CBS Showcases Republicans Upset by 'Ugly and Nasty' McCain --10/29/2008

1. CBS Showcases Republicans Upset by 'Ugly and Nasty' McCain
In a Tuesday night look at the battle for Pennsylvania, the CBS Evening News chose to check how, anchor Katie Couric reported, voters in the Keystone state "are doing some last-minute soul-searching." The story showcased husband and wife "registered Republicans" who are upset by what reporter Jeff Glor characterized as McCain's "overwhelmingly negative" TV ads. The husband, who conceded he'll be voting for Obama, declared: "I just don't think it's necessary to be that ugly and that nasty against the opponent." His wife concurred: "I think it actually hurts their cause rather than helps it when they're negative like that. At least for me it does." She described herself as "in the middle, but I'm leaning slightly towards McCain."

2. NBC's Ron Mott Boasts Texas 'Surprisingly Competitive' for Obama!
Well the media have officially gotten cocky when they start predicting that the reddest of red states could be in play for Barack Obama, and that's precisely what NBC's Ron Mott did on Tuesday's Today show, when he cheered that Texas "may be surprisingly competitive." In a report on early voting, Mott noted the long lines for those willing to participate in early voting and celebrated: "So far Democratic voters appear to be the ones most willing to wait, and that could spell good news for Senator Barack Obama who's encouraged supporters, including his legion of newly registered young voters, to take advantage of early voting in 32 states and they've answered the call."

3. CBS: McCain Still Attacking Obama, Palin Still 'Drag' on Ticket
At the top of Tuesday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Jeff Glor portrayed Barack Obama as the victim of John McCain's attacks: "Meanwhile, the campaigns were making their closing arguments, with special emphasis on the arguing part...John McCain backers have launched an array of new attacks on Barack Obama, including more robocalls." Glor then skipped over any of Obama's robocalls and instead declared: "The Obama campaign's relentless responses come quickly." Glor then played a clip of the "response": "John McCain wants to tear Barack Obama down, with scare tactics and smears." Following Glor's report, co-host Maggie Rodriguez discussed the candidates' chances in Pennsylvania with former Republican Governor Tom Ridge and current Democratic Governor Ed Rendell. Rodriguez began by asking Ridge: "Last week you said that you thought that McCain would be faring much better in your state had he chosen you as a running mate. Sarah Palin certainly is trying really hard, she's been there 11 times, four more times today. Do you think she's been a drag on the ticket in your state?"

4. NPR Ignores Obama's 2001 Interview with Chicago Public Radio
Although the audio that emerged of Sen. Barack Obama lamenting the lack of "redistributive change" came from an interview he did with Chicago Public Radio, National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered on Monday as well as Morning Edition on Tuesday completely ignored the audiotape of Obama's 2001 interview.

5. Washington Week Panel Offers Double Standard on Biden vs. Palin
Jeanne Cummings, a former political reporter for the Wall Street Journal who now works at the Politico, displayed an obvious double standard in her appearance on Friday night's Washington Week show on PBS. Joe Biden's prediction that a President Obama would be tested quickly with an international crisis was worth dismissing, since it came so late in the campaign, after Obama had already convinced many voters he was a capable leader. But the RNC buying "pricey togs" for Sarah Palin was a political disaster that completely undermined her just-folks appeal. It showed "a huge disconnect. And it has the risk of robbing her of the real strength that she had brought to the campaign."

6. Editor of Time on Fawning Obama Coverage: Media Will Regret This
Editor at large of Time magazine Mark Halperin, the former political director for ABC News who now runs Time's "The Page" blog, appeared on Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe and admitted "mistakes have been made" in regard to the media's coverage of Barack Obama and that "people will regret it." Analyzing the fawning press that the Democratic presidential candidate has received, he added: "If Obama wins and goes on to become a hugely successful President, I think, still, people will look back and say it just wasn't done the right way." Joe Scarborough, host of Morning Joe, prompted the brief discussion when he opened the MSNBC program by declaring: "But I got to say this, the media, the media has been really, really biased this campaign, I think." He then asked Halperin if journalists are "just in love with history?" Halperin candidly responded: "History and the story is just- it's great for us. It's been great for us. He's a great story." He then went on to make his "mistakes have been made" quip, prompting Scarborough to burst out laughing.

