The White House is opening a press bureau in New York City at 30 Rock - or so it seemed with MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski parroting the administration's talking points, one after the other, on Morning Joe. Brzezinski has mentioned in the past that the White House e-mails her during segments, and she seemed thoroughly briefed by the middle of Tuesday's show. When Politico's executive editor Jim VandeHei explained that frustrated big business donors have been giving to the Republicans under a cloak of anonymity thanks to the Citizens United ruling, Mika retorted with the White House's argument. "Jim, what the... continue reading
On Wednesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith noted how President Obama was on the campaign trail "in hopes of avoiding a Democratic washout," but added, "he may be getting some help from Republicans.... unintentional help." Congressional correspondent Nancy Cordes exclaimed: "...we've been seeing a spate of strange claims from tea party candidates in recent weeks." As supposed evidence of those "strange claims," Cordes pointed to Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell accurately noting that the phrase "separation of church and state" appears nowhere in the Constitution. Cordes remarked that O'Donnell's comment "actually drew gasps from her audience yesterday," and later... continue reading
With less than two weeks to go before the midterm elections, NBC's Ann Curry on Wednesday's Today show, invited on DNC Chairman Tim Kaine to make his case and seemingly pleaded "What are you going to do, over the next 13 days...to convince voters to keep Democrats in charge?" Curry even questioned Kaine why Barack Obama hadn't energized his base earlier, specifically the youth vote, as she pressed: "If these young voters are so important...was it a mistake not to woo them sooner?" Curry then went on to quote former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove, who pointed out the... continue reading
On Wednesday's Good Morning America, former Democratic operative George Stephanopoulos extolled the virtues of Chicago's Democratic mayor and his famous Democratic father. Teasing the segment on Richard M. Daley, the host gushed, " ...We're going to be talking to a political icon. A legendary political family is about to turn over the keys to the city here. " Speaking of the mayor whose city has an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent , Stephanopoulos enthused, "And the big question, can anyone fill his shoes?" The ABC journalist skipped any tough questions. At no time did he ask about McDonald V. City... continue reading
A month ago, CBS News hired ex-Bill Clinton and Al Gore campaign operative Jamal Simmons, a self-described "strong supporter of Barack Obama's campaign," as political analyst, and Tuesday night the CBS Evening News paired him with the more sober in-house analyst John Dickerson. As a result, viewers heard a rational look at the political landscape from Dickerson paired with Democratic talking points, in the guise of political analysis, from Simmons, but not balanced by any GOP veteran tearing down Democrats. Simmons turned polls showing impending big Democratic losses into a way to deliver anti-Republican demagoguery, as he charged "voters are... continue reading
In his Monday column, " Tales of the Tea Party ," Ross Douthat, the New York Times' idea of a conservative, exploded four common Tea Party myths spread by the left. The text box read "The stories liberals tell themselves." What Douthat couldn't mention was that all four kinds of "stories" have been told by Times reporters as well. Douthat began by debunking the Tea Party racism myth, one spread by the paper's Tea Party beat reporter Kate Zernike on several occasions, to the point of considering opposition to the minimum wage racially suspect . A month ago, a U.C.L.A... continue reading
A Tuesday morning blog post on the New York Times' "Caucus" blog by Michael Shear, which purported to document " A Wild and Crazy Sprint to Election Day ," in fact found virtually all the gaffes and controversies on the Republican side. Full-blown political mania has seized the country just two weeks before an election that seems certain to dramatically reshape both the agenda and the personalities in the nation's capital. Across the country, candidates are almost frantically careering toward the finish line, sometimes humorously and often with unintended consequences that are landing them on cable TV or making them... continue reading
MSNBC on Tuesday continued its attempt to dismiss Republican candidates as extremist, hitting Sharron Angle, Christine O'Donnell and others as "mean girls" who are unqualified for office. Jansing appeared shocked that the Delaware candidate pointed out the phrase "separation of church and state" isn't in the Constitution. She then read from the First Amendment, but failed to find the words. After playing a clip of O'Donnell from this morning's debate, Jansing sputtered, "I thought she had to be kidding." She then pulled out her "handy, dandy" pocket Constitution and quoted, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion... continue reading
Kentucky Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway's recent ad questioning the faith of his opponent Republican Rand Paul was so beyond the pale that even NBC's Matt Lauer, on Tuesday's Today show, repeatedly hit Conway with questions about its appropriateness as he pressed, "Did it cross a line? Is it fair, even in the increasingly dirty world of politics?" The ad, which brought up allegations of Paul's behavior in his college days, was so over-the-top Lauer could not let Conway's charges go unchallenged as he questioned Conway's veracity, as seen in the following exchange: MATT LAUER: This latest ad of yours... continue reading
Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos on Tuesday conceded that big Republican gains are on the way for November 2 and pushed guest John McCain on how the newly elected Tea Party candidates will "cooperate" with Barack Obama. The ABC co-host allowed, "...[Republicans] are going to pick up Senate seats. Likely could take control of the House. Definitely going to pick up seats. What happens the day after?" [MP3 audio here .] Putting the responsibility for bipartisanship on conservatives, Stephanopoulos cited an ABC News poll and pushed, "... A majority of Americans, believe that President Obama is more interested in cooperation... continue reading