Who?

Happy Friday before the election!

McCain and the Bloggers

An interesting article/Q&A that I noticed on The Huffington Post that I'll link to. Its a Q&A with Robert Draper, the author of a recent NY Times Magazine article on McCain. I found two of the questions particularly interesting/pertinent.

WWD: Did it help that you had only one story to write, as opposed to filing every 30 seconds?
R.D.: Unlike some of the journalists for not only the daily papers but for networks, who have to constantly blog as well as file stories, I could be a little more leisurely, and beyond that, maintain a big-picture perspective. And frankly, the McCain campaign was much more responsive to that approach. They’ve come to be rather disdainful of the hyper-blogging that takes place on the press bus, and they think it has increased this mind-set of “gotcha” journalism, where every time John McCain would say something, instead of asking a follow-up question, people would go scurry off to their laptops and post to their blogs. And the McCain campaign believes that’s not what journalism ought to be. I’m not positing myself as some kind of superior journalist, it’s just that the format of long-form journalism allows me to be a little more leisurely, allows me to look at the longer view of things, and allows me two-and-a-half months on a single story.

WWD: You mentioned that the McCain campaign thinks that blogging is inimical to journalism. Do you think it’s true what they said in your story, that reporters are “primarily young, snarky, blog-obsessed and liberal?”
R.D.: Oh, yes, I think it’s true, but I don’t think it’s a fatal impediment. Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter and others who would characterize the media these days in such a way have it about right, except that I also found that a lot of these younger journalists who were my companions aboard the Straight Talk Express were extremely diligent, incredibly hardworking, extremely intelligent and very much of a mind to give the McCain campaign a fair shake. I do think that they are impeded by the imperatives of the trade now…you’re in this eternal footrace, with so many competitors, to get something out that’s fresh and hot and get it out quickly. But Obama’s people have coped with it, and I think that McCain’s people have coped with it less well.
I know a lot of people covering the Obama campaign who are displeased with the level of access being given them, and they have concerns with what an Obama administration would look like in that regard. But they’re also not made out to be the enemy.…And there is a level of disdain that is palpable in the McCain campaign that does not exist in the Obama campaign, and I cannot believe that that is helpful to McCain’s efforts.

Its certainly worth the read. It seems like its playing into the idea that I've been tracking a bit, the idea that McCain and his campaign are reluctant to embrace new media correctly (i.e. blogging, YouTube). While it probably has not been the fatal flaw of the campaign, its a clear disadvantage. One only needs to do a basic search of the net to see an overwhelmingly majority of bloggers/online journalists favoring Obama/Biden. With the internet expanding at the rate that it is, with new capabilities popping up each day, I don't think its a mistake that the more technologically advanced campaign is winning.

Obama's Infomercial

As the evening draws closer, so does Barack Obama's long discussed 30 minute advertisement in which, up to today, nobody really knew what to think of it. Then, the Obama campaign released a teaser of sorts to the NY Times, in which, the basic outline of his address tonight is outlined. The Huffington Post also gives more detail.

Initially, this was an idea that I was skeptical about. I felt like all that could come from it was some slip that would give McCain some out of left field material to bring the last week of the campaign home. However, as time has passed and we've gotten closer to tonight, Obama's lead has remained steady and McCain seems to be reeling. Even if McCain somehow finds material from tonight's special, we've reached a possible point of no return. By the time McCain can begin airing or speaking about Obama's program, it'll be Thursday, the 30th, at the earliest, 5 days until the election. Is that enough time to drastically alter the election? Probably not.

The other question remains is that, will Obama even give McCain any material? In class on Monday, there seemed to be some fears expressed that McCain might find something in the 30 minute address. Yet, in the first 2 months of the general election campaign, Obama has given McCain almost no material upon which to work from. Why should the last 30 minutes be any different? Up to this point, Obama's campaign has quickly and decisively countered many of McCain's accusations and speaking points. Overall, it would be difficult to argue otherwise, to argue that McCain has run the better campaign. It won't change tonight. For those waiting for Obama to screw up, they'll have to keep waiting. Tonight won't be it.