7. Politico: No Bias, But 80% of Journalists Will Vote for Obama
John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei were important players on the Washington Post's political team when they left to start The Politico newspaper and Web site. But they don't think that most "mainstream" reporters are liberals or partisans. Now they've written an article provocatively titled "Why McCain Is Getting Hosed by the Press," noting their own mothers think the media's in the tank for Obama. Harris and VandeHei declared: "OK, let's just get this over with: Yes, in the closing weeks of this election, John McCain and Sarah Palin are getting hosed in the press, and at Politico." But to critics, they can only say: "Our sincere answer is that of the factors driving coverage of this election -- and making it less enjoyable for McCain to read his daily clip file than for Obama -- ideological favoritism ranks virtually nil." Yet they made the "educated guess" that "Obama will win the votes of probably 80 percent or more of journalists covering the 2008 election."

CBS Showcases Republicans Upset by 'Ugly
and Nasty' McCain

In a Tuesday night look at the battle for Pennsylvania, the CBS Evening News chose to check how, anchor Katie Couric reported, voters in the Keystone state "are doing some last-minute soul-searching." The story showcased husband and wife "registered Republicans" who are upset by what reporter Jeff Glor characterized as McCain's "overwhelmingly negative" TV ads. The husband, who conceded he'll be voting for Obama, declared: "I just don't think it's necessary to be that ugly and that nasty against the opponent." His wife concurred: "I think it actually hurts their cause rather than helps it when they're negative like that. At least for me it does." She described herself as "in the middle, but I'm leaning slightly towards McCain."

Glor began with how the Allentown-area couple, "Rick, 50, and Jane, 45, are registered Republicans, though Rick especially believes he has reason to cross party lines." He explained: "In 2006 and again just this year, I've been laid off from two different jobs, and I look at it, and it's all happened under the current party."

[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of the story on the Tuesday, October 28 CBS Evening News:

KATIE COURIC: It's precisely because Virginia is becoming friendlier to the Democrats that Senator McCain, as Dean [Reynolds] just mentioned, is so desperate to win Pennsylvania. The latest poll there shows him trailing Senator Obama by nine points [50-41]. But as Jeff Glor reports, voters are doing some last-minute soul-searching in that battleground state.

JEFF GLOR: It's game night inside the Kline household near Allentown, but picking a President this year is the real contest.
JANE KLINE, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: This is probably the one that stands out the most as far as being undecided.
GLOR: Both Rick, 50, and Jane, 45, are registered Republicans, though Rick especially believes he has reason to cross party lines.
RICK KLINE, PENNSYLVANIA VOTER: In 2006 and again just this year, I've been laid off from two different jobs, and I look at it, and it's all happened under the current party.
GLOR: Even though John McCain is behind here and this state hasn't voted Republican in a presidential election since 1988, the McCain campaign has come to believe that Pennsylvania is essential.
CHRISTOPHER BORICK, MUHLENBERG COLLEGE: It seems almost inevitable that the McCain campaign is going to lose some western states. And if they can somehow offset those losses with wins in Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes, it really does give them the chance that they're hoping for.
GLOR: McCain has spent six days here in the past two weeks, and Obama's noticed, launching a two-day swing this week and bringing in Bill Clinton tomorrow.
CLIP OF AD: He's out of ideas.
GLOR: While McCain is being outspent on TV ads, the commercials he is running are overwhelmingly negative.
ANNOUNCER IN McCain AD SHOWING A CLIP OF BARACK OBAMA: Risky.
ANNOUNCER OVER CLIP OF JOHN MCCAIN: Proven.
MAN #1 IN AD: I'm supposed to work harder-
MAN #2 IN AD: -just to pay more taxes?
BORICK; They roll the dice here. They roll the dice in making a negative campaign and so far the results simply don't show that it's beared any fruit.
RICK KLINE: I just don't think it's necessary to be that ugly and that nasty against the opponent.
JANE KLINE: I think it actually hurts their cause rather than helps it when they're negative like that. At least for me it does.
GLOR: That said, she's still likely voting Republican.
JANE KLINE: I'm in the middle, but I'm leaning slightly towards McCain.
GLOR: Her husband likely not.
RICK KLINE: Obama most likely.
GLOR: A split decision here as John McCain keeps swinging for a last chance late round knockout. Jeff Glor, CBS News, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

NBC's Ron Mott Boasts Texas 'Surprisingly
Competitive' for Obama!

In a report on early voting, Mott noted the long lines for those willing to participate in early voting and celebrated: "So far Democratic voters appear to be the ones most willing to wait, and that could spell good news for Senator Barack Obama who's encouraged supporters, including his legion of newly registered young voters, to take advantage of early voting in 32 states and they've answered the call."

Then a little later, before throwing it back to Today anchor Meredith Vieira, Mott concluded the story with this overly confident observation: "Polls here in Texas give Senator McCain a relatively comfortable advantage but Democrats are nonetheless optimistic. They point to record turnout that we've seen so far, and a record number of registered voters, 13.5 million, as two signs perhaps that Texas may be surprisingly competitive this time next week. Meredith?"

