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1. MSNBC Blames Voters for Bad NH Polls, If Archie Bunker Called...
During MSNBC's live New Hampshire primary night coverage, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw warned that poll results getting ahead of the voters could turn the public against the media, but then blamed the inaccurate polling on how "people probably are not as honest with pollsters." Chris Matthews, who urged an "inquest" on the polls which all had Barack Obama well ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Granite state when Clinton actually won, saw "an ethnic factor here." Matthews extrapolated on his theory involving "Archie Bunker," the bigoted 1970s TV character: "I've always thought that pollers, people, pollsters who call people up and ask them how they're going to vote, speak in perfect English, and standard English, they speak with a kind of a politically correct manner and it encourages a politically correct answer. I've often thought that if an Archie Bunker voice were to come over the phone, and ask people how they're going to vote, you'd get a more honest answer."
2. Today Brings Aboard Albright to Promote Hillary and Slam Bush
On the day of the New Hampshire primary, NBC's Today show booked former Clinton administration Secretary of State and Hillary Clinton supporter Madeleine Albright to praise Hillary's credentials to be "a great commander-in-chief," and slam Bush foreign policy as she declared: "Internationally, I don't think I've ever seen such a mess." Ann Curry cued up Albright: "Bottom line, people feel very hopeless about our being able to improve relations with other nations, of finally being able to restore peace. Through your, through this effort in creating this book is there, is there hope? What would be the most hopeful thing you can say to the American people?"
3. Shipman on Clinton's Crying: 'Unexpected, Spontaneous Emotion'
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, reporter Claire Shipman appeared touched by Hillary Clinton's emotional display at a New Hampshire diner on Monday. She exhibited no skepticism about the outpouring, describing it as "unexpected, spontaneous emotion." The ABC reporter rhapsodized: "From this woman in particular, who remains stoic publicly even as her emotional world caved in, who has cultivated such an image of strength and invulnerability, it was a surprise that just might pay off." Much of the segment related to crying in politics and whether it's now thought to be acceptable. However, Shipman clearly appeared to be fascinated with the New York Senator's display of emotion in response to a question from a voter: "And it's so fascinating when you are the first woman to make a serious stab at the presidency, every move, every emotion is fraught and scrutinized."
4. Sawyer Sees Double Standard in Woman v Man Showing 'Emotion'
For the second day in a row, Good Morning America provided a gushing forum for Hillary Clinton's spin. On Tuesday's program, co-host Diane Sawyer asked the presidential candidate about her emotional display at a New Hampshire diner on Monday. The ABC journalist sympathetically wondered: "Is it different when a woman shows that kind of emotion and (sic) a man does?" Sawyer certainly never broached the subject of whether Clinton contrived the wavering voice. Instead, she gingerly questioned: "Are you surprised so much is being made this morning?" Regarding the '08 candidate's recent defeat in Iowa, the GMA host carefully asked: "With those numbers coming in, what does President Clinton say to you at night or first thing in the morning? Is there a pep talk?" Sawyer followed up by speculating: "Does Chelsea write you notes and leave them under the door?"
5. On NPR, NH Dems See Hillary as 'Mother Earth,' Cry Over Obama
On NPR's evening newscast All Things Considered on Tuesday night, anchor Melissa Block talked to primary voters in Milford, New Hampshire, and the liberal ones were very expressive. One touted Hillary as "Mother Earth...a mother to take care of the country," and another broke down into tears at the similarities in the hopes inspired by Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy. She began with Steven Shaheen, making no effort to confirm or deny whether he was related to former New Hampshire Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen: "I just feel the country needs a woman to run this country. I think it needs like a Mother Earth. It needs a mother to take care of the country....That's how I feel, I mean, personally. She struck me as the person with more experience, she seems, you know, with a lot of intelligence, a lot of education, and it's a gut feeling inside -- can't really put words to that."
6. 'Top Ten Signs You're Watching Bad Election Coverage'
Letterman's "Top Ten Signs You're Watching Bad Election Coverage."
 MSNBC Blames Voters for Bad NH Polls,
If Archie Bunker Called...
