill O'Reilly of Fixed News has finally found a subject to pontificate about, in which his personal knowledge actually reaches to the level of expertise. A topic in which he is not just hypocritical scold, but battle-scarred veteran. Our number one story on the Countdown: Billo analyzes… Eliot Spitzer.