Electoral Map Tips to Obama

It seems like everyone is starting to believe that Obama has this thing wrapped up. MSNBC's blog First Read has the electoral college giving Obama the requisite 270 for the win. With a week to go until the people hit the polls, can McCain possibly come back? I don't see anything significantly swinging the election one way or another. It'll be interesting to see that with only 8 days to go, how many media outlets start to try and declare who the winner will be.

Polling Tells Which Story Exactly?

Since we discussed polling, I just saw these two articles in rapid succession and couldn't help but laugh. It just goes to show that one can feel pretty optimistic or pretty poor depending on whom you read and trust. A McCain backer can read the AP report and feel like a million bucks. An Obama would be changing the underwear. Yet, if you're a Washington Post nut, Obama backers can rejoice, while McCain should change the Depends.

Jonny's Mad!

Jon Stewart at Northeastern, in a decidedly more direct attack than just "framing the narrative":



The obvious freedom of doing stand-up vs. a nightly comedy show is apparent. Stewart doesn't have to represent anyone but himself when he's standing on the stage by his lonesome.

He later went back to the Daily Show and explained his comments:

Health of the Candidates

We've previously discussed the idea as to what from the candidate's private life should become public knowledge. It seemed that the consensus was that the medical history of the involved parties should be made public, so that the voters of the country have an idea as to what they're going to be dealing with over the course of the next 4 years. In tomorrow's NY Times, a new article investigating the candidate's health will be featured. You can read the article on the Times website now. The article is an in-depth look into the medical histories of each candidate with the exception of Palin, who has volunteered nothing in terms of information, which keeps with the intense protection the McCain camp has attempted to utilize for Palin. Regardless, its an interesting (and intensive) read worth the time it takes to click through 5 pages.

McCain Campaign Licensing Controversy

Eric Danton, of the Hartford Courant, weighs in with some good links about the trouble that McCain and Co. are having with licensing music. Worth checking through if one so desires.

Palin on SNL

For what it's worth, the clip from Palin on SNL, which brought in HUGE ratings for SNL. In fact, the best ratings in over 14 years for the weekly staple. That said, I'm surprised that they brought her on as a guest, what with Tina Fey's comments about her wanting to leave the planet if Palin is elected. Fey may not be a writer for the show anymore but its clear that they're happy to have her when she wants to stop by. But with those rating, who cares about politics?

Her portion of Weekend Update:

McCain on Letterman

Excerpts from McCain's return trip to Dave's stomping grounds. (Excuse the Ad)



Gotta give Dave credit that he doesn't back down when he has the potential (however unlikely it may be according to the polls) president sitting in the chair next to him.

Debate Reactions

It seems like today's reactions to the final debate last night have been overwhelmingly positive for Obama. While no one seems to insist that Obama covered any new ground, his tried and true, steady as she goes method of running down the clock to Election Day seemed like a success. I thought McCain had his strongest debate to date but still at times seemed erratic and unfocused, jumping from issue to issue within the course of a few sentences. From the NY Times:

It seemed as if Mr. McCain was veering from one hot button to another, pressing them all, hoping to goad Mr. Obama into an outburst or a mistake that would alter the shape of the race in its last three weeks.

For the most part, Obama seemed his usual self, refusing to be dragged into any sort of petty tit-for-tat with McCain over some incisive topics, i.e. ACORN and William Ayers. When prompted, Obama clearly and efficiently laid out his history with both ACORN and Ayers and seemed to make a convincing case on both.



Most seem to agree that McCain's strongest line came when he stated he was not President Bush, seen here:



However, people just seem to think that McCain came up short. Reports can be found as follows:

Boston Globe (1)(2)(3)
NY Times (1)(2)
LA Times
Washington Post (1)(2)(3)

Still Won't Condemn It

Unbelievable.

YouTube Strikes Back

Awhile back, I posted on the impact that YouTube might have/be having on the election. I noticed this post from DailyKos in regards to YouTube pulling McCain ads off of the site because of copyright infringement. Frankly, I couldn't help but laugh. Its one thing for some user submitted clip of Scarlett Johannson being interviewed by Jay Leno to get pulled for incorrect usage rights. I'm sure that little Jimmy in Grand Rapids, MI probably didn't have the correct legal channels to acquire the necessary rights. However, for a national Presidential campaign to have their stuff pulled for illegal use of copyrighted video/audio is embarassing. With all the lawyers inevitably linked to McCain, couldn't he find one to request the use of these songs and clips? Is it really that difficult?