During MSNBC's live New Hampshire primary night coverage, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw warned that poll results getting ahead of the voters could turn the public against the media, but then blamed the inaccurate polling on how "people probably are not as honest with pollsters." Chris Matthews, who urged an "inquest" on the polls which all had Barack Obama well ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Granite state when Clinton actually won, saw "an ethnic factor here." Matthews extrapolated on his theory involving "Archie Bunker," the bigoted 1970s TV character: "I've always thought that pollers, people, pollsters who call people up and ask them how they're going to vote, speak in perfect English, and standard English, they speak with a kind of a politically correct manner and it encourages a politically correct answer. I've often thought that if an Archie Bunker voice were to come over the phone, and ask people how they're going to vote, you'd get a more honest answer."
During the 11pm EST hour, Brokaw warned: "I think that the people out there are going to begin to make judgments about us -- if they haven't already -- if we don't begin to temper that temptation to constantly try to get ahead of what the voters are deciding..." He soon, however, blamed the voters: "I think people probably are not as honest with pollsters when they get called anymore because they're called constantly and they do change their minds. We're in a culture now, Chris, in which attention spans are very short, which people make quick decisions and change them equally quickly."
[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Fuller transcripts of the two sets of comments from Tuesday night, January 8:
Tom Brokaw, just after 11pm EST following Barack Obama's concession speech:
"We don't have to get in the business of making judgments before the polls have closed and trying to stampede, in effect, the process. Look, I'm not just picking on us, it's part of the culture in which we live these days. But I think that the people out there are going to begin to make judgments about us -- if they haven't already -- if we don't begin to temper that temptation to constantly try to get ahead of what the voters are deciding in many cases as we learned in New Hampshire when they went into the polling booth today or in the last three days. They were making decisions very late....
"I think people probably are not as honest with pollsters when they get called anymore because they're called constantly and they do change their minds. We're in a culture now, Chris, in which attention spans are very short, which people make quick decisions and change them equally quickly. So we have to be very careful about that. What we ought to do is invest in the American people in their wisdom."
Matthews, a few minutes before midnight EST:
"I would like to see an inquest on these polls and the methodology because we have always learned eventually what went wrong with polling. Back in the '36 race, of course, with Alf Landon the underdog against Franklin Roosevelt in his re-election campaign, that was a poll which showed that Alf Landon was going to beat Roosevelt but it turned out it was taken on the telephone and very few people had telephones back then who didn't have any money because nobody had any money. And then of course, the polling that was done in '48 of the infamous Truman-Dewey race. The polling ended like in early October. They just stopped polling way too early.
"I think there is going to be some examination here. Hopefully it's fruitful to determine whether there was an ethnic factor here. I've always thought that pollers, people, pollsters who call people up and ask them how they're going to vote, speak in perfect English, and standard English, they speak with a kind of a politically correct manner and it encourages a politically correct answer. I've often thought that an Archie Bunker voice were to come over the phone, and ask people how they're going to vote, you'd get a more honest answer.
"Anyway, that's as it stands now. Every one of these pollsters can't have had terrible methodology. There must be an underlying factor here of people giving different answers than they intended to act upon when they went into that voting booth. Unless people didn't even know how they're going to vote and I think there's something common to all these pollsters. We'll find out."
 Today Brings Aboard Albright to Promote
Hillary and Slam Bush
On the day of the New Hampshire primary, NBC's Today show booked former Clinton administration Secretary of State and Hillary Clinton supporter Madeleine Albright to praise Hillary's credentials to be "a great commander-in-chief," and slam Bush foreign policy as she declared: "Internationally, I don't think I've ever seen such a mess." Ann Curry cued up Albright: "Bottom line, people feel very hopeless about our being able to improve relations with other nations, of finally being able to restore peace. Through your, through this effort in creating this book is there, is there hope? What would be the most hopeful thing you can say to the American people?"
[This item, by the MRC's Geoffrey Dickens, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
On to promote her new book, Memo to the President Elect, Albright did receive one skeptical question about whether the Clinton administration had done enough to stop al Qaeda. However that didn't stop Today co-host Ann Curry asking for Albright's foreign policy advice:
ANN CURRY: Bottom line, people feel very hopeless about our being able to improve relations with other nations, of finally being able to restore peace. Through your, through this effort in creating this book is there, is there hope? What would be the most hopeful thing you can say to the American people?
