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 · posted by David Hauslaib · Link · Respond
Now that Sen. Hillary Clinton is squarely out of the running for president, it's the perfect time for the media, desperate for new angles for Dems v. Repubs election battle that's barely kicked into gear, to reflect on the very small, minute, seemingly impossible possibility that the press was unfair – some say sexist! – to the New York senator.
Are the charges of sexism merely sour grapes from women who feel disenfranchised now that the leader of all womynkind will not be president? Or are they legitimate charges against a group of good 'ole boys who were not only unfair to Clinton, but not exactly welcome to the idea that they were unfair?
In quizzing a swath of media types, the Times, like a bisexual couple at a swingers party, found it goes both ways: CONTINUED »
A smart software engineer is going to develop a nifty little application called, say, Favors, which tracks who's done nice things for you in the past, and who's totally screwed you over. But while we wait for Google Labs to churn that one out, we'll have the Web 1.0 version: Doug Band. He's the "chief gatekeeper" for Bill and Hillary Clinton, who diligently registers every time a constituent plays nice with the political power couple — and every time they're ignored or thrown under the bus. (You can imagine where Gov. Bill Richardson falls on this chart.)
Insists Hillary's campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe: "Revenge is not what the Clintons are about." That is, the list is about practicality, making it easier to pay special attention to your allies. And making sure folks like Chris Matthews, Vanity Fair's Todd Purdum, and Matt Drudge are never, ever given special treatment.
Now that Hillary Clinton has finally fulfilled Chris Matthews' year-long dream of exiting the race, it's time to make sense of all that was the 24-hour primary news cycle during the 16-month Barack v. Hillary battle. New York Knicks ticket policy violator and former NBC anchor Tom Brokaw has some thoughts: CONTINUED »
Did you hear that yesterday was historic? It was a day to remember! For eternity!
For the first time in the nation's history, a female contender for president … found herself without a hope in the world. Also: A black guy moved forward to a 1:2 shot in leading the country, so that's sort of worth mentioning too.
If you had seen the coverage in recent weeks and months, one might've thought that Hillary Clinton had been fighting an uphill battle, against the media and those naysayers, who had already declared the nomination for Barack. Except, uh, that wasn't really the case, Hil. Roll tape! (Scroll to about the 4:00 mark.)
Alternative headlines passed over by the tabs: "Victory!," "Definitively!," and "Finally!"
Joe Scarborough, returning to his morning slot on MSNBC today after taking a leave to attend to his wife's difficult pregnancy, reflecting on last night's historic events: "A night that nobody believed—but perhaps Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and Chris Matthews—this was a night that very few people believed would ever happen." [Video here]
Like Entertainment Tonight prematurely announcing the birth of Angelina Jolie's twin babies (which if true, interestingly, would've made the babies premature), the Associated Press called Hillary Clinton's concession to Barack Obama too early. It didn't take her campaign even a half hour to announce, on The View and elsewhere, that the AP got it wrong. But the wire is standing by this unassailable fact: Obama has finally, for all intents and purposes, and two years after this whole campaigning business started, swept up the Democratic nomination.
But in the never-ending battle that is news media, not everyone is jumping on the AP's report: CONTINUED »
J.C., Clinton!
After Vanity Fair's long expose – a writearound, in fact, given that Bill Clinton refused to participate – in the July issue, which is getting more play thanks to the voluptuous Angelina Jolie gracing the cover, the ex-president's camp appears to have copy/pasted from its defense playbook, countering the article and the magazine that has a "penchant for libel."
Todd Purdum's article arrives just in time, because at some point this week, wife Hillary will be an after-thought as Barack Obama champions toward November, and our focus, genuinely, jumps to Obama vs McCain.
So while the public can still be relied upon for its interest in the Clintons, VF hits with "The Comeback Id," which opens with a not-so-kind portrayal of Clinton and his skeevy friends, like Ron Burkle, owner of the plane "Air Fuck One," and Steve Bing, whose favorite pastime is litigation. (Though there is this line: "In fairness, it should be said that Clinton’s entourage that weekend also included his daughter, Chelsea, and her boyfriend, Marc Mezvinsky, and no one who was there has adduced the slightest evidence that Clinton’s behavior was anything other than proper.")
The article, all nearly 10,000 words of it, which jumps around from his presidency and his scandals to his new sources of income and his role in his wife's campaign, can be summed up in this way: "What’s the matter with him?" CONTINUED »
Though she scored a victory in Puerto Rico, what we'll take away from Hillary Clinton's weekend are photos like this one, and videos like the one at left.
Way to represent, New York.
The DNC's party’s rules committee agreed to seat the Florida and Michigan delegates at the national convention, but granted each delegate only half a vote. The ruling gives Hillary Clinton 34.5 delegate votes, and Barack Obama 29.5 votes. Covering the 10-hour meeting, the New York Times' photographer Stephen Crowley captured this moment: "Alice Huffman, a member of the D.N.C.’s Rules and Bylaws Committee tried to console Kim Frederick of Houston, who shouted at the committee following the ruling."
And by the framing of her lower lip underneath her front teeth, you can imagine what she was about to shout.
The real victim of Scott McClellan's bombshell book? Not the Bush White House, which has always lived inside its own bubble and rendered moot any criticism of its policies. Rather, it's Hillary Clinton, who would really like to remind you that she's still running for president.
Ahhhh. So this is why the presidential candidates aren't exactly pleased with news networks sending "embeds" – campaign reporters armed with video cameras and a broadband link back to HQ – to cover their every move: Because they post videos of Hillary Clinton drinking and dancing to Enrique Iglesias' "Just Want to Be With You." [FNC] This will go nicely with Barack Obama's yet-to-surface sing-a-long to "Baby Got Back."
BACKLASH For allowing Republican operative Alex Castellanos to argue on its airwaves that it's civil to call Hillary Clinton a "white bitch," CNN gets the honor of a call for complaints. [Clinton Democrats]
GOP consultant Alex Castellanos believes it's acceptable to call Hillary Clinton a "white bitch," but, unfairly, he says, there's no equivalent for Barack Obama. [HP]
Is Obama a "black dick"? Or is this debate even worth having, given that it's prompted by Mr. Castellanos, the force behind the race-baiting "Hands" ad used by Jesse Helms in defeating black opponent Harvey Gantt?
