You Say Tomato Sarah Palin Says Tomato

You can't make this stuff up. Politico, is featuring an article entirely devoted to none other then Governor Sarah Palin's accent:

Not since John F. Kennedy’s Boston brogue took the stage at the 1960 presidential debates has a national politician’s tongue stood out in such a way.....

Palin, who was born in Idaho and whisked away to Alaska in her infancy, somehow developed a voice well-suited for a character on “The Prairie Home Companion.”

“It’s very Fargo,” said former McCain campaign strategist Mark McKinnon. “Ton of personality."

At a time of economic uncertainty, a dual war aboard and perhaps the most important presidential election in 40 years....these character driven articles continue to take center stage. This narrative further fuels the shoddy election coverage based on personality and quirks that has been dominating the political atmosphere.

The article goes on to talk about who likes are accent and who doesn't and why. Ahh the media doing what it does best, educating the voters on the issues.

Appearences Trump Policy

Yesterday when I was watching the cable news morning news coverage. It was no surprise that they continued to talk about the debates and their ensuing narratives....

On MSNBC's Morning Joe, Host Joe Scarborough tried to talk about McCain's "temperament" at every possible point he could, going on to say "he looked like that angry grandfather at dinner."
It was truly absurd how many comments he made about his age.
Joe Scarborough t was about temperament.."he looked like that angry grandfather at dinner."

Pat Buchanan, co-host of Morning Joe (and GOPer who ran an unsuccessful bid for president) went on to discuss how it really came down to "atmospherics." And in the end, Buchanan said Obama came across as a much nicer guy, "like Bush was in 2000." Whew, I don't know if Obama would see that as much of a compliment being compared to Bush, although the man did win two elections.

Later discussion summed up the event as "dull" and having very few "memorable moments."

Um...policy discussion..anyone?

FOX Text-Message Poll Declares McCain Winner... Ten Minutes Into Debate?

According to Media Matters, a poll conducted by FOX News on Friday was not exactly, as Fox would say, "fair and balanced." Following the presidential debate on Friday, Hannity & Colmes co-host Hannity declared McCain the winner of the debate with 82% of votes in his favor (Or in his own words "82% are correct").

But here is what Hannity forgot to mention:

But during Fox News' broadcast of the presidential debate, an on-screen graphic invited viewers to vote on "who [they] thought won" the debate as early as 9:12 p.m. ET, 10 minutes after the candidates began responding to the moderator's questions.

Interestingly in 2007, Hannity dismissed text message polls as being silly. Apparently they are only valid when they work in his favor. Thank heavens FOX is "fair and balanced."

Bailout Rejected..Stocks plunge...

The house rejected the $700 billion bailout by just 23 votes. Republicans said no to the vote at a 2-1 ration, with 100 democrats joining them.With a month and a half to election day, its no suprise that republicans did not want their name on a bailout plan that would have been the single largest bailout in government history. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), a major proponent of the bill, urged the public and financial markets to "calm down" because there is no obvious "path forward." Not exactly words of comfort for a nation in the middle of economic uncertainty.

David Rogers of Politco Writes:

Calm was nowhere to be found on Wall Street or on Capitol Hall. The Dow Jones Industrials Average was down more than 600 points at one point, and the House chamber turned into a scene of chaos and confusion after a tumultuous and emotional vote.

It appeared that politics were ever present during this vote, apparently politicians are unable to put aside political ambitions in a time of public nee.

Rogers continues:


“We delivered our votes,” Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) said.

"I guess the Republican leadership is so weak John Boehner couldn't deliver 50 percent of the votes,” sneered Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) “I thought these were big boys."

Republicans said Pelosi may have lost votes with a floor speech they considered too partisan. "We could have gotten it if it were not for this partisan speech that Speaker Pelosi gave,” Boehner said.

Added Rep. Chris Shays, a Connecticut Republican who also voted for the bill: “Nancy blew it.”

"That is an absurd accusation at a time when our country is in deep economic distress," a Pelosi spokesman fired back."You don't vote on a speech, you vote on a bill."

