The Anchorage Daily is Alaska's biggest newspaper. And with a readership that large (probably not that large, it's still Alaska after all, and everyone there speaks Russian), and with so few home heroes to to celebrate, perhaps the daily would be kinder to their "hottest governor" and current VP candidate Sarah Palin.
Nope: CONTINUED »
The cable nets were fishing for a "buyer's remorse" story last night, and their hook caught something.
Leading up to Hillary Clinton's speech, anchors and pundits were wondering whether the ex-candidate was going to 1) heal and unite the Democratic party; 2) get fully behind Obama; 3) remind Democrats of what could've been. She accomplished all three, and CNN found this Hillary supporter to make the case that after seeing Clinton's speech, some Democrats still aren't behind Obama and wish it would be Clinton heading to the White House. An even better "get," of course, would've been an Obama supporter who listened to Clinton speak last night and suddenly turned to her side, casting off his Obama vote and wishing Clinton had been named the nominee. But we can't make ratings miracles, people.
Well, at least you know where MSNBC and NBC stand on this whole DNC "civil war" going on between the regular folks and the crazed Hillary fans — the stations are firmly planted on the side of sensationalist journalism. While Republicans and Democrats are expected to snipe at each other during election time, the media at this convention locked eyes with a contingent of Dems who believe Hillary Clinton should have won the nomination and are threatening to vote for McCain come election time. Even NBC's political director Chuck Todd spoke out against the station spending all its hard-earned Denver drinking money covering the PUMAs (that's Party Unity My Ass), the particular anti-Obama group composed mainly of middle-aged white women, who receive a disproportionate amount of coverage based on their small numbers.
This is the political equivalent of Elisabeth Hasselbeck making those statements about Jeffrey Dahmer and bologna sandwiches; not everyone who likes processed meats is also a serial killer, and only a small, small percentage of people who voted for Hillary Clinton are running around the convention like Star Wars fans at Comic-Con. But since PUMAs are the most, uh, colorful turnouts of the event so far, and since nothing actually happens at the national conventions except network in-fighting, you can bet there is going to be a disproportionate amount of coverage on the crazy cat ladies. CONTINUED »
During all that hoopla in the late 90s about our then-prez and his cigar-loving intern, did you ever stop and think, "Yes, that makes sense, Monica looked just like Bill's grandma?" Well, too bad you never tried to copyright your thought hombre, because someone just went ahead and made a biography on the bigger Clinton, and it focuses on some the more Freudian (read: salient) details of Bill's personal life. No wonder, the book was written by John Hopkin's (assistant) professor and psychologist John D. Gartner, who apparently delves into the Alpha-males brain for a living. Among the myriad of claims that In Search of Bill Clinton: A Psychological Biography makes (all without support of the Clintons, since Gartner was never able to reach them for comment), there exists some of these gems:
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The Atlantic's Joshua Green spits out his 6,000-word report on the Clinton campaign fall out, but only after sifting through hundreds of emails drenched in vitriol. [The Atlantic]
Things could get sticky at this month’s Democratic national convention!
Senator Hillary Clinton told supporters that she would not rule out having her pledged delegates heard at the nominating event, which should be all about Barack Obama.
During an ABC News interview in Liberia yesterday, Bill Clinton got "a little testy" with a reporter, as he is wont to do these days. She asked him if he had any regrets about anything he did while he was campaigning for Hillary Clinton. He said he does, but not the ones we think, which tells me he's probably still in denial about how he might have damaged his wife's campaign.
Perhaps rightfully so, John McCain is not happy with the way the media is going on about Barack Obama's overseas trip, while his domestic goings-on are covered as mere blips on the news cycle radar.
With all three evening news anchors in attendance, as well as the upper echelon of the press corps, Obama's trip is being chronicled endlessly in newspapers and on television, with pictures coming back to the U.S. of Obama meeting with senior military leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan. McCain, meanwhile, is shown palling around in a golf cart with George H.W. Bush.
The difference in treatment has "irked" the McCain camp. While McCain used to refer to the media as his "base," he's now sees a climate where the press is bending over backward for his opponent and leaving him in the proverbial dust. So what's a guy to do?