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Well I think there is hope but we require a different approach. And we have to understand that while we are the strongest country in the world the issues that we have to deal with cannot be dealt with if we don't understand what's going on in other countries. And I hope that, that comes out of this book.
CURRY: Madeleine Albright, I think it does. Thank you so much this morning.
The following is the full interview as it occurred on the January 8 Today show:
ANN CURRY: Today the presidential candidates are hoping the voters of New Hampshire will send them on their way to the White House. Well whoever wins will face some major hot spots all around the world, as we all know. Well Madeleine Albright served as Secretary of State under President Bill Clinton from 1992 to 2001. And she is working with Senator Hillary Clinton now. She's also written a new book. It's called Memo To The President Elect: How We Can Restore America's Reputation And Leadership. Madam Secretary, good morning.
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT: Great to be with you, Ann.
CURRY: Before we get to the book I want a take, get your take on what something that John Edwards said on Monday about Hillary Clinton's emotional moment. He said, when she teared-up about, when she was asked about how she was doing after finishing third in Iowa. He said quote, John Edwards, "I think what we need in a commander-in-chief is strength and resolve and presidential campaigns are a tough business. But being President of the United States is also a very tough business. And the President of the United States is faced with very, very difficult challenges every single day. What I know is that I'm prepared for that." Do you have a reaction to that, given that some people think that she's being unfairly criticized for having an emotional moment?
ALBRIGHT: Well I think it showed that she was passionate about the issues, that she cared about this country. I know Hillary Clinton very well and she is strong and has lot of resolve and I think would be a great commander-in-chief.
CURRY: Do you think John Edwards was taking a shot?
ALBRIGHT: Yeah I'm not gonna comment on other candidates. He's got his issues and I really do think that Senator Clinton is a very strong person but also a very compassionate one. And I know from talking with her, generally, is how deeply she cares about issues in this country.
CURRY: No question that her third place showing in Iowa has weighed heavily on her. Do you believe, at this moment, that she still believes, despite the mood that we're seeing in her, that she can still win the presidency?
ALBRIGHT: You know Ann this is a very long election campaign. It already has been and she is a very determined person. And when I saw her in Iowa she was really determined to go. And, you know, you raised a point this is going to be a very difficult presidency. And my book is really about the fact that in, internationally I don't think I've ever seen such a mess. That's a diplomatic term of art. And that we're going to need a president who is ready to go on day one. And this book is really laying out as much for the next president as for the voters of America, what the context is and how difficult the issues are.
CURRY: In Iran, in Pakistan, in Iraq.
ALBRIGHT: All that and our relations with Russia and China and what is happening in Africa. Every day there is something happening and the United States and the President has to be prepared for the unexpected.
CURRY: It's a "How To," manual, basically.
ALBRIGHT: Sort of. You know and not just for the President but I thought it would be important to get this book out at the beginning of this election season.
CURRY: Not just to the President but to the people of America so that they also understand the challenges.
ALBRIGHT: Can understand that this is really, really hard. That we have never been in a situation like this where America's reputation is so bad and America's strength is needed. That the war in Iraq has really laid question to it.
CURRY: Okay, let me just quickly ask this question. Some people might ask, whether you should be giving this advice. Given, with all due respect to, to all the years you served as Secretary of State, first woman in that role. Given that, al Qaeda is accused of causing the attacks of the embassy bombings in Africa, of the USS Cole and, and, and the United States is being criticized under the Clinton administration for not responding, perhaps, enough then. Does that, what, what is your response to this idea that perhaps this may question whether you should be giving this advice?
ALBRIGHT: Well I, I think, I was the lead witness on 9/11 commission. I went over our record. I think we worked very hard to make people pay attention to terrorism and what people don't know is that before 9/11 it was even hard to get people's attention on it. I think that I'm in a very good position to give advice. I worked on the Hill. I worked for, for President Carter and for President Clinton. And I, this is my subject, and I've spent a lot of time. This book is out of my personal experiences and so I hope that, in fact, my advice will be taken. And this is to anybody that is going to win the presidency.