UPDATE: DOW falls over 700 points

Market Overview

Dow10,365.45-777.68

Nasdaq1,983.73-199.61

S&P 5001,106.42-106.85

DEBATE: Obama Accuses McCain of Corporate Ties

In the debate the other night I was struck by Obama's comment about how McCain has supported policies that support corporate interests. Obviously, this is the democratic party platform, but what is ironic to me is that both Obama and Biden have been either assisted by or supported corporate interests. This is what Obama said in the Friday debate:

"Now, we also have to recognize that this is a final verdict on eight years of failed economic policies promoted by George Bush, supported by Senator McCain, a theory that basically says that we can shred regulations and consumer protections and give more and more to the most, and somehow prosperity will trickle down."

Joe Biden, is known for being very cozy with the Credit Card companies, since Delaware is home to many of them. Biden, was a driving force and one of the few democrats who supported with credit-card companies efforts to make it harder for people to declare bankruptcy.
was one of the few Democrats who sided with credit-card companies that were trying to make it harder for people to declare bankruptcy. It was also revealed several months ago that his son was a consultant for MBNA, a Delaware-based credit-card company. So I ask, is it possible that Biden is also a supporter of "trickle down" prosperity, supporting big business at the expense of the people? In this time of financial uncertainty, why is no one talking about Biden's support of credit-card companies and anti-bankruptcy laws?

Barack Obama's corporate interests are directly linked to his walled... check out this headline from the NYT's from July 16, 2007:
"Obama Donations Show Strong Wall Street Support"

Among those supporters are Richard S. Fuld Jr., the chief executive of the now disgraced Lehman Brothers, (who some are speculating is largely to blame in the scheme of the economic crisis), Employees of Lehman Brothers, Merill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and J.P Morgan Chase.
Also donating heavily, Former Merill Lynch CEO, Stanley O 'Neal.

I smell Hypocrisy

Reporters Left in the Dark?

So, over tha past couple of day the media has been rampant about the medias overuse of representing presidential candidates in narratives, letting personality take center stage of the political stage. Now, a Politico article is saying that Obama and Biden's campaign has sidelined more journalists "in the 2008 campaign than any [other] in generations," sealing them off from "any meaningful access." It seems both Obama and McCain are guilty of being un-chummy with the reporters as of late. I guess this means no more jokes and casual beers, no wonder journalists are so unhappy:

Politico says:

"Not only do the reporters have little interaction with the candidates, but increasingly they are having little impact on the broad campaign narratives and daily story lines that supply most voters with their impressions of the candidates."

"McCain has not spoken to the press corps that follows him in five weeks, or invited national reporters onto his bus in more than two months"

An Ode to Cariatures

A 2007 piece from Vanity Fair on Al Gore turned up an interesting tidbit from Dan Rather:

"Particularly in presidential elections … we in the press tend to deal in caricatures," says Dan Rather, who was then anchoring for CBS. "Someone draws a caricature, and it's funny and at least whimsical. And at first you sort of say, 'Aw shucks, that's too simple.' In the course of the campaign, that becomes accepted wisdom." He notes, "I do not except myself from this criticism."

Hmm...lets think of some examples...

The Howard Dean Scream
HRC's Cleavage, Crying, Laugh
Palin's lipstick
Bush the beer drinking chummy frat guy

Even the Style Guy Gets IT

In April, Tom Shales, the WaPo's Style Editor, wrote an editorial on the debacle that was the ABC Democratic debate. Over fifty minutes of the two-hour debate resorted to "specious and gossipy trivia" dished out Ad nauseam by Stephanopoulos and Gibson.

The below quote sure sounds a lot like the past couple of days of September 2008:

"But candor is dangerous in a national campaign, what with network newsniks waiting for mistakes or foul-ups like dogs panting for treats after performing a trick. The networks' trick is covering an election with as little emphasis on issues as possible, then blaming everyone else for failing to focus on "the issues."

Google Controversy

Do not know if this makes me laugh makes me nauseous but when I googled "controversy" the first 'related search' term that came up was "Lipstick Controversy."

Try It.

