simba

poet: Let us settle our differences this way

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama — Get in the ring.

That’s the challenge from WWE, which has issued an open invitation to the deadlocked Democrats to settle their differences “the American way — in a wrestling match.”

Seriously.

World Wrestling Entertainment aired the video invitation Tuesday, calling for a bona fide smackdown on Monday night RAW April 21.

“What we’re trying to do is provide both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama an opportunity to speak to more than 8 million viewers of our program … which is the night before the Pennsylvania primary,” WWE spokesman Gary Davis told FOXNews.com.

What exactly the world of professional wrestling expects Clinton and Obama to do in that ring is unclear.

The announcer in the ad, now on the WWE Web site, declares, “Forget about who’s better prepared when the phone rings at 3 a.m., and find out who’s better when the bell rings.”

So what? An arm wrestling match? A very aggressive debate? A cage fighting tournament?

“I think the invitation itself is self-explanatory,” Davis said. “Get into the ring and resolve their differences.”

WWE Invites Obama, Clinton to One-on-One Smackdown - America’s Election HQ

kluge

Poetsheart, if you want an entirely cynical answer to your question, here's my suggestion: Because he thinks he's going to win. And if you think you're going to win the last thing you want to do is, as the saying goes, mud wrestle with a pig.

Not that that's necessarily my explanation - just giving the cynics view.

poetsheart

Uh-huh. That will certainly make the Democratic candidates look "Presidential"....

simba

Then we can have round 2 with McCain

poetsheart

And the motivation for any of these three candidates to take up the WWE on their offer would be....what?

parent2noles

Well, I'd buy a ticket.

Hunt

It would be silly for Hillary and Obama to wrestle to settle their differences, because they don't really have that many differences, at least in terms of policy.
I would pay to see Al Franken and Rush Limbaugh in the ring, however.

bulletandpima

Back to the OP question, Obama gets a free pass because the MEDIA loves him.

Yes there are many threads about Obama, but I think it is because many people are tired of how the Media throws Obama softball questions and accepts unreal explanations...i.e. I went to Pakistan in my 20, so that gives me foreign experience.

simba

Also remember it is the same media that glorified the invasion of Iraq.

marite

>>I went to Pakistan in my 20, so that gives me foreign experience.>>

Well, doesn't it? Isn't it the premise of the study abroad programs so much touted by universities? Larry Summers, when he pushed for more Harvard students to go abroad, made exactly that point. It does not mean that they would get experience in diplomacy, but more cultural familiarity.

Now, I've been to a large variety of airports and have spent a few days in several countries, sometimes as part of a delegation (though no reception with a little girl to greet us with flowers--and no sniper fire either). I would not claim to know these countries as a result of whirlwind visits spent largely inside meeting rooms. But if I traveled on my own for several weeks, I could feel I knew a great deal more at the end than I did at the beginning of my trip.

simba

marite: You are stretching it.

Hunt

The media loves a good story, and they will inflate the actual story. Thus, the story about Obama is that he is this kind of messiah figure. The story about McCain is that he is this tough, straight-talking maverick. Unfortunately for her, Hillary's story is intertwined with Bill's story. The media will deviate from these story lines if something more interesting comes along.
I do think there is some liberal bias in most of the media, and conservative bias in some outlets, but they are all most biased in favor of juicy stories.

marite

Simba: Stretching what?
I've actually shaken hands with some folks who are currently featured in NYT's articles. But I'm not posing as an expert on their country, where I spent less than a week, and saw mostly the inside of meeting rooms.
Did getting flowers at Tuzla (with or without sniper fire) actually give Clinton "foreign experience?
Obama knows a Sunni from a Shiite. Does McCain?

bulletandpima

Actually Hillary meeting dignitaries, even as a wife, gives her more experience...do you think she wasn't briefed on customs, lifestyles, and procedures?

Even with her and the sniper fire ?, she was on our tax dollars, and saw, heard things that you and I as a civilian (which Barack was) are not privvy to.

So I went to Italy for the winter Olympics in 06, does that mean I have foreign experience too?

BTW when SNL is doing parodies of Obama, they are just picking up on what society sees...Soft questions, Obama not even being on the committee, but there, Hillary changing her history, McCain only seeing the positive, and Making Petraeous look like a Kiss A**

Hanna

"Yes there are many threads about Obama, but I think it is because many people are tired of how the Media throws Obama softball questions"

How did the thread-writers find out about Rev. Wright, this or that shocking-quote-of-the-day, etc.? From the media. The threads are full of links to major news sources. Every newspaper and cable channel carried full coverage of the same topics discussed in the threads. These topics are not some kind of underground secret that's being hushed up by the media.