NBC's Chuck Todd conceded "the Tea Party has been helpful to the GOP in both re-branding the party away from Bush and giving it a real grassroots component," but he insisted, "this Tea Party influence in Republican primaries has put a number of Senate seats in play for Democrats that at this point should be out of reach." "The bottom line," Todd declared on Friday's NBC Nightly News in a likely preview of the latest iteration of the news media's bi-annual "Republicans candidates were too far to the right" line: Because of weaker Tea Party nominees , Democrats have a... continue reading
The frequently-maudlin Ann Curry outdid herself on Wednesday's Today show. Narrating a short video item about Russia unveiling a new set of inflatable weapons designed to fool spy satellites, Curry chirped: "Wish all weapons were like that." Her flower-child moment brought to mind how another morning show anchor, ABC's Charles Gibson, confided to Larry King shortly after the 2003 invasion of Iraq how he and his wife had "a little framed sign hanging in our bedroom, my wife and I, that said, 'War is not good for children and other living things,' and I believe that. So I don't like... continue reading
On Thursday's CBS Evening News, anchor Katie Couric talked to a group of supposedly independent voters in Pennsylvania, but touted how none of them were undecided about one thing: "...there was unanimous agreement in this group, the Tea Party isn't their cup of tea." [ Audio available here ] Following that declaration by Couric, each voter took their turn denouncing the conservative political movement. Marketing director Scott Barclay dismissed the tea party "as another voice from the fringe." Janis Fonteccio proclaimed: "They make statements that are just absolutely terrorizing." Single mom Katie Gray Sadler warned: "Making a lot of noise... continue reading
Conservative Richard Viguerie brought his criticism of CNN's "left-of-center" bent on Thursday's Parker-Spitzer, and recommended that the network bring on more "articulate conservatives." The two CNN hosts, whom Viguerie recently criticized in a recent column, did their best to support his allegation by bringing on four liberals as guests during the program. The conservative wrote an August 17, 2010 column in the Washington Examiner criticizing CNN for claiming that they're "playing it right down the middle," when in reality, they lean towards the liberal side. Parker launched right into addressing her guest's criticism: "So, we're going to go ahead and... continue reading
According to MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell, Michelle Obama "never said that she had not been proud of her country." The cable host on Friday disingenuously spun for the First Lady while reporting on a speech Sarah Palin gave in California. In fact, on February 18, 2008 , Mrs. Obama addressed a crowd in Wisconsin and announced, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change." [See video. MP3 audio here .] On Thursday, Palin wondered, "You know, when I... continue reading
On Friday's CBS Early Show, after news reader Erica Hill reported on Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's heated Thursday appearance on ABC's 'The View,' co-host Harry Smith proclaimed O'Reilly to be "the bloviater-in-chief" and that "he was in full bloviation mode yesterday." Hill began her report by declaring: "When Barbara Walters introduced the conservative talk show host on 'The View' Thursday, she ignited a major fuse, turning daytime TV into dynamite." Hill described how O'Reilly's statement that "Muslims killed us on 9/11" caused left-wing hosts Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg to walk off the set. Once she concluded her piece,... continue reading
Viewers who watched the three morning shows on Friday were greeted with a less than enthusiastic review of Harry Reid's debate performance on Thursday. On ABC's Good Morning America, Jon Karl announced, "Reid often rambled." On CBS's Early Show, Ben Tracy called the event "a debate that, at times, found Harry Reid exasperated." NBC's Today was the least critical, announcing only that Reid had "the most to lose." Yet, only Karl on Good Morning America played a clip of a confused Reid at the podium, fumbling for his notes: "Okay. Got to find my little notes here...Okay. A lot of... continue reading
Airing rare stories on a U.S. Senate debate, ABC, CBS and NBC all ran full reports Thursday night on the only race they repeatedly find newsworthy, one in which the Republican is behind by double-digits, as ABC and CBS exploited the Delaware debate to regurgitate ridicule for Sarah Palin. "[Christine] O'Donnell's toughest moment came when she was asked to name a recent Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed," asserted CBS's Nancy Cordes, "a question that also tripped up her mentor, Sarah Palin," back in 2008. On ABC, Jonathan Karl echoed how "O'Donnell got tripped up when asked to name... continue reading
Chris Matthews and Chuck Todd tag-teamed against Alaskan Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller, on Thursday's Hardball, as Todd claimed Miller was " running a terrible campaign" and warned that "it may be popular among conservatives to bash the media" but Miller is "turning off" voters when he does it. For his part Matthews called Miller "unlikable" going as far to compare him to the negative depiction of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the movie "The Social Network" as Matthews pined: "He seems about as likable as that guy...Joe Miller seems like that guy." Of the Tea Party conservative Matthews also... continue reading
According to Good Morning America's Sharyn Alfonsi, the White House is hoping the "star power" of Michelle Obama will be enough for the Democrats to beat the Republican senatorial challenger in Wisconsin. Of course, Alfonsi on Thursday failed to even mention the name of Ron Johnson, the man who currently holds a seven point lead over incumbent Russ Feingold. Co-host George Stephanopoulos offered banal assertions such as " Her pitch is more personal than partisan. White House officials tell me she's having a good time out on the campaign trail. " Alfonsi featured two clips of Feingold gushing about the... continue reading