ABC News, which likes to bill itself as delivering "up-to-the-minute political coverage," on Sunday identified nine key Senate seats and mistakenly labeled five of them as held by Democrats. In front of a map, Good Morning America's Dan Harris pronounced, "Our political unit says nine Democratic-held Senate seats are now leaning Republican. Those are the ones in pink, to the eastern part of the country ." Highlighted in pink as Democrat seats? Ohio, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Louisiana and Florida. All of those are, in fact, Republican controlled. (In order, Republicans George Voinovich, Richard Burr, Judd Gregg, David Vitter and... continue reading
On Monday's Parker-Spitzer, CNN's Kathleen Parker picked up where her co-host Eliot Spitzer left off on Friday , bashing conservatives as " fringe elements " inside the Republican Party. Parker continued the Tea Party movement was the result of the GOP "catering" to such elements and that " the kooks have come home to roost ." The pseudo-conservative columnist returned to her old habit of attacking conservatives during a panel discussion with Reason magazine's Nick Gillespie and NPR contributor John Ridley minutes into the 8 pm Eastern hour. Gillespie criticized how both Republicans and Democrats handled the past decade: "It's... continue reading
On Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith interviewed former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and questioned the ability of tea party candidates to be effective in office: "...when it's time to govern, can anger govern? Or better yet, how about this one, if a tug-of-war starts between the tea party folk and the mainstream Republicans, who's going to win that tug-of-war?" Smith played up potential division in the GOP in a previous question: "...a very interesting conundrum for the Republicans....tea party supporters themselves...84% say there is a lot or some difference between them and Republicans. This is not going to... continue reading
NBC's Meredith Vieira tried her best to get Minnesota Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann off her game, on Tuesday's Today show, by repeatedly pressing her to admit that the Tea Party has "lost its focus" and was "losing its way" over social issues, adding that since some of their candidates are "so far out of the mainstream" they can't win. However Bachmann never took Vieira's bait, as she pointed out the Tea Party candidates like Ken Buck and Marco Rubio "have caught fire" and are "energizing the Republican Party." Vieira, following the lead of her Today co-anchor Matt Lauer from yesterday's... continue reading
Near the end of Monday's CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith interviewed actress Naomi Watts about her latest role as former CIA agent Valerie Plame in the movie 'Fair Game': "...a ripped from the headlines true story of espionage and betrayal. Naomi Watts plays former CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose life was torn apart when her cover was blown by the U.S. government." After playing a clip from the new film, Smith briefly summarized the controversy this way: "Joe Wilson was sent by the CIA to Niger to determine whether or not yellow-cake uranium was being exported to Iraq....when [he]... continue reading
The consumer price index is holding steady, so that means no "cost of living adjustment" upward in Social Security payments in 2011, prompting the Associated Press to distribute on Monday night a lengthy dispatch reciting complaints from seniors about the supposedly intolerable situation: " Senior citizens brace for Social Security freeze ." Without mentioning how recipients received a very generous 5.8 percent hike in 2009 , Florida-based AP reporter Matt Sedensky ominously led: Seniors prepared to cut back on everything from food to charitable donations to whiskey as word spread Monday that they will have to wait until at least... continue reading
George Stephanopoulos adopted the "guilty until proven innocent" style of questioning on Tuesday and pressed strategist Karl Rove to prove that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other groups aren't receiving foreign money- a charge there's no evidence for. Stephanopoulos teased, "A nd dirty money? President Obama and Joe Biden accuse Karl Rove of trying to buy this year's election. Is foreign money really influencing elections? " In a previous segment, reporter Jake Tapper pointed out, "And so far, this strong charge is completely unproven. But the White House response to the chamber, prove it." Yet, Stephanopoulos picked up the... continue reading
Granted exclusive access to North Korea, Good Morning America's Bob Woodruff on Monday informed viewers that the incoming leader, Kim Jong Un, is " said to be a fan of basketball star Michael Jordan ." [MP3 audio .] Standing next to a parade of military might in Pyongyang, Woodruff lauded, "North Korea may well be the world's most isolated country, a state with few allies, but they do know how to put on a show." At no point in the piece did the ABC journalist actually use the word dictator. Instead, he referred to Kim Jong Un as "the handpicked... continue reading
Grilling Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell on Monday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez questioned President Obama attacking Republicans over unproven claims of accepting foreign campaign donations: "Why did he spend so much time talking about the Republicans trying to steal the election? Offering no evidence of that. Isn't it a bit undignified for the President to resort to that?" The Democratic governor attempted to defend the President: "Well, the President's got dual roles, he's the commander-in-chief...but he's also the campaigner-in-chief....[talking] about what's to be afraid of....the unreported money that's coming into this campaign through groups that we'll never know who... continue reading
NBC's Matt Lauer questioned Carl Paladino on Monday's Today about his recent controversial remarks on homosexuality, and hinted that his comments might prompt "violence against homosexuals" and suicides of homosexual youth, such as the recent case at Rutgers. When Paladino attacked Andrew Cuomo for taking his children to a "gay pride" parade, Lauer implied that he might take his kids to such an event. The NBC morning show led the 7 am Eastern hour with a promo on Paladino's Sunday speech to orthodox Jewish leaders: " Anti-gay? New York's Republican gubernatorial candidate stirs up another controversy with comments on homosexuality... continue reading