Controversy v. Falsehood

Exceptional Article from the Atlantic's James Fallows from nearly a week ago, catching on to the obvious before the Mainstream Media:

"Twice in the last six months we've had the spectacle of a candidate clinging to a provably false personal narrative........
One, of course, was Hillary Clinton's "hail of bullets" account of her arrival at the airport in Bosnia. The other is Sarah Palin's "thanks but no thanks" claim to have opposed funding for the "bridge to nowhere." In Senator Clinton's case, the more often she repeated the story, the more relentlessly the press said the story was not true. All parts of the press did this: right, left, middle. They didn't say that there was a "controversy" about her story. They said it was false. And eventually she bowed to the inevitable and stopped telling the story any more. In Governor Palin's case, the more often she has repeated the story, the more abashed the press has seemed about pointing out its falsity."

Remember Folks, Politics is a Game

Lowry of RealClearPolitics.com writes:

The media have made it gospel that McCain is attacking Obama dishonestly. Of course, campaign advertisements are the last place to look for a dispassionate rendition of the facts. McCain's ads are no different. But they are no worse than Obama's spots.

When Obama distorted a McCain remark about staying in Iraq for 100 years -- if we were taking no casualties -- into an endorsement of endless war, the media generally tsk-tsked that McCain should be more careful about what he says.

McCain has been getting a lot of slack from the Media about misconstruing remarks and facts about Obama's stance on taxes amongst other things. What this article is a good reminder of is that this is politics, this is a game, and one that both Obama and McCain both know that a little cheating may mean a big win come November.

The Uncritical Media

Today six of the nine stories appearing on the main page of MediaMatters.org talk about how the media was either "uncritical" or has failed to refute political claims made by both parties.

I've been noticing the same things. Yesterday on CNN at around 7:30am one of Anchors did not question McCain on claims that Palin was against the bridge to nowhere and that she has always been against pork barrel and earmarks. The claims went unchecked because it was time to go to commercial break.

McCain on 'Exceptional' America

Also, during the National Presidential Forum at Columbia University on Public Service...

Moderator Judy Woodruff asked McCain point blank, "Are Americans better than people in some of these other countries? " McCain, answered 'yes' without having to actually say the three-letter word:

McCain: "We're the only nation I know in the world that really is deeply concerned about adhering to the principle that all of us are created equal and endowed by our creators with certain rights. And those we have tried to bring to the world. And we have not so much militarily, but through example, through leadership, through economic assistance."

I admire McCain's ability to answer the question so democratically, trying not to offend the billions of non-Americans and the millions of ethinc Americans (many dual identities and loyalties) while still letting Americans know his deep sense of pride, honor and of course, patriotism.

But, does McCain relly believe we are the only nation in which all of "us are created equal"? (or rather, treated equally?) How about the Mexican immigrants in his very own Arizona? Or the countless African Americans whose votes were disenfranchised during the 2000 election?

The real zinger is that McCain thinks we have helped spread equality to other nations "not so much military, but through example" First of all, is it just me or does this sound like a throwback to imperialism? Beyond that, this statement sounds like something George W. would say that would end of on "The Daily Show." The point being, the military and use of force is the main way the United States has tried to impose its beliefs of equality and democracy to other countries. And look how well we have done in Korea, Vietnam, the former USSR Countries and today in Iraq. If you take McCain's words out of context, I'd have to agree that military we have not accomplished much....

Three cheers for Judy Woodruff for asking the question.

McCain at Columbia Forum

This McCain line truly irked me the other night while I was watching the Presidential National Forum at Columbia University at Columbia University on Sept. 11th (see bold):

MCCAIN: I think a small-town mayor has very great responsibilities. They have a responsibility for the budget. They have hiring and firing of people. They have great responsibilities. They have to stand for election. I admire mayors.

I'm -- listen, mayors have the toughest job, I think, in America. It's easy for me to go to Washington and, frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.

Understandably, McCain is sticking up for his VP choice Sarah Palin. However what struck me about this line, is it almost McCain admitting he is detached from his constituiency and wrapped up in his Washington bubble--presumably the same Washington he is running a campaign -in vain- to distance himself from. This line lends itself more to video, when he was saying it I was struck by the shear truth of it.

Here is the Link to Part 1 of McCain at the Forum

Fey Does Palin

This SNL skit could not be funnier.....Tiny Fey is a dead-wringer for Sarah Palin.

The Politics of Pringles..Once You Start You Just Can't Stop

A common theme in the political horserace is how journalists like to blame the rest of the media for the proliferation of commentary they deem unjounralistic...when in fact by commenting on it (okay, I am guilty of this too) they just spread the story even further. Here is Mark Halperin of TIME's The Page, talking about his distate for the Palin lipstick coverage while unknowingly spreading the McCain message even more.


