Moseley Braun Keeps Poise on ‘Hardball’

Hours after hiring her third campaign manager and losing two aides, Carol Moseley Braun maintained her poise during a live broadcast of Chris Matthews’ “Hardball: Battle for the White House,” at the JFK Jr. Forum last night.

The first female African-American senator and former ambassador to New Zealand is not one of the favorites for the Democratic nomination for president.

But Moseley Braun was emphatic when Matthews asked her what she would do if she woke up one morning as president and had to deal with the ongoing involvement in Iraq.

The United States went in like a bunch of “desperados” without a plan, according to Moseley Braun.

“I opposed the Iraq War, but now that we’re there, we can’t cut and run,” she said.

“Why did we go to war with Iraq?” Matthews asked.

Moseley Braun’s answer was an eloquent shrug of her shoulders in her immaculate gray suit.

“You’d have to ask George Bush that,” she responded glibly. “[The Bush administration] has a view of the world that doesn’t fit with any reality I understand.”

Moseley Braun did not exonerate the other Democratic candidates who voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq, saying that was why she was running.

As Matthews pointed out, however, her campaign is running on small change. Moseley Braun said she had spent $500,000 so far, compared to the tens of millions in Howard Dean’s war chest.

It is also a campaign is in flux, as Moseley Braun appointed Patricia Ireland as her campaign manager and two other staffers just yesterday.

Ireland, former president of the National Organization for Women, watched intently from the front row as Matthews challenged Moseley Braun to name the states where she thought she could win the primaries.

Moseley responded that she thought she could win “all over the country.”

Moseley Braun insisted in response to a student question that symbolism wasn’t the drive behind her long shot bid.

“I am in it to win it,” she said, repeating one of her campaign’s catchphrases.

Moseley Braun promises to bring a female and African-American perspective to the White House. She supports increased federal school funding, universal health care, and affirmative action as a tool to increase diversity.

“You said diversity was good, but all these kids here, they won, they got into Harvard,” Matthews prodded. “What do you say to that other kid who doesn’t get into Harvard [because of affirmative action]?”

Moseley Braun responded that diversity “makes Harvard a better place.” She joked that those who didn’t get into Harvard should consider her alma mater, the University of Illinois.

Another student brought up Moseley Braun’s controversial visits to Nigeria as a senator, which were construed as support for an oppressive regime. The visits were one of the factors in her failure to be re-elected as a senator from Illinois in 1998.

Moseley Braun dismissed those accusations, saying she was in Nigeria only twice—for personal reasons.

Throughout the show, Moseley Braun resisted Matthews’ efforts to ensnare her, refusing to comment on rivals Dean and the Rev. Al Sharpton.

She readily came up with “The Wizard of Oz” when asked about her favorite movie—a question that caught other candidates unaware on previous shows. But in a sudden silence during a commercial break, Matthews could be clearly heard asking whether she ever got nervous.

“Am I nervous? Sure I’m nervous,” Moseley Braun replied.

Her cool, witty performance might have been helped by the practice session she had in Kirkland House an hour before.

She spoke with students as part of the Conversations with the Candidates series, trying out slogans and statistics that she employed in the Hardball interview.

Moseley Braun also told the students gathered in Kirkland’s A-entryway that it was the incredulity of her neighbors that first got her into politics. According to Moseley Braun, she was told that “the blacks won’t vote for you because you’re part of the Chicago machine, the whites won’t vote for you because you’re black, and nobody will vote for you because you’re a woman.”

Her reponse was, “Where do I sign up for this job?” She went on to win a seat in the state legislature.

In the competitive race for the Democratic nomination, she faces another uphill battle.

“Because she’s a black woman, if you think about what that appeals to, her chances are very slim,” said Helena W. Fu, a student at the Kennedy School of Government. “In many ways, I feel like the media’s discounting her as a candidate.”

But for 14-year-old Belmont resident Elizabeth F. Valentin, who used her mother’s ticket to get into the event, Moseley Braun continues to be a role model.

“A woman president is something we haven’t seen before,” Valentin said on the way out of the Forum. “She says only 50 percent of the country is represented—it’s a lot less than that when it’s only white old men out there.”

Howard Dean is scheduled to appear on Hardball at the Forum on December 1, and retired Gen. Wesley Clark is slotted for December 8. The lottery for the Dean event closes today.