[This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Tuesday morning, on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

The following is the full story as it was aired on the October 28 Today show:

MEREDITH VIEIRA: While Election Day is seven days away millions of Americans have cast their ballots already in the states where you are allowed to vote early, but since this election is drawing so much interest even early voters are being forced to hurry up and wait. NBC's Ron Mott is at a polling station in San Antonio, Texas with more. Ron, good morning.
[On screen headline: "Can't Hardly Wait, Early Voters Head to Polls"]
RON MOTT: Hey there, Meredith. Good morning to you. Look there are no lines here just yet. That's because this polling station won't open until late, a little bit later this morning. We have seen very long lines across this country. And when all the votes are counted, turnout, much like the results of this presidential election could be historic. In Florida the lines snaked up to five hours long.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I think finally America has woken up and we're here to make a difference.
MOTT: In Georgia-
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: It's been about two hours and it's been long and hot and hungry.
MOTT: About a million people have braved waits as long as four hours. And in Colorado.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN IN CAR: Can I drop my ballot?
POLL WORKER: You sure can!
MOTT: Drive by voting is a welcome time saver in a state where 80 percent of voters polled expect to cast ballots before Election Day.
UNIDENTIFIED EXPERT: I think it's gonna be the largest voter turnout in the history of the state of Colorado.
MOTT: Such high turnout for early voting is raising questions about just how long the lines will be next Tuesday and whether some voters will give up, possibly altering the outcome.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN#3: Today I just made up my mind I was gonna stay, regardless of what the line was because I need to vote.
MOTT: So far Democratic voters appear to be the ones most willing to wait, and that could spell good news for Senator Barack Obama-
BARACK OBAMA: All of you should be casting your votes early.
MOTT: -who's encouraged supporters, including his legion of newly registered young voters, to take advantage of early voting in 32 states and they've answered the call. Democrats have cast more than twice the number of early ballots as Republicans in North Carolina, which has voted for Republican presidential candidates in seven straight elections, a streak now in jeopardy.
UNIDENTIFIED POLL WORKER#2: Thanks a lot for voting early.
MOTT: Same story in hotly contested Nevada, and in New Mexico which George W. Bush carried four years ago, Democrats hold a 69 to 31 percentage lead.
JOHN MCCAIN: Now let's go win this election and get this country moving again!
MOTT: But John McCain appears to be getting more favorable turnout in two key battleground states, Colorado and Florida, where Republicans and Democrats are running neck and neck. Polls here in Texas give Senator McCain a relatively comfortable advantage but Democrats are nonetheless optimistic. They point to record turnout that we've seen so far, and a record number of registered voters, 13.5 million, as two signs perhaps that Texas may be surprisingly competitive this time next week. Meredith.
VIEIRA: Alright Ron Mott, thanks very much.

CBS: McCain Still Attacking Obama, Palin
Still 'Drag' on Ticket

At the top of Tuesday's CBS Early Show, correspondent Jeff Glor portrayed Barack Obama as the victim of John McCain's attacks: "Meanwhile, the campaigns were making their closing arguments, with special emphasis on the arguing part...John McCain backers have launched an array of new attacks on Barack Obama, including more robocalls." Glor then skipped over any of Obama's robocalls and instead declared: "The Obama campaign's relentless responses come quickly." Glor then played a clip of the "response": "John McCain wants to tear Barack Obama down, with scare tactics and smears." Following Glor's report, co-host Maggie Rodriguez discussed the candidates' chances in Pennsylvania with former Republican Governor Tom Ridge and current Democratic Governor Ed Rendell. Rodriguez began by asking Ridge: "Last week you said that you thought that McCain would be faring much better in your state had he chosen you as a running mate. Sarah Palin certainly is trying really hard, she's been there 11 times, four more times today. Do you think she's been a drag on the ticket in your state?"

Ridge responded by correcting Rodriguez's mis-characterization of his comments: "Well, first of all, I said that Senator McCain chose a vice presidential candidate not to win one state, but someone who had appeal across the board in all fifty states. It would be like saying would Senator Obama be doing even better in Pennsylvania if he had Ed Rendell as a running mate, I suspect he would."

[This item, by the MRC's Kyle Drennen, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

In contrast, Rodriguez asked Rendell if Obama would be a victim of rascism: "...polls show in the state that Barack Obama has a commanding lead there. But there's been a lot of talk about race in this race, especially on election day. Do you believe that race was a factor when your friend Hillary Clinton won the primary there? And do you think it'll be a factor one week from today?" Meanwhile, the Early Show did not report on comments made by Pennsylvania Democratic Congressman John Murtha, who referred to western Pennsylvania voters as racist.

