CBS News Exclusive: Harry Smith speaks with U.S. President Barack Obama about the current series of massive protests in Iran. Mr. Obama also addresses criticisms over his alleged silence on this issue.
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Obama's greatest: 'If I only had McCain'
by Mark Silva
Some jobs, people grow into.
But it appears that President Barack Obama was born to the role of comedian-in-chief. Never mind his 58 percent public job approval. He's been playing in the 90th percentile at the Washington comedy shows for some time now.
His routine last night at the Rado and TV Correspondents dinner -- with those jokes about Rahm Emanuel and the camel and Joe Biden's incessant talking, and that program that ABC is planning about the White House called "Dancing With the Czars'' -- got us to thinking about the night three years ago when Obama stepped out to make fun of -- none other than Biden, his future running mate, and John McCain, his future adversary in a bid for the White House.
Three years ago, with his debut at the head table of the white-tie Gridiron Club, Obama, then-junior senator from Illinois, showed that he not only had impeccaable timing and creative ghost writers, but also could sing.
""Men in tails. Women in gowns,'' Obama marveled that night in April 2007. "An orchestra playing, as folks reminisce about the good old days....
" Kind of like dinner at the Kerrys.''
Wielding a script for which Democratic political consultant David Axelrod bore a great deal of credit, Obama said: "The truth is, I'm terrified to be here... Not because you're such a tough audience, but because they're serving drinks. I'm standing about 30 yards from the vice president, and I'm a lawyer. The only thing that could make this more dangerous is if he considered me a friend...
"About that book,'' he said of his best-selling memoir in the days before The Audacity of Hope, "some folks thought it was a little presumptuous to write an autobiography at the age of 33... But people seemed to like it. So now I'm working on volume twothe Senate months. My remarkable journey from 99th in seniority to 98th.
"Believe me, when you're the last guy to ask questions at every committee hearing, you have plenty of time to collect your thoughts,'' he said, with a joke that bears a certain amount of added relevance today. "Especially when Joe Biden's on the committee.''
Then the band struck up a familiar refrain from The Wizard of Oz, and Obama proceeded to sing from the podium, with a steady, unflinching, and even in-tune delivery of a song about the senator from Arizona whom he would later face at the polls:
"I'm aspiring to greatness, but somehow I feel weightless.
A freshman's sad refrain.
I could be a great uniter, making ethics rules much tighter,
If I only had McCain...
"I could bring us all together, no storm we couldn't weather.
We'd feel each other's pain.
Red and blue wouldn't matter, party differences would shatter,
If I only had McCain.
"Oh why is it so hard, for honest men of good will to agree.
If we ever found a way to strike a deal, would we survive... politically?
"When a wide-eyed young idealist confronts a seasoned realist,
there's bound to be some strain.
"With the game barely started, I'd be feeling less downhearted,
If I only had McCain.
"Still I hope for the better, though I may rewrite my letter,
cause I gotta have McCain.''
Obama Maintains Measured Response On Iran
The Obama administration continues a measured response to the situation in Iran. Friday, President Obama said how Iran's leaders choose to "deal with people who are, through peaceful means, trying to be heard" will signal "what Iran is and is not." And the White House reacted favorably to a congressional resolution condemning Tehran's crackdown on demonstrators.
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