Complain.
Except, as we've seen before, that isn't the best strategy. CONTINUED »
"Unfortunately I have found out that many viewers are afraid of change. The glory days of TV news are over, and the media landscape has been dramatically changed. News is available now for everyone, everywhere, all the time, and everybody fights for the last pieces of the shrinking pie. The corporate pressure and the ratings terror are intensifying all the time, and the situation is not simple. I find myself in the last bastion of male dominance, and realizing what Hillary Clinton might have realized not long ago: that sexism in the American society is more common than racism, and certainly more acceptable or forgivable. In any case, I think my post and Hillary's race are important steps in the right direction." — Katie Couric, to Israeli paper Haaretz
CNBC has been having a one Howard Glaser on the air to talk about the mortgage meltdown, and how the federal government is stepping in to bank roll Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae so the entire nation's economy doesn't nose dive any farther. CNBC introduced him as a "mortgage industry consultant." CNBC did not introduce him as a paid consultant to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which he is. That type of thing is what some in this biz refer to as a "conflict of interest." (The network says it wasn't aware of the relationship. Glaser says his fee from the big banks doesn't influence his on-air analysis. Right.)
Add to MSNBC's focus today on Hillary Clinton's new hairdo — "they would never talk about a guy's haircut" we imagine someone screaming — and NBC's cable networks are ratcheting up a whole slew of sticking points for the conservative blogs to get their jazz hands on.
With more than $20 million in debt still yet to be paid off, Hillary Clinton will do anything to get supporters to throw money at her campaign, even though her campaign's only purpose right now is to, uh, pay off her debts.
Barack Obama is doing his part, asking supporters to send her a cheque. Now, Hillary has moved on to gimmicks.
In exchange for sending a $50 contribution sent her way, Clinton will ship you one of these "limited edition" tees. The gender-ambiguous silhouette there at the bottom? A subtle reminder that pantsuits work for any body type. [Swamp]
Sound familiar? Indeed: Back when John Kerry bungled the Democratic party's hope for the White House, he also left his campaign with 3 million people on his listserv. Guess who's still worth talking to so he can press the forward button on your fundraising drive? Though Politico doesn't say how big Clinton's email list is, she does have 158,000 “supporters” on Facebook and more than 191,000 “friends” on MySpace. Maybe they'll even post her iPod playlist. [Politico]
Having waged a war against a cable news network that was supposed to have been an ally, Hillary Clinton campaign strategist Howard Wolfson is signing up with the enemy. Wolfson has inked a deal with Fox News where, like Karl Rove, he'll serve as a contributor, offering analysis to the right-y network that undoubtedly will work to support John McCain against Barack Obama. Wolfson certainly has ample reasoning to join up with FNC, if only because his days of working "with" MSNBC, which sided early with Team Obama, were hellish. And now that he's signing up with Fox News, he has even more pleasant words for Roger Ailes' network: "I thought that Fox’s coverage during the primary was comprehensive and fair and evenhanded. It’s a huge audience, and it is important to have a strong, progressive voice on the network." It'll also be important for him to have a soapbox to rail against Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, a favorite Fox News bloodsport. [NYT]
Just in time to plug her New Orleans memoir The House on First Street, Vogue political scribe Julia Reed has a nasty anecdote to share about Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager Howard Wolfson, who she describes as "the most charmless human being on the planet."
As you'll recall, Vogue tried penning a feature on Hillary, only to have her campaign cut off access; Anna Wintour wrote all about it in a February editor's letter after Reed wasted plenty of time "sitting there sucking up to" Wolfson trying to work something out. Wolfson's excuse to yanking his candidate? "We already have the women's vote in the bag," he told Reed. "We thought we were going to be in a bigger dogfight. We don't need you anymore." The rest, of course, is history.
Vote today in the National Organization for Women's "Media Hall of Shame: 2008 Election Edition." Don't let David Shuster or Cameron Cardow win against your pick! [ Jun 23, 2008 · Link · Respond
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