Rodriguez turned back to Ridge and asked: "...yesterday Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens was convicted on corruption, do you think that this will at all effect the McCain-Palin race?" At the very end of the segment, Rendell picked up on Rodriguez's first question to Ridge, remarking: "And Tom Ridge should've been the vice presidential choice, he's too modest to say."

Following Rodriguez's interview with Ridge and Rendell, she turned to correspondent Bill Plante, who reported on McCain's chances: "Now, most polls have John McCain down anywhere from 3 to 13 points, a week before election day. Now McCain has been counted out before and comeback, but can do it? What are his chances by next Tuesday?" Plante got analysis from American University professor James Thurber, who explained: "It's rare at this stage, 8 days out, that candidates will come from behind and win."

While Thurber and Plante cited some recent historical examples of political comebacks, Plante concluded the segment by observing: "But this year, early voting means that the choices of millions of voters are already locked in." Thurber added: "If some event occurs in the next 8 days to help McCain, he may still lose, because a whole lot of people have already voted for Obama." Plante continued: "And there's another problem, there aren't that many undecided voters left, maybe 5%. So a McCain comeback is possible, but it would take a very large swing of already committed voters."

Here is the full transcript of Glor's report and Rodriguez's interview:

7:00AM TEASE:
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: Seven days to go and the race intensifies.
JOHN MCCAIN: Senator Obama's running to be redistributionist-in-chief, I'm running to be commander-in-chief.
RODRIGUEZ: We'll take you to the one state that could decide it all.

7:01AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: Alright, let's get right to our top story this morning, we're now in the home stretch, election day one week from today. The final push for both John McCain and Barack Obama centers on key battleground states, most noticeably, Pennsylvania. Early Show national correspondent Jeff Glor is in Hershey, Pennsylvania with more this morning. Good morning, Jeff.
JEFF GLOR: Harry, good morning to you. And your right, this state is turning out to be hugely important, maybe even more so for John McCain. He'll be in Hershey today here, while Barack Obama's only a couple hours away, outside Philadelphia. As both candidates begin a final week of campaigning, there was the news that two self-described white supremacists in Tennessee were arrested and charged in a scheme to assassinate Barack Obama and murder dozens of African American students. A plot Obama addressed on camera.
BARACK OBAMA: You know, look, I think what's been striking in this campaign is the degree to which these kinds of hate groups have been completely marginalized, that's not who America is, that's not what our future is.
GLOR: Meanwhile, the campaigns were making their closing arguments, with special emphasis on the arguing part.
JOHN MCCAIN: Senator Obama's running to be redistributionist-in-chief, I'm running to be commander-in-chief.
OBAMA: The plain truth is, is that John McCain has stood with George Bush every step of the way.
GLOR: John McCain backers have launched an array of new attacks on Barack Obama, including more robocalls.

[CLIP OF MCCAIN ROBOCALL]
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Obama and Democrats' politics endanger American lives. They are not qualified to lead our military and our country.

GLOR: The Obama campaign's relentless responses come quickly.

[CLIP OF OBAMA AD]
UNIDENTIFIED MAN B: John McCain wants to tear Barack Obama down, with scare tactics and smears.

GLOR: But while the two men's messages do not cover the same ground, their feet do.

OBAMA: Pittsburgh I've got two words for you, one week.
GLOR: Both are running laps around the rust belt.
MCCAIN: Let's start out with the message tonight we need to win Pennsylvania and we're going to win Pennsylvania.
GLOR: And for McCain, no state is getting more attention than Pennsylvania, where he's behind. Just look at the numbers, from the day each clinched their nomination, McCain has spent 25 days in Pennsylvania, Obama 7. Sarah Palin's been here 11 times since joining the ticket, Joe Biden, 6. Seemingly bracing for the possibility that they may lose some of the states that George Bush won four years ago, the McCain campaign believes that snatching Pennsylvania's 21 electoral votes could make up the difference and provide them a narrow uphill path to victory. Maggie.

