“A fundamental issue”
The WA blogosphere is buzzing with this video of Barack Obama whiffing gracefully on a basic question about the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in E. Washington.
On one hand, it’s easy for me to snicker at Obama for not knowing about Hanford. I know plenty about it–but then, I’ve lived in Washington for most of my life, I’ve worked on a senate campaign where the topic came up frequently, and I’ve known a handful of people who have actually worked at Hanford.
In any campaign, a candidate is going to run across issues that they are unfamiliar with. Obama responded well. That’s just about exactly how I remember Mike McGavick responding when he was asked about something he was unfamiliar with. (Actually, Mike didn’t bother with the snide ‘Now here’s something you won’t hear from most politicians’ shtick, but let his words speak for themselves.)
But here’s the thing–I heard Mike asked literally hundreds of different (entirely unscripted) questions, and I can remember one–only one–that he had to bow out on gracefully. Admitting you don’t know something is admirable, but not as admirable as actually knowing something.
And Obama really should know about Hanford. While a local issue, it is also a Federal one, and has significant ramifications for the nation as a whole (the Snake River dams are another such issue–has anyone asked Obama about those?).
In fact, Obama voted on legislation pertaining to Hanford back in 2006. Another bill regarding Hanford is currently before the Homeland Security committee, on which Obama sits.
Not only that, but he pushed nuclear cleanup legislation for Illinois. (And later lied about it, but, whatever.) How someone writes legislation about nuclear cleanup without knowing something about the Hanford situation, I have no idea.
And beyond that, in their letter inviting all the candidates to Washington in the runup to the primary, Sam Reed & Christine Gregoire (an Obama supporter) specifically cited Hanford as a “fundamental issue of the Northwest that merit[s] national attention and commitment.” Apparently Obama didn’t read the letter, though it’s posted on his website.
Back in the 2000 campaign, George Bush demonstrated that he didn’t have a complete grasp of some obscure but moderately important facts pertaining to foreign policy. But then, his job as governor of Texas didn’t involve the president of Pakistan even a little–he obviously knows exactly who the current one is. Obama appears to be flubbing things that his current job has involved–from this domestic policy whiff to his apparent belief that we need more Arabic translators in Afghanistan. It could just be inexperience (bad enough), or it could be that he just hasn’t put much work into his current job. That’s not the way you get a promotion, generally.
UPDATE: I just watched the video again and was struck by something–Obama didn’t say that he was unfamiliar with the situation at Hanford, but the site itself. Is Obama unfamiliar with the Manhattan Project? What does he know about Los Alamos, Oak Ridge or the Trinity test site? This may have something to do with the senator’s reading habits. And while popping over to Jim Miller’s excellent site, I see that Obama has made yet another blunder of this sort, over something a United States Senator really should be familiar with.
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May 21st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I think you are being just a tad too rough on the guy, I’m amazed they can remember everything they do. That he wasn’t prepped for the question is more likely an aide’s mistake than his. I also don’t think you can get too hard on him for his voting background without openly examining some of McCain’s more unfortunate instances as well.
May 22nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Speaking of the agriculture blunder that Jim posted about, I find it deeply ironic that the same man who attacked NAFTA in Ohio should be complaining about (non-existent) trade regulations that *other* countries impose.
As for expecting Obama to know something about Hanford, perhaps it was an aide’s error, but considering that both McCain and Clinton addressed the issue, and prominent Democrats specifically asked him to familiarize himself with the topic, that was a massive, massive error. Obama handled his ignorance well, but it points right back to his people problem.