CURRY: Bottom line, people feel very hopeless about our being able to improve relations with other nations, of finally being able to restore peace. Through your, through this effort in creating this book is there, is there hope? What would be the most hopeful thing you can say to the American people?
ALBRIGHT: Well I think there is hope but we require a different approach. And we have to understand that while we are the strongest country in the world the issues that we have to deal with cannot be dealt with if we don't understand what's going on in other countries. And I hope that, that comes out of this book.
CURRY: Madeleine Albright, I think it does. Thank you so much this morning.
 Shipman on Clinton's Crying: 'Unexpected,
Spontaneous Emotion'
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, reporter Claire Shipman appeared touched by Hillary Clinton's emotional display at a New Hampshire diner on Monday. She exhibited no skepticism about the outpouring, describing it as "unexpected, spontaneous emotion." The ABC reporter rhapsodized: "From this woman in particular, who remains stoic publicly even as her emotional world caved in, who has cultivated such an image of strength and invulnerability, it was a surprise that just might pay off." Much of the segment related to crying in politics and whether it's now thought to be acceptable. However, Shipman clearly appeared to be fascinated with the New York Senator's display of emotion in response to a question from a voter: "And it's so fascinating when you are the first woman to make a serious stab at the presidency, every move, every emotion is fraught and scrutinized."
[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Shipman has been one of the more egregious offenders when it comes to gushing over Hillary Clinton. In January of 2007, she wondered how Barack Obama's "fluid poetry" would stand up to the '08 contender's "hot factor." See the January 19, 2007 CyberAlert for more: www.mrc.org
A transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:45am on January 8:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Tears on the campaign trail. That's what everyone was talking about yesterday.
DIANE SAWYER: True. And Claire Shipman is going to take a look back and ask you the question how do you really feel?
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON: Some people think elections are a game-
CLAIRE SHIPMAN: Unexpected, spontaneous emotion. Breaking through the normally rehearsed public facade.
CLINTON: You know, this is very personal for me. It's not just political. It's not just public. I see what's happening. And we have to reverse it.
SHIPMAN: Most of us have been there. Losing control in public when we least expect it. But is there a no-cry zone for politicians, for female politicians, especially for Hillary Clinton? 20 years later. Pat Schroeder still gets letters about her weepy concession speech.
PAT SCHROEDER: I thank you Denver. It's good to be back.
SHIPMAN: 35 years ago, here in New Hampshire, Ed Muskie watched his presidential campaign slide in oblivion because of what the media said were tears -- and what he always maintained was dripping snow on his face. But, of course, times have changed. Considerably.
MARGARET THATCHER: Ladies and Gentlemen-
SHIPMAN: Even the original Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, got choked up as she left office. And now, men welling up seems part of being human.
MITT ROMNEY: And literally wept. Even at this day it's emotional.
SHIPMAN: Indeed it seems no end to male politicians who will show some softer side. But how much soft does our public want from a would-be female commander in chief? That's still to be determined, but the answer might follow along gender lines.
JANINE DRIVER (Body language expert): The men seeing this, they might be, like, she's running for president, she's supposed to be calling the shots. It really makes people feel a little uncomfortable and uneasy. However, I'm sure you're going to get a lot of women that are going to say now, that's the real Hillary, that's who I have been looking for.
CLINTON: I have so many opportunities for this country. I just don't want to see us fall backwards.
SHIPMAN: From this woman in particular, who remains stoic publicly even as her emotional world caved in, who has cultivated such an image of strength and invulnerability, it was a surprise that just might pay off. And people are still talking about it this morning. We're here at a polling station. And it's so fascinating when you are the first woman to make a serious stab at the presidency, every move, every emotion is fraught and scrutinized. But, just for the record George and Diane. Hillary's team thinks it played pretty well. In fact, one of them joked maybe she should have been showing that sort of emotion a little bit earlier.
 Sawyer Sees Double Standard in Woman
v Man Showing 'Emotion'
For the second day in a row, Good Morning America provided a gushing forum for Hillary Clinton's spin. On Tuesday's program, co-host Diane Sawyer asked the presidential candidate about her emotional display at a New Hampshire diner on Monday. The ABC journalist sympathetically wondered: "Is it different when a woman shows that kind of emotion and (sic) a man does?"