Olbermann Responds to McCain Rally Mobs

In previous posts, I've spoken about the mob mentality being found at McCain Rallies. Sure, Olbermann can be a blowhard at times (most of the time) but to hear him thunder away shows an increasingly hostile media presence in this situation. Over the past week or so, these stories of hatred and hostility have climbed the charts and are becoming a major focus for the media. This is the most decisive demand that I've heard to date:

McCain Does Letterman (Redux)

This should be interesting to watch. Given the speed in which the now-classic Letterman rant on McCain spread around the 'net, it'll be interesting to see how many people tune in/pay attention to the return appearance on the Late Show. I think the fact that McCain is returning to do the show illustrates the fact that his initial blowing off of Dave had further reaching repercussions than previously imagined. Thanks to Dave refusing to go quietly into the night, Thursday's show will be must see TV. If for nothing else, seeing how McCain handles the situation will be worth the price of switching from Colbert.

Palin Can't Tell Supporter from Foe

In the continuing trainwreck of a candidacy, Sarah Palin decided it'd be easier to attack everyone as opposed to just Obama. Can anything go right for this woman?

McCain and Corporate America

It seems as if the media is ready to write off this election and if the story in today's WSJ is any indication, it may be time for the rest of us. For a Republican to be struggling to connect with the Corporate America that any good GOP nominee should own is a serious problem. As was mentioned in class last night, the Republicans seem to be stuck with a candidate that they don't like and even if they do, have trouble seeing said candidate lasting any longer than a single term. A recent poll (and article), released by the Washington Post and ABC News, suggests that McCain is rapidly losing support in his own party:

McCain has made little headway in his attempts to convince voters that Obama is too "risky" or too "liberal." Rather, recent strategic shifts may have hurt the Republican nominee, who now has higher negative ratings than his rival and is seen as mostly attacking his opponent rather than addressing the issues that voters care about. Even McCain's supporters are now less enthusiastic about his candidacy, returning to levels not seen since before the Republican National Convention .

It seems like there is no good news coming out of the McCain camp even though they have Obama right where they want him.

A "Nicer" Campaign

McCain/Palin are switching it up again after being jumped on by just about everyone for the negative, mob like campaign they were running the previous week. It seems like they are getting increasingly desperate given the larger leads that Obama/Biden continue to open up on them.

LA Times takes on Fox News

While its kind of assumed that many media outlets around the country dislike Fox News, rarely is the discontent as evident as it was in the LA Times today. Granted this may be an opinion piece by a staff writer but its still noteworthy that such a large paper publishes such a strong condemnation of another media outlet. It'll be interesting to see how, over the next three weeks or so, the conservative and liberal media outlets deal with each other's reporting.

McCain Sticks Up for His Boys (and Girls)

It'll be interesting to see if McCain and his crowds will continue to arise as an issue. In recent weeks, more and more reports are popping up in regards to (borderline) audience hate speech taking part at McCain rallies, speech McCain's camp is now defending. The language has ranged from calling Obama anything from a terrorist to outright cries to of killing Obama. Quite frankly, this type of stuff is beyond disturbing and the fact that the McCain camp is not strongly discouraging/denouncing it is a cause for alarm. Its one thing for opponents to disagree and even dislike the other. However, to promote and condone this type of mob mentality is disgusting.

It appears that the media is picking up on this strongly as a simple GoogleNews search of "McCain Rallies Kill Him" (the scariest thing to come from the crowds) brings up a great deal of articles relating to the subject. While many (scratch that; almost all) of the articles are comdeming in nature, thats to be expecting from rational thinking human beings. Until McCain comes out to denounce the terrible nature of this mentality, it'll only continue to spiral out of control, hopefully without any sort of consequences. However, its not difficult to think, that if the guilty McCain supporters continue to act in such a manner, the situation could turn ugly quickly when other people of opposing viewpoints get involved. Its certainly not something I condone, rather something I fear but it's not far fetched to think that these rallies could turn violent if this isn't controlled.