RODRIGUEZ: CBS's Jeff Glor, thank you, Jeff. It's time now for a little 'R & R' as in Ridge and Rendell, two men hard at work trying to deliver Pennsylvania to their candidates. In Hershey, campaigning with Senator McCain, is former Republican Governor Tom Ridge, and in Philadelphia, current Governor Ed Rendell, a Democrat. Good morning, Governors.
ED RENDELL: Good morning.
RODRIGUEZ: Governor Ridge let me-
TOM RIDGE: Morning, Maggie. Morning, Ed.
RODRIGUEZ: Good morning. Let me begin with you Governor Ridge. Last week you said that you thought that McCain would be faring much better in your state had he chosen you as a running mate. Sarah Palin certainly is trying really hard, she's been there 11 times, four more times today. Do you think she's been a drag on the ticket in your state?
RIDGE: Well, first of all, I said that Senator McCain chose a vice presidential candidate not to win one state, but someone who had appeal across the board in all fifty states. It would be like saying would Senator Obama be doing even better in Pennsylvania if he had Ed Rendell as a running mate, I suspect he would. So at the end of the day, it's really not about vice presidential candidates, it's about presidential candidates, and John McCain's record of reform, his record of bipartisanship, his willingness to bring fiscal discipline to Washington, and to cut taxes, is the message that resonates around Pennsylvania.
RODRIGUEZ: Governor Rendell, polls show in the state that Barack Obama has a commanding lead there. But there's been a lot of talk about race in this race, especially on election day. Do you believe that race was a factor when your friend Hillary Clinton won the primary there? And do you think it'll be a factor one week from today?
RENDELL: No and no. I think Hillary Clinton won the primary here because she ran a great campaign, appealed to Pennsylvanians everywhere, from the Philadelphia suburbs, which she carried, to the blue collar parts of coal mining areas. And I don't think it'll be a factor, if it ever was, and certainly some people might consider it, I said it might be a factor in some voters minds. I think the economy has trumped it. When the economy is this bad, people don't care what race, or religion, or ethnic background, or where the candidate comes from, they want to know what the candidate can do to get the economy revitalized. And Senator Obama's cool, collected, reasoned approach contrasted with Senator McCain, who's first opening was that the fundamentals of the economy are still sound. People shook their heads and said 'that guy just doesn't get it, Senator Obama does' and race ceased to become a factor. And that's when the polls went up dramatically for Senator Obama.
RODRIGUEZ: Governor Ridge, yesterday Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens was convicted on corruption, do you think that this will at all effect the McCain-Palin race?
RIDGE: Not -- absolutely not. I mean, at the end of the day, I think, Ed identified the issue that's going to drive much of the voting patterns throughout Pennsylvania and around the country, and that's the economy. And I think if you take a look particularly at a battleground state like Pennsylvania, they don't their political cars in the far left lane. I mean, I think on some of these issues, Senator Obama, as Senator Clinton pointed out, is probably even outside the mainstream of his own party, and if you get a President Obama with a Senator Reid and a Speaker Pelosi, and a vice president who says it's your patriotic duty to pay more taxes. I don't think Pennsylvanians think that they're under-taxed, I don't think they're prepared to pay more taxes and they certainly don't want a Supreme Court who -- with activist judges who take it upon their responsibility to bring economic justice with redistributing the wealth. The job is to create wealth, that's what presidents do, not to share it or redistribute it and I think John's plan focusing on the energy sector, giving incentives for small business, research and development tax credits, linking all those together to drive us out of this economic mess. As well as leading the world with an experienced man in the area of military and foreign policy, fighting the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The combination of an experience tested leader is exactly what Pennsylvanians are looking for-
RODRIGUEZ: Alright-
RIDGE: -and I suspect, will vote for, on election day.
RODRIGUEZ: Tom Ridge, Ed Rendell, we have to leave it there, at least you both agree on who should win the World Series, right?
RENDELL: And Tom-
RIDGE: Yes we do.
RENDELL: And Tom Ridge should've been the vice presidential choice, he's too modest to say.
RODRIGUEZ: Alright, thank you, Governors.

NPR Ignores Obama's 2001 Interview with
Chicago Public Radio

Although the audio that emerged of Sen. Barack Obama lamenting the lack of "redistributive change" came from an interview he did with Chicago Public Radio, National Public Radio's Morning Edition and All Things Considered on Monday as well as Morning Edition on Tuesday completely ignored the audiotape of Obama's 2001 interview.

During his campaign stop in Dayton, Ohio, Sen. John McCain specifically addressed the recently surfaced audio and even quoted Obama as saying, "One of the tragedies of the civil rights movement was because the civil rights movement became so court-focused I think that there was a tendency to lose track of the political and community organizing and activities on the ground that are able to put together the actual coalitions of power through which you bring about redistributive change."

Nevertheless, during Monday's All Things Considered report on McCain's campaigning in Ohio, there was no mention of the audiotape or of McCain using Obama's own words against him. Instead, the broadcast focused on McCain's argument that one party ruling the country would be disastrous.