From MediaMatters.org:

On the September 9 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, Time magazine senior political analyst Mark Halperin characterized the recent media attention to Sen. Barack Obama's comment that "[y]ou can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig" as "a low point in the day ... and one of the low days of our collective coverage of this campaign."
Halperin also asserted: "Stop the madness. I mean, this is, I think -- with all due respect to the program's focus on this and to what [CNN senior political analyst] David [Gergen] just said -- I think this is the press just absolutely playing into the McCain campaign's crocodile tears."
http://mediamatters.org/items/200809100007?f=h_top



Flashback to 2007 and the Edwards/Haircut story that was like a bad haircut, no matter how you tried to fix it and cover it was gonna take weeks to go away. Here is an article from Eric Alterman on the medias coverage of the Hair Debacle:

"Then there are the haircuts. You won't be surprised to hear that the fact that John Edwards got a couple of expensive haircuts has generated, according to Lexis/Nexis, about a thousand "news" stories. I can't say I've read many of them, but I'd be amazed if any proved more ridiculous than the 1,220-word "investigation" by the Post's John Solomon, who notes, "It is some kind of commentary on the state of American politics that as Edwards has campaigned for president, vice president and now president again, his hair seems to have attracted as much attention as, say, his position on health care." "
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071001/alterman

Wasilla Resident Speaks Out

Interesting letter being circulated by Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla, Alaska resident

Interesting that Palin ran for Mayor of Wasilla and Governor of Alaska as a'fiscal conservative.' And boy did she ever, she fit the model perfectly: wasting and spending money under the cloak of cutting taxes and saving the common people money!

The Following Quotes are from a letter being circulated by Anne Kilkenny, a Wasilla, Alaska resident who has claims to have known Palin since 1992:
http://www.andrys.com/palin-kilkenny.html

"The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administrationweren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowedmoney was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left itwith indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encouragethe voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she saidshe supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or anew library? No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of amulti-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a pieceof property that the City didn’t even have clear title to. "

And in case you were wondering....

"While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her officeredecorated more than once."

According to TheNation:
She is, as well, someone who has clashed with Palin. More than a decade ago, when Palin was campaigning to ban books, Kilkenny says, "I was one of the 100 or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah's attempt at censorship."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/354444/the_word_from_wasilla

What a Tease

"The campaigns are going hogwhile lets get inside the bellies of these political beasts," Wolf Blitzer teasing a story on Palin, lipstick and pitbulls on CNN.
Really, Wolf?
Enough already.

So is it the Media or the Politicians

Today on MSNBC, conflicting POV's from D.C. Bureau Chief Mark Whitaker and Political Director Chuck Todd as they try and figure out who is driving all the McCain-Palin driven hype.

On Lipstick, Obama and Palin:

Whitaker: .... how good the McCain campaign is at hand-to-hand combat, at basically driving the news cycle day after day.

Todd: Said the story was "a faux controversy" and that the media had "taken the bait on this lipstick thing" which he called "a joke" and "laughable."

To read the story: http://mediamatters.org/items/200809100029?f=h_top#

Rachel Maddow in Ithaca!

Policy lady extraordinaire and newest MSNBC prime time host is coming to Ithaca's State Street Theatre this Friday to host her radio show live. Could Maddow have picked a better crowd for her lefty ways then Ithaca? Probably not.

Oh, and the event is free!

INFO
The Rachel Maddow Radio Show
Live from the State Theatre, Ithaca
Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
6:00-9:00pm

First Blog....Ever

Just set up the blog....
Took me a while to think about the name but I thought "Media Political Love Affair" was quite appropriate in the case of this blog (Pun's obviously are intended..). I will be using this blog to take a look at the symbiotic and often codependent relationship between the media and the politicians they cover. I will be blogging analysis, thoughts and some funny things of course with the eventual goal of you and I coming to a better understanding of politics, the media and how they work together during in an election season!

Spoiler Alert: Who won the 2008 election! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3773535410295454636&ei=kd7GSMzhJ4GUrwLb29TlDg&q=election&vt=lf