Sawyer certainly never broached the subject of whether Clinton contrived the wavering voice. Instead, she gingerly questioned: "Are you surprised so much is being made this morning?" Regarding the '08 candidate's recent defeat in Iowa, the GMA host carefully asked: "With those numbers coming in, what does President Clinton say to you at night or first thing in the morning? Is there a pep talk?" Sawyer followed up by speculating: "Does Chelsea write you notes and leave them under the door?"
[This item, by Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Sawyer's tone sounded eerily familiar to another ABC reporter. On December 19, Nightline co-host Cynthia McFadden spent a day with Clinton on the campaign trail. During a fawning interview, she queried: "There's never a night, when you go back to whatever hotel room, whatever city you're in that night, and crawl in a ball and say, 'I just, this just hurts too much?'" For more on this, see the December 21 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org
A transcript of the segment, which aired at 7:02am on January 8:
DIANE SAWYER: But let's take a look now at what has become, as of this morning, the emblem of pressure and the passion in this long contest. As you know, yesterday Hillary Clinton welled up with tears while talking to voters at a café. And all night long, people have been talking about the emotion on the campaign trail. Is it different for men? Is it different for women? I had a chance to ask these questions of the senator herself when I talked to her.
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON: I just don't want to see us fall backwards, you know, so -- you know, this is very personal for me. It's not just political. It's not just public. I see what's happening. And we have to reverse it. And some people think elections are a game. They think it's like, who's up, who's down.
SAWYER: What was that all about?
CLINTON: I'm always being touched by people who come up and say, "I'm counting on you, or I need you," or "I'm with you." And I would be worried about myself if I didn't have some kind of, you know, feelings that this was important, that this mattered, there were a lot of people who needed someone to be their champion.
CLINTON: [Clip from crying incident]: And we do it, each one of us, because we care about our county. But some of us are right and some of us are wrong.
SAWYER: Is it different when a woman shows that kind of emotion and (sic) a man does?
CLINTON: Well, you know, men do it all of the time. And we've had that going back, at least since Ronald Reagan, I guess, and certainly since then. Now, as a woman, I know that I've got to be, you know, always presenting a very, sort of, organized front, and nobody has ever said that that wasn't one of my strong suits. But I also, I'm a person, much to some people's surprise. And what gets me up in the morning is not the next speech I'm going to make, and not the interview I'm going to do it's whether I'm going to help somebody.
SAWYER: Are you surprised so much is being made this morning? People saying-
CLINTON: Oh, Diane, I don't know why. I feel like if I breathe deeply, it's going to be a lead story. And that's just something that, you know, goes with the territory.
SAWYER: Senator Edwards said, "I don't have anything to say about that, but I think what we need is a commander in chief-- in a commander in chief-
JOHN EDWARDS: -is strength and resolve. And it's -- You know, presidential campaigns are tough business. But, being president of the United States is also a very tough business.
CLINTON: You know, I don't think anybody doubts my toughness. That's never been one of the criticisms leveled at me. And so, again, you know, they can say whatever they want to say. They will anyway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE LOCAL ANCHOR: Polls showing Barack Obama increasing his lead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: If Barack Obama beats her here, his momentum may truly be unstoppable.
SAWYER: Is there a difference in coming in second and third in New Hampshire? Big difference?
CLINTON: You know what? I think this is all just beginning to gel. Maybe I, you know, have a very sort of calm and confident attitude about it, because I always planned to run a campaign that goes all of the way through the nominating process. That's what I'm going to do.
SAWYER: Nothing will stop that? Nothing will derail it?
CLINTON: No. Nothing will stop that, because it's only now that I think we're drawing the comparisons and contrasts. You know, for most of the year I've been running against myself. And, you know, some days I did better than other days. And so now it's finally time when we can actually draw contrast with the other candidates. They are obviously, you know, in kind of a buddy system here and that's fine. For both Senator Edwards and Senator Obama, it's been pretty much a free ride. And that's fine. I don't mind, you know, having to get up there and take all of the scrutiny. But at some point, the free ride ends. Maybe it ends now. Maybe it ends in a moth. Maybe it ends in the general election. You cannot be elected president if you cannot with stand the tough questions. You know, Senator Obama spends hit time railing against lobbyists and head of the campaign here is a lobbyist.
