In an interview with Florida Governor Charlie Crist on Thursday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez turned to the hotly contested Senate race: "your opponent in the primary, fellow Republican Marco Rubio, and you...are in a dead heat in this race. Critics say that it's because he is a true conservative and you are...a RINO, a 'Republican In Name Only.' How do you respond to that criticism?" As Rodriguez spoke, the latest Quinnipiac University poll of the primary appeared on screen, showing Rubio with 47% among Republican voters and Crist with 44%. Crist defended his conservative credentials: "Well, if I'm... continue reading
Good Morning America co-host Robin Roberts didn't even try for objectivity on Wednesday when she talked to pay czar Kenneth Feinberg about his attempts to stop AIG CEOs from receiving bonuses. "We can feel the fire in your belly ," she enthused after Feinberg touted the administration's efforts at reining in bonuses. "And that's great to see," Roberts opined. After Feinberg proudly told Roberts, "I do not, for a minute, ignore the outrage out there, which I share," the GMA co-host marveled, "We can see that." The pay czar assured the ABC anchor that "we're doing a very good job"... continue reading
CNN's Jim Acosta continued his network's bias against tea party protesters on Wednesday's American Morning by depicting them as "recession raging," and questioned one participant over her depiction of President Obama as the personification of death: "Do you think having the President dressed up as the Grim Reaper is a little over-the-top?" Acosta then asked, "You think it's appropriate?" [audio clip available here ] The correspondent's report on Wednesday was the first in a series titled "Welcome to the Tea Party." During his presentation, which first aired 39 minutes into the 7 am hour, Acosta followed his network's model of... continue reading
Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow (of "The sun glistened off his chiseled pectorals" fame) is back on the Obama beat and on the front page Wednesday, with a story headlined "A middle-class president's paradox." Some think Obama's an elitist. But do they have fact-checkers at the Post? Saslow wrote: His first year in office was defined in part by a paradox. He is a rare president who comes from the middle class , yet people still perceive him as disconnected from it. Does Saslow think Bill Clinton came from money? Reagan? Carter? Ford? Nixon? LBJ? Obama supporters like Saslow seem... continue reading
Not a move by a political correspondent, but it counts nonetheless. "Former Washington Post film critic Desson Thomson will join the Obama administration and head to London as a speechwriter for Ambassador Louis Susman," a big Obama fundraiser, Washington Post "Federal Eye" blogger Ed O'Keefe reported on Monday in a post I saw highlighted on DCRTV.com . O'Keefe elaborated: "Thomson, who grew up in Surrey, England, worked for The Post from 1983 to 2008, most recently as a film critic for the Weekend and Style sections." By O'Keefe's count , "Thomson is one of at least 14 journalists to join... continue reading
Michelle Obama sat down for an exclusive, multi-part interview with NBC's Matt Lauer on Wednesday's Today show and as expected with any Q&A with a First Lady the co-host tossed the perfunctory softballs on topics like family life in the White House and her cause of childhood obesity, but Lauer also extended the favorable treatment when discussing health care reform as he pressed: "Will it pass? Can your husband get it done?" Lauer also reminisced with Michelle Obama about his interview with the President last year when "It was a heady time for you as a family and for Democrats,"... continue reading
ABC, CBS and NBC all aired full stories Tuesday night on Admiral Mike Mullen's testimony against "don't ask/don't tell" before the Senate Armed Services Committee, but only ABC led with the comments from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as anchor Diane Sawyer called it "a dramatic day on Capitol Hill" and reporter Martha Raddatz trumpeted: "This will be dramatically-debated for days to come, but what we heard today from the military on Capitol Hill was truly historic." Katie Couric set up the CBS Evening News story: "It's been U.S. policy for nearly 17 years now, gays... continue reading
Chris Matthews demanded Republicans be punished for their, as he put it on Tuesday's Hardball, opposition to "everything that tries to solve the country's problems." During a discussion about White House strategy, Game Change co-author John Heilemann suggested to the MSNBC host that Barack Obama should make "Republicans pay for their intransigence," which prompted Matthews to question how best to target Republicans - specifically Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn -who "pompously" laugh at the President, while opposing, "everything that tries to solve the country's problems?" The following exchange was aired on the February 2 edition of Hardball: JOHN HEILEMANN, GAME... continue reading
Historically, there are two kinds of White House reporters: those that confront officials with the strongest critique and demand a response (think ABC's Sam Donaldson, who dogged Bill Clinton in the late 1990s just as he had Ronald Reagan in the 1980s); and those who see their job as simply repeating the White House spin of the day. Reporting Tuesday morning on the Obama administration's push for another $100 billion in spending, supposedly for "job growth," NBC's Savannah Guthrie fell into the second category. Rather than amplify the growing chorus of critics who argue that we can't afford more massive... continue reading
In the 8:30AM ET half hour on Tuesday's CBS Early Show, co-host Maggie Rodriguez teased an upcoming animal segment: "...we have some visitors to the studio of the animal variety. Some of them are cute and cuddly....But they're all in trouble due to climate change and you're going to see these animals from the San Diego Zoo and hear about their precarious situation ahead this morning." Rodriguez later introduced the segment by declaring that "climate change is affecting some of the world's most beautiful animals." She spoke with senior animal keeper at the San Diego Zoo, Rick Schwartz, who brought... continue reading