Skip Navigation
Steve Clemons

Steve Clemons - Steve Clemons is Washington editor at large for The Atlantic and editor of Atlantic Live. He writes frequently about politics and foreign affairs.
More

Clemons is a senior fellow and the founder of the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, a centrist think tank in Washington, D.C., where he previously served as executive vice president. He writes and speaks frequently about the D.C. political scene, foreign policy, and national security issues, as well as domestic and global economic-policy challenges.

Obama vs. Romney on the 3 a.m. Call

By Steve Clemons
Feb 7 2012, 9:09 AM ET Comment

Last evening I had an interesting chat with Lawrence O'Donnell, host of MSNBC's The Last Word, considering how President Obama has done answering the "3 a.m. call" versus how Mitt Romney might answer the crisis call. 

One of my friends said the key issue with Romney is how many layers of staff (or servants?) he might have stacked up to answer that call.

The Atlantic's Steve Clemons speaks to Lawrence O'Donnell about the "3 am call"

And yes, I know that I should 'never' use sports metaphors when talking politics.

In the clip above, I mention Obama's nuanced use of the clock with Iran, comparing it to "that football game we just saw. . .uh, the Superbowl."

We use what we have in our experience to communicate -- and for the first time in many years, I watched the big game and got obsessed with the clock and those final plays. I bet something like this shows up in President Obama's White House Correspondent's Dinner speech.

Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Edwards Trial: A Bad Idea From Before the Start The Edwards Trial: A Massive Waste of Time
What Everyone's Missing in the Attachment-Parenting Debate The Surprising Roots of Attachment Parenting
A Modest Proposal: New York Should Outlaw Bloomberg Terminals Outlaw Bloomberg Terminals
Visit Afghanistan's 'Little America,' and See the Folly of For-Profit War The Folly of For-Profit War
Oops! Now You Can Track the Tweets Politicians Tried to Delete Now You Can Track the Tweets Politicians Tried to Delete

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)