Reaction to the Debate: Moderators

Some discussion has arisen of the role of the moderators in the debates in the wake of Gwen Ifill being chosen to host the VP debate. Many felt that the fact that Ifill has a book coming out on the topic of race in the Obama age would handcuff Ifill from truly moderating and a solid group felt that it did. There was worry that any sort of limitation Ifill put on Palin would be construed as unfair and political versus actually trying to get an answer from a candidate.

After last night's Presidential debate, it seems as if some are just as unhappy with the role the moderator played. While watching the debate, the fact that Brokaw was desperately attempting to keep the candidates under the time constraints was pretty evident. I don't think I would call Brokaw's job "terrible" but it was something less than stellar. Even when he tried to stop the candidates, they would frequently push anyway often times with Brokaw allowing it to happen. I agree with Mitchell's idea that the second half of the debate seemed all too familiar given the first hour and a half that we sat through a few weeks ago. For Obama, who seemed to have the consensus that he won the first debate, it must be a positive that he didn't have to sway from the ideas/talking points that already won. For McCain, who is facing increasingly desperate times, the fact that he had to regurgitate previously explained ideas can't be good for the campaign.

The Election to This Point

From Slate:

McCain/Palin Go Negative (Again)

With Sarah Palin more or less suggesting that Barack Obama is one step away from terrorism, it appears that the McCain/Palin ticket is getting ready to turn up the heat with attack ads once again. It'll be interesting to see how the media responds this time around after the first wave of attacks ended with Fox News reporting the lies in the ads.

Will McCain/Palin play it closer to the truth this time around or will the last month of the campaign become an all out war where truth takes a back seat to winning the election? In class, we've spoken about how McCain's ultimate goal is to win the election, as is any candidate's chief objective. It'll be interesting to see how far McCain will be willing to go with exagerrations and full on lies in order to claim that seat in the West Wing.

Sarah and Katie: Sarah Strikes Back!

Following the increasingly embarassing interviews by CBS News, Sarah Palin has come out like any good VP Candidate should and said that Katie Couric "annoyed" her. Thats funny because every one of Palin's answers "annoyed" most of America in their obvious BS factor. What has come out of those Couric interviews can only be described as highly damaging and while its too bad that Ms. Palin didn't enjoy some actual questions as opposed to the meatballs she was hoping, it doesn't change the fact that she was unprepared and came off as looking like a high schooler who didn't do the homework.

Having watched the Couric interviews a number of times, I've got to admit that none of the questions that were asked of Palin seemed unfair or out of left field. In fact, each seemed like something a VP candidate should be able to answer standing on their heads. Its unfortunate that Couric didn't give Palin the questions she was looking for, particularly ones that could set Palin up to attack Obama but thats the name of the game. The media has every right to ask the tough questions and too often, they don't. Here, Couric stepped up to the plate and took it to someone as opposed to letting Palin walk all over her. The fact that Palin was "annoyed" should only be taken as a compliment to Couric and her decent interviewing skills.

More from Katie and Sarah

She doesn't know any other Supreme Court cases!

This Just In...

VP Debate could be Politically Pivotal.

While it may seem like an obvious statement, with all the the scrutiny on Palin prior to tonight's debate, this could be a contest with far reaching consequences for both sides. With more than half of voters beginning to think that Palin doesn't understand the "complex issues", tonight may be her last chance to salvage whatever dignity she may have left. After getting drummed with questions to which she had no answer by Katie Couric (Katie Couric!) and stumbling through moments of the Charlie Gibson interview, it's almost a necessity for Palin to come out tonight and have a great debate.

On the other hand, I feel its almost a necessity for Biden to come out and bury Palin. Let's all be honest, the McCain/Palin ticket has had a rough couple of weeks and while I'm not quite ready to say that they're reeling, its not a stretch to say that they've been falling behind. If Biden can unequivocally show tonight that Palin is the clueless, unprepared woman she has made herself to be in the past few weeks, I'm not quite sure how she'll be able to recover. As we discussed briefly in Monday's class, if Palin has another bad week and then all of a sudden turns it around and comes out slinging knowledge, can we even believe that its genuine and not a regurgitation of today's fact packet? I'm not so sure that I want a VP who needs to use flash cards during a meeting with a foreign head of state. But hey, that may just be me.