[This item, by MRC intern Lyndsi Thomas, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog: newsbusters.org ]

Tuesday's Morning Edition story on McCain's speeches from the previous day did include a clip of the Arizona senator in which in he said, "That's the problem with Senator Obama's approach to our economy. He's more interested in controlling wealth than creating it. In redistributing money instead of spreading opportunity. I'm going to create wealth for all Americans by creating opportunity for all Americans." However, reporter Scott Horsley framed this as McCain merely continuing to use Joe the Plumber's exchange with Obama rather than the audiotape from 2001.

But, the Tuesday morning show did find the time to feature two newspaper cartoonists who joked about Sarah Palin's comments that you can see Russia from parts of Alaska and who also claimed that they, as cartoonists, were "dreading" Obama becoming president because he is difficult to mock, unlike our current president.

Washington Week Panel Offers Double Standard
on Biden vs. Palin

Jeanne Cummings, a former political reporter for the Wall Street Journal who now works at the Politico, displayed an obvious double standard in her appearance on Friday night's Washington Week show on PBS. Joe Biden's prediction that a President Obama would be tested quickly with an international crisis was worth dismissing, since it came so late in the campaign, after Obama had already convinced many voters he was a capable leader. But the RNC buying "pricey togs" for Sarah Palin was a political disaster that completely undermined her just-folks appeal. It showed "a huge disconnect. And it has the risk of robbing her of the real strength that she had brought to the campaign."

[This item, by the MRC's Tim Graham, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

There's a professional reason Cummings was so invested in the damage that story did: it was her story. But at what point does another journalist like Ifill ask: so, are you happy that you damaged her strength? Here's how the October 24 exchange happened:

CUMMINGS: It does seem like that Biden at some point was going to do this. He was going to go off message.
IFILL: The fact that he hasn't done it as much as anybody predicted-
CUMMINGS: That's remarkable. Yes. That's truly remarkable. So there he did it. He fell off message. But he did it at a more opportune time than they could have hoped. Because coming after the debates, when Obama had, in the polls, it indicates made a lot of progress in convincing voter sthat he would be a stable leader and a capable leader of it takes some of the edge off the power of the message that McCain now is trying to wrap all that around.
IFILL: We have to talk about the other unforced error, which was the Sarah Palin price tag, togs, the pricey togs, as they like to call them. Jeanne, you're just doing your job as a reporter, going through some campaign finance reports, and it says, Saks! Neiman's! Wonder who that's for? Why is it significant that she's got -- So much money was paid for her to dress well?
CUMMINGS: Well, it's never been done before. No candidate has had an entire wardrobe purchased for them. But what I think is really significant is that her strength was that she -- the whole hockey mom thing was working for her. She was connecting to voters in a pretty significant way with that. And they were -- to the degree they were holding on or making any ground or had a hope of breaking into these working class areas in Pennsylvania and elsewhere, it was through that message. And so to learn that she's wearing Neiman Marcus -- in a day spent $75,000, which is more than most of these people make in a year '€"
IFILL: It's more than she makes, actually. She makes 125,000 dollars.
CUMMINGS: The whole package certainly outdid. But that one purchase in Neiman Marcus was almost double what an average working class family, 40,000-ish might make. That's a huge disconnect. And it has the risk of robbing her of the real strength that she had brought to the campaign.

For Cummings's story in The Politico on the thousands the RNC spent on Palin's clothes, see the October 22, 2008 item, "RNC shells out $150K for Palin fashion," go to: www.politico.com

Ifill may have talked to Cummings before the show about how she just stumbled across this set of expenditures deep in a federal election report. But the viewer at home might suspect that the story was fed to her by the Democrats, which wouldn't take as much sleuthing.

When Ifill started assessing the Biden gaffe -- and played a snippet on the air -- she went to Washington Post reporter Shailagh Murray to discuss it, and she also quickly dismissed its impact as something that "didn't really take hold."

IFILL: What was he trying to say, Shailagh, in that little comment he made?
MURRAY: Well, I think he's trying to say that there are a lot of hot spots around the world and you never know what's going to happen, and that Senator Obama or whoever wins the presidency will be tested.
IFILL: Well, it wasn't whoever wins the presidency, it's this guy will be tested.
MURRAY: That's right. And it was a way for the McCain campaign to seize on the experience argument, something they forfeited when they added Sarah Palin to the ticket. It's a way to bring foreign policy back in the debate. Again, one of these message frustrations of the McCain campaign that -- I mean, this was an interesting comment to seize on. But it didn't really take hold.

