Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Fact or Fiction

I read this article yesterday and wondered what you guys thought?

Since, I'm rooting for the winning team, I don't know that I can have a valid opinion.

Do you think the negative press of John McCain is based on fact or fiction?

Please be honest in your answers. And I will not tolerate any hatred on this blog.

Thanks.

18 comments:

  1. McCain is getting hosed in the press because he is running an incoherent campaign, and because of all those fun Sarah Palin clips, and because he keeps doing boneheaded things like saying he's suspending his campaign, and because he decided to call his new campaign the "Joe the Plumber" campaign even though Joe the Plumber is not named Joe, is not a Plumber, and will get a bigger tax break under Obama.

    You see. Do stupid things, the news notices. What stupid things has Obama done lately?

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  2. djinn, i have to agree with you. my first reaction to the title of that article was "what does obama do to get noticed in the press"

    he gives really good speeches, keeps his nose clean and is very, very careful with his campaign. it's not very newsworthy.

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  4. Plus, there seems to be lots of McCain misbehavior out there that hasn't really been well reported; mostly related to his fierce temper. But, it's leaking out.

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  5. and if he were to mis-step, or have any contention withing his campaign, etc, the press would be all over it like stink on poop.

    i bet the press, especially the cable networks,want something to go wrong cause it would be so fun to drag obama down.

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  6. I also suspect that Obama, in his books, told all of the negative facts about himself that existed, i.e., his drug use. So, there may very well be no bad stories about him lurking out there. I posted a story on my blog about how, when he was, what, 22? how he paid a woman's luggage overage (100 dollars, approx) so she could fly to be with her husband? The woman's parents told that story. Not the Obama campaign.

    So, no new dirt. But, a different question, why didn't the Obama as saint story get more play?

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  7. I think this line sums up the entire article:

    As it happens, McCain’s campaign is going quite poorly and Obama’s is going well. Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own.

    From the earliest days of the primaries, one of the Obama campaign's internal mantras was "No Drama." One of the reasons I'm voting for him has been that he's run such a methodical (and compared to McCain's, very boring) campaign. I expect that as president, he would surround himself with the same competent individuals and apply the same slow, constant pressure to issues like health care, education, foreign affairs and the economy.

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  8. I read a story the other day about comedians are making fun of McCain/Palin at a rate of 7 to 1 relative to Obama. I don't think it is necessarily bias. McCain/Palin are just such good targets for humor. I bet this wouldn't have been happening if McCain had not chosen Palin for Veep.

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  9. I haven't followed the presidential race that closely because my vote does not really count all that much. There is no way to mobilize enough voters to turn the state I live in from its traditional color to the other one.

    That said, I think that the media does in fact have a left-leaning bias. I'm not convinced that it's orchestrated that way, although I don't entirely buy the apologist's reasoning in that article either.

    I don't think there is any way around a bias. People go into journalism for what I think are the wrong reasons. They want to be famous, "stick it to the man", change the world, etc etc. My take on journalism is that you are supposed to report the news of the day.

    I think McCain was doomed from the start. He was the unfortunate sacrificial lamb the republicans put up in a race they cannot win. Bush has not done his party any favors.

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  10. anon,

    thank you for your response and welcome. do i know you from fmh?


    ok, in your opinion the press is left leaning, especially in the case of obama.

    what do you think they should have covered that they didn't? what could they have done better to be less biased?

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  11. "I bet this wouldn't have been happening if McCain had not chosen Palin for Veep."

    Red, I think you might be right. I still think the press would be covering his crappy attitude and erratic (hate to sound like a talking point but i can't think of another word) ways.

    Palin being picked out of obscurity with her lack of credentials was just a goldmine for the press but add to it her poor performance during interviews, the campaigns determination to keep her shielded, her using phrases that incited hatred at the rallies and now senior officials in the campaign calling her a "diva" and "whack job" well, that's just too good to let slide.

    oh well. makes me sad for her family.

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  12. I have to disagree with the assertion that the media has a left-leaning bent. I watch a lot of American media from over here and it all seems incredibly right-wing to me. (It also seems a bit of an overstatement to call it "news" when it's mostly features or opinion, but that's another story.) But then the US in general is very right-wing, much more so than just about any OECD country, so I suppose it shouldn't be surprised to see that reflected in the media.

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  13. I also must protest about the American press being left-leaning. What the (**&^% are you talking about? The war in Iraq was totally manufactured by the Bush administration with the help of the New York Times and various other "journalistic" oufits. The actual torture of actual goatherds in Guantanamp who got sold to the Americans for quite a bit of money has been seriously underreported. The spying on american citizens,now allowed by our **Democratic*** congress similarly has been seriously underreported, not to mention the real reason for the "surge" success, that Al Muqtadr stood down the Mahdi army at the same time the 'surge' started. If your enemies disappear, then you win, though not due to your actions. I could go on, but ....

    Please please please please please publish a rebuttal. Please.

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  14. There are a number of reasons McCain gets worse press. A liberal bias in the media is not one of them. I think one of the most prominent is the way each campaign treats the media. Obama is relatively smooth and accommodating to the media, and so they return the favor. In 2000, when McCain was chummy and accommodating, the media were similarly inclined to treat him well. But McCain has done an about face on that. He realizes that Conservatives like to nurse their media persecution complex, and so he has deliberately turned on them. Any surprise they've done the same right back?

    The press is human. But there is no liberal monopoly.

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  15. now I hardly watch tv, just catch a bit of NPR here and there and yes, it seems that all I ever hear about mccain is negative (or a dismal report about his chances) and everything about obama is positive.
    just the way it sounds... makes me feel a bit sorry for mccain (my personal wish is that HE had won the rep nom way back in 2000 instead of Bush, but oh well.)

    So, sort of off the subject, but sort of on it... on NPR the other day they were interviewing seth meyers (weekend update) about the SNL sketches, etc... and he mentioned something about obama; how very very good he has been at making very few misteps. just a very smooth wise guy and it's hard to make a funny joke at his expense. While Mccain has just done a lot to be poked fun at.
    (seth also thought the sarah palin thing was a huge heat seaking target, that if mccain had picked Mitt for vp there would be less fire.)


    anyhoo... there you go, just my two cents.
    oh, and while I'm thinking about it, viva Tina Fey!

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  16. This is a topic that grates on my nerves. I have studied mass media and political communication for four years now and while I cannot quote you specific studies, there are about a hundred that have demonstrated there is not a liberal bias in the media. Yes, journalists lean left, but the editors and owners of the outlets - also known as the gatekeepers because they decide what gets out there - are overwhelmingly conservative. Academic rant over.

    As for this campaign specifically, my instinct is to agree with the idea that it's the ineptitude of the McCain campaign. From Palin to the air quotes, he has basically refused to create good news for himself.

    What can you say about Obama's campaign? He gave another speech... he raised another million... he left the campaign to visit his grandma? He's just too careful. But I would point out that Biden has gotten plenty of bad press.

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  17. I completely agree that the press is left leaning. If you can't see it, I don't know what to tell you. I guess I am in the minority here but that's okay. I am voting McCain-Palin, and I am PROUD OF IT!!

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  18. anonymous, one little example of a left-leaning press is all I ask. One. Please?

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