Dan Rather_ 'Articulate' Obama Couldn't Even 'Sell Watermelons'

							Dan Rather: 'Articulate' Obama Couldn't Even 'Sell Watermelons'                                             3/9/10 6:01 PM




   Published on NewsBusters.org (http://newsbusters.org)

   Dan Rather: 'Articulate' Obama Couldn't Even 'Sell Watermelons'
   By Geoffrey Dickens
   Created 03/08/2010 - 14:41

   HDNet's Dan Rather stepped on one mine after another in the racial
   minefield that exists when talking about the nation's first black
   President as the former CBS anchor, on the syndicated Chris Matthews
   Show over the weekend, uttered the following take on the President's
   ability to get health care passed and how the GOP and independents
   would view it. [audio available here [1]]

             DAN RATHER: Part of the undertow in the coming election is
             going to be President Obama's leadership. And the Republicans
             will make a case and a lot of independents will buy this
             argument. "Listen he just hasn't been, look at the health care bill.
             It was his number one priority. It took him forever to get it
             through and he had to compromise it to death." And a version of, "Listen he's a nice person,
             he's very articulate" this is what's been used against him, "but he couldn't sell watermelons if
             it, you gave him the state troopers to flag down the traffic."

   While Rather may not have been being intentionally racist one has to wonder what the reaction would be if
   a conservative had used similar language on the show. (Thanks to the MRC's Bob Parks for alerting us to
   the remark and creating the video.)

   Earlier Rather called the current legislation a "Republican health care bill" as seen in the following
   exchange as it was aired on the March 8th Chris Matthews Show:

             CHRIS MATTHEWS: Will health care, the health care bill of Barack Obama, the one he
             roughly is for now, coming out of the Senate and coming out of the House. Will it become law?
             Will he win?
             ...
             DAN RATHER: Yes because what we have now is
             basically a Republican health care bill, if it gets through.
             It's, it's got a lot...but I think the President finally putting
             his whole sack in on it, yes he wins but it's not a certain
             thing.

             MATTHEWS: Andrea?

             ANDREA MITCHELL: I think close call it has to win or

http://newsbusters.org/node/37007/print                                                                         Page 1 of 2
Dan Rather: 'Articulate' Obama Couldn't Even 'Sell Watermelons'                                              3/9/10 6:01 PM



             else this presidency is in serious...

             MATTHEWS: So in other words they'll make it happen.

             MITCHELL: They've got to make it happen.

             MATTHEWS: Joe Klein?

             JOE KLEIN, TIME: Congressional Democrats are dreadful but they're not entirely stupid. They
             have to pass it.

             MATTHEWS: And Nancy Pelosi will have her greatest triumph.

             KLEIN: Sort of.

             RATHER: When you talk about a triumph though. One, part of the undertow in the coming
             election is going to be President Obama's leadership. And the Republicans will make a case and
             a lot of independents will buy this argument. "Listen he just hasn't been, look at the health care
             bill. It was his number one priority. It took him forever to get it through and he had to
             compromise it to death." And a version of, "Listen he's a nice person, he's very articulate" this
             is what's been used against him, "but he couldn't sell watermelons if it, you gave him the state
             troopers to flag down the traffic."

   Before that exchange Rather and Andrea Mitchell, as noted by NB's Noel Sheppard [1], agreed that Obama
   made a big mistake by pushing health care.



   Source URL:
   http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2010/03/08/dan-rather-articulate-obama-couldnt-even-sell-
   watermelons

   Links:
   [1] http://media.eyeblast.org/newsbusters/static/2010/03/2010-03-07-NBC-CMS-Rather.mp3




http://newsbusters.org/node/37007/print                                                                           Page 2 of 2