Former Time reporter John Dickerson (now with the liberal website Slate) also underlined how this is a big problem for Palin, that as she loved the song "Redneck Woman" and said "thank you" to being called one, her clothes show a real disconnect.

Editor of Time on Fawning Obama Coverage:
Media Will Regret This

Editor at large of Time magazine Mark Halperin, the former political director for ABC News who now runs Time's "The Page" blog, appeared on Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe and admitted "mistakes have been made" in regard to the media's coverage of Barack Obama and that "people will regret it." Analyzing the fawning press that the Democratic presidential candidate has received, he added: "If Obama wins and goes on to become a hugely successful President, I think, still, people will look back and say it just wasn't done the right way."

Joe Scarborough, host of Morning Joe, prompted the brief discussion when he opened the MSNBC program by declaring: "But I got to say this, the media, the media has been really, really biased this campaign, I think." He then asked Halperin if journalists are "just in love with history?" Halperin candidly responded: "History and the story is just- it's great for us. It's been great for us. He's a great story." He then went on to make his "mistakes have been made" quip, prompting Scarborough to burst out laughing.

[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

Scarborough then proceeded to vaguely describe the type of journalists who have gushed over Obama. Without naming names, or explaining if he was talking about a fellow MSNBC host, the former Republican congressman explained:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: But there's certain white guys...that just barely missed the party in the civil rights movement. They're the late '50s, early to mid '60s. They wish they had been there with Brokaw, holding a, you know, being in Selma and all these other places. But they weren't. So, they seem to be the ones that are completely in the tank because they want to be a part of the history this time. They want- They want to help elect an African American president and they can put that on their, you know, bedpost.

A transcript of the exchange, which occurred at 6:01am EDT on October 28, 2008:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: But I got to say this, the media, the media has been really, really biased this campaign, I think. But it's not been a Republican/Democratic bias. It's 6:01 and I'm jumping right in. But, actually, I'm starting to have this conversation with other members of the media, who say, you know what? We may be- This may end up like 2002, 2003, where we weren't as tough as we should have been. Some hand wringing. But this- Hillary Clinton's campaign also complained that there was a lot of bias shown against her. Is the media just in love with history here, Mark, do you think?
MARK HALPERIN (Editor at large, Time): History and the story is just- it's great for us. It's been great for us. He's a great story. But I think, I think mistakes have been made and people- and people will regret it. [Joe laughs] You know, we talk- They will-
SCARBOROUGH: They will regret it. Because the media, it always blows up in the media's face.
HALPERIN: Even if he goes- If Obama wins and goes on to become a hugely successful president, I think, still, people will look back and say it just wasn't done the right way.
SCARBOROUGH: You know, in 2000, I actually was complaining that George W. Bush, even though I was for George W. Bush, as a Republican congressman at the time, I said to friends, why is the press giving Bush a free press on all of this stuff, but hammering Al Gore? It is usually- The bias is usually against Republicans, but sometimes it's against, like, an Al Gore in 2000 or a Hillary Clinton in 2008, 'cause Hillary, too, was running against history.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: I just don't think it was black and white and there was some insidious bias. I think there was a real vexing issue of an incredible story versus a guy who's been around for a long time and how to cover it, how much to cover it, how many pictures to show. I think it's vexing. I think it's very difficult.
SCARBOROUGH: I will tell, you, Willie, what is not vexing is the fact that there are certain white guys, I'm not going to name any names because we love them all, and they come this show and they give us good ratings. So, we love you all. But there's certain white guys- no, no, no older than Mr. Halperin and us, that just barely missed the party in the civil rights movement. They're the late '50s, early to mid '60s. They wish they had been there with Brokaw, holding a, you know, being in Selma and all these other places. But they weren't. So, they seem to be the ones that are completely in the tank because they want to be a part of the history this time. They want- They want to help elect an African American president and they can put that on their, you know, bedpost.

Politico: No Bias, But 80% of Journalists
Will Vote for Obama

John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei were important players on the Washington Post's political team when they left to start The Politico newspaper and Web site. But they don't think that most "mainstream" reporters are liberals or partisans. Now they've written an article provocatively titled "Why McCain Is Getting Hosed by the Press," noting their own mothers think the media's in the tank for Obama.

Harris and VandeHei declared: "OK, let's just get this over with: Yes, in the closing weeks of this election, John McCain and Sarah Palin are getting hosed in the press, and at Politico." But to critics, they can only say: "Our sincere answer is that of the factors driving coverage of this election -- and making it less enjoyable for McCain to read his daily clip file than for Obama -- ideological favoritism ranks virtually nil." Yet they made the "educated guess" that "Obama will win the votes of probably 80 percent or more of journalists covering the 2008 election."

