Appearing on MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports on Monday, NBC News special correspondent Tom Brokaw was already urging Republicans support liberal agenda items if they win control of the Senate in Tuesday's midterm election: "The question then is, what are they prepared to give to the Democrats to meet them in the middle ground? What are they going to do about immigration? What are they going to do about the minimum wage?" Brokaw complained to fill-in host Peter Alexander: "Things have not been done in the last couple of years, in part, because both parties have staked out positions at either... continue reading
Considering that ABC's World News Tonight failed to cover the midterm elections from September 1 to October 26, one might think the network isn't interested in a possible Republican wave. ABC journalists are reinforcing that belief by promoting election night coverage: Seven hours of coverage. But six of those hours will be online only. Despite this, George Stephanopoulos hyped on Monday's Good Morning America : "We're covering this election more deeply than ever before." [MP3 audio here .] He spun, "We have something new tomorrow night for election night. Our whole team's gonna be here for seven hours of breaking... continue reading
While all three network morning shows on Monday covered the upcoming midterm election, only ABC's Good Morning America mentioned the real possibility of Republicans taking control of the Senate. Co-host George Stephanopoulos informed viewers: "And Republicans seem to be closing in on the six Senate seats they need to gain a majority....The forecaster Nate Silver, from FiveThirtyEight, puts their chances of getting the Senate at 74%." Political analyst Matthew Dowd agreed: "Yeah, you see the wave, I think, over the last three or four days building. Every single poll that has come out over the last week has been to... continue reading
On Monday, CBS This Morning followed in the footsteps of ABC and NBC by hyping a new United Nations report on climate change. Unlike the other two networks that offered only news briefs during their Sunday broadcasts, CBS gave a full 2 minutes and 37 seconds of promotional coverage to the U.N. report on Monday morning. Co-host Charlie Rose began the segment by proclaiming “scientists are heating up an old debate this morning. The United Nations says climate change is real and manmade. It calls for drastic changes by the end of the century. The U.N. says without action there... continue reading
On Sunday, both ABC and NBC did their best to play up a new United Nations report on climate change, proclaiming its findings to be “alarming.” On GMA , newsreader Ron Claiborne hyped how “scientists say that the Earth is locked now in a irreversible course of global warming due to the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” The ABC reporter continued by warning of the supposed “ever-worsening extreme weather events and rising sea levels for centuries to come even if the greenhouse gas emissions are drastically cut right now.” Over on World News Tonight , anchor Cecilia Vega... continue reading
On Sunday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke with Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd to discuss the future of the Republican Party. Following the conclusion of the interview the MTP panel eagerly criticized the Kentucky Republican for daring to call for a repeal of ObamaCare if the Republicans win control on the Senate. Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, argued that repealing ObamaCare was “a waste of time, it contributes to gridlock…it’s so retro.” Moderator Chuck Todd eagerly agreed with his NBC colleague and argued that repealing ObamaCare would “set the wrong tone” before wondering how would the... continue reading
On Sunday, Face the Nation moderator Bob Schieffer followed in NBC host Chuck Todd’s footsteps by predictably dragging up the tired liberal line that money is destroying American politics. The CBS host complained that “the right to vote is our proudest possession, but the way it has become debased by money shames us all.” Schieffer’s comments came at the end of the first half o f Face the Nation where he bemoaned how “Congress hasn't done anything in years, yet these midterm elections will be the most extensive in history, just like the last one. $4 billion this time around... continue reading
Responding on Fox News Sunday to a question from a Facebook user about the lack of a Republican agenda in this election, George Will zinged the media’s effort to undermine the expected GOP victories: “I think what Tim is echoing is the belief that this is a Seinfeld election, an election about nothing, which is what the media says every time there’s a danger that the Republicans are going to get a mandate. This is a way of preemptively denying a mandate.” Will proceeded to propose: “Actually, this is a Casey Stengel election and Mae West election.” The video includes... continue reading
On Friday, Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd insisted that Tuesday’s midterm election seemed like a ‘hold-your-nose’ election and on Sunday’s Today , the NBC News Political Director threw even more cold water on the GOP’s chances of winning the Senate. Todd pointed out how he “ran into a bunch of voters that said I'm tired of the hold-your-nose vote. Forget it. I’m going to vote none of the above. I’m going to vote for one of these third party candidates.” The NBCer began by arguing that even though “the math here for Republicans, it’s in their favor” voters “want... continue reading
On CBS This Morning: Saturday , the network’s political director, John Dickerson, warned Republicans that if they win the Senate on Tuesday, it will be on their shoulders to find a way to work with President Obama: “They’ve run an entire campaign on the idea that this person, the President in the office, is no good; now they’re suddenly going to have to work with him....After being the opposition party, you now have to show you can actually govern.” Never mind that the White House has telegraphed Obama’s plan to deliver a post-election middle finger to Republicans — and the... continue reading