[This item, by the MRC's Tim Graham, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

They proclaimed that reporters are far too professional to let their personality show: "The main reason is that for most journalists, professional obligations trump personal preferences. Most political reporters (investigative journalists tend to have a different psychological makeup) are temperamentally inclined to see multiple sides of a story, and being detached from their own opinions comes relatively easy."
This idea of Harris or VandeHei being "detached from their own opinions" has been challenged by their actual television appearances in this cycle. Harris just recently declared after the vice presidential debate on PBS that Joe Biden cleaned Sarah Palin's clock, that he was more substantive and spontaneous, while Palin was "hanging on for dear life." (He repeats that line in this article, so he's hardly detached from it.) VandeHei is easily remembered for one of the ugliest questions in the Republican primary debates in 2007, selecting an Internet question and hurling it at Mitt Romney: "What do you dislike most about America?"

For more on Harris's "hanging on for dear life" remark about Palin after the vice presidential debate, see Tim Graham's October 3 NewsBusters item, "On PBS, Biden Toasted As 'Crisper,' Palin 'Hanging On for Dear Life,'" at: newsbusters.org

For more on VandeHei's "what do you dislike most about America" question to Mitt Romney, see the May 4, 2007 CyberAlert item, "Question During Debate: 'What Do You Dislike Most About America?'" at: www.mrc.org

Reporters are centrists, they claimed, although they'll overwhelmingly favor liberal Obama at the ballot box: "And, yes, based on a combined 35 years in the news business we'd take an educated guess -- nothing so scientific as a Pew study -- that Obama will win the votes of probably 80 percent or more of journalists covering the 2008 election. Most political journalists we know are centrists -- instinctually skeptical of ideological zealotry -- but with at least a mild liberal tilt to their thinking, particularly on social issues. So what?"

Harris and VandeHei dragged out the hoary old claim that reporters are more obsessed about process and polls than making the world safe for liberalism, but then they devastate their own argument in looking at what's happened to McCain:

One is McCain backlash. The Republican once was the best evidence of how little ideology matters. Even during his "maverick" days, McCain was a consistent social conservative, with views on abortion and other cultural issues that would have been odds with those of most reporters we know. Yet he won swooning coverage for a decade from reporters who liked his accessibility and iconoclasm and supposed commitment to clean politics.

Now he is paying. McCain's decision to limit media access and align himself with the GOP conservative base was an entirely routine, strategic move for a presidential candidate. But much of the coverage has portrayed this as though it were an unconscionable sellout.

Since then the media often presumes bad faith on McCain's part. The best evidence of this has been the intense focus on the negative nature of his ads, when it is clear Obama has been similarly negative in spots he airs on radio and in swing states.

SUSPEND Excerpt

How does this reaction in any way square with the notion that reporters don't care about ideology? Then the writers added that while they don't think reporters are rooting for Obama, they do think his race is an advantage, but not an ideological advantage:

But he has benefited from the idea that negative attacks that in a normal campaign would be commonplace in this year would carry an out-of-bounds racial subtext. That's why Obama's long association with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright was basically a nonissue in the general election.

Journalists' hair-trigger racial sensitivity may have been misplaced, but it was not driven by an ideological tilt.

SUSPEND Excerpt

This argument is just bizarre. Reverend Wright was not merely a racial figure. He was a rabidly ideological figure who charged in sermons that murdering 3,000 Americans on September 11 was just the "chickens coming home to roost" for American terrorism, and a figure making wild racial conspiracy theories like the U.S. government inventing the AIDS virus to kill off black people. Ignoring Wright does not show a "hair-trigger racial sensitivity." It shows that a liberal press corps doesn't want the concept of patriotism to be an issue. They think it is a phony issue, and they also think that if it was an issue, that McCain's sacrifice for his country dramatically outweighs Obama's.

The most tiring argument is the "momentum bias" argument, that it's odd to expect the press to report that the McCain campaign is going great when the polls are all against it. But that argument neglects that the polls in some respects reflect months and months of pro-Obama bias. Reporters are expected to challenge both candidates, not simply the one who's behind, which the writers acknowledged:

A couple weeks back, Politico managing editor Bill Nichols sent out a note to the campaign team urging people to cough up more story ideas that took a skeptical look at the campaign tactics and policy proposals of the Democrat, who is likely to be president three months from now. As it happened, the response was a trickle.

END of Excerpts

This doesn't sound like a staff full of reporters that are detached from their own liberal opinions.

For the October 28 posting by Harris and VandeHei: www.politico.com

-- Brent Baker