SAWYER: He said that's a state lobbyist.
CLINTON: Oh, that's, that's a very big distinction! Somebody who is lobbying for Pharma, which is the big pharmaceutical lobby, the biggest in Washington, is not going to be influenced because one of their employees who is working in the state -- this is nonsense. It's an artificial distinction. And he knows that, but he's expects everybody else to nod their heads and say, "oh, yeah. That makes a lot of sense."
CLINTON: [From speech]: I know what it takes. Some people-
SAWYER: With those numbers coming in, what does President Clinton say to you at night or first thing in the morning? Is there a pep talk?
CLINTON: Well, you know, he's been incredibly supportive. And he, he understands the electoral process better than anybody. But also understands the job of being president. And every day, he says, "You know, I really have confidence in you in being the president that America needs." And that's more important to me than any kind of pep talk or any kind of advice.
SAWYER: Does Chelsea write you notes and leave them under the door?
CLINTON: No, just gives me hugs. Just gives me hugs. That's the best kind of reinforcement. But, she's had a good time out on the campaign trail. SAWYER: And, by the way, we had a chance to see Chelsea Clinton at the phone banks calling up, making the pitch for her mom. Listen.
CHELSEA CLINTON: Hi, Bill and Jody, this is Chelsea Clinton calling and I'm reaching out to you in the hopes that you have decided to support my mom tomorrow in the primary. Thank you. That was a wrong number. That was not the person I thought it was. But I hope Bill and Judy do support my mom.
SAWYER: Love it when you leave a message.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Perils of phone banking.
SAWYER: That's right. Could be the corner deli.
 On NPR, NH Dems See Hillary as 'Mother
Earth,' Cry Over Obama
On NPR's evening newscast All Things Considered on Tuesday night, anchor Melissa Block talked to primary voters in Milford, New Hampshire, and the liberal ones were very expressive. One touted Hillary as "Mother Earth...a mother to take care of the country," and another broke down into tears at the similarities in the hopes inspired by Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy. She began with Steven Shaheen, making no effort to confirm or deny whether he was related to former New Hampshire Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen: "I just feel the country needs a woman to run this country. I think it needs like a Mother Earth. It needs a mother to take care of the country....That's how I feel, I mean, personally. She struck me as the person with more experience, she seems, you know, with a lot of intelligence, a lot of education, and it's a gut feeling inside -- can't really put words to that."
Block talked to a Romney voter, and a man who chose McCain over Giuliani as he stood in the voting booth. But they were straightforward and unemotional. Block ended with state Rep. Gil Shattuck, who far outdid Hillary Clinton by breaking down into tears as he proudly displayed his Obama button. Obama "represents the hope of real change in Washington that many of us have not felt [starts crying]...since Kennedy."
[This item, by the MRC's Tim Graham, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Let's hope Block was carrying Kleenex. Block told her fellow anchors in Washington it was "such a surprising moment for me," with the old pol "getting so emotional there remembering his hopes with the election of JFK, and remembering the tragedy that followed."
Audio of the story: www.npr.org
 'Top Ten Signs You're Watching Bad Election
Coverage'
From the January 8 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten Signs You're Watching Bad Election Coverage." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com
For video of Letterman reading this list: www.cbs.com
10. TV reporters seem to be using the word "dude" a lot
9. Because of the writers strike, they show reruns of the Reagan-Mondale election
8. Exit polling question: "Did you have trouble finding the exit?"
7. Three candidates each received 50% of the votes
6. Top half of screen shows election coverage, bottom half is "American Gladiators"
5. Pundit says it's looking unlikely Bush will be re-elected
4. It's 3 hours of Dog the Bounty Hunter yelling racial slurs
3. Correspondent spends most of the evening hitting on Kucinich's hot wife
2. Wolf Blitzer wanders on set screaming, "Top story -- daddy's drunk!"
1. Still haven't projected winner from Iowa
# NBC's Tom Brokaw is scheduled to appear on Wednesday night's Late Show with David Letterman on CBS.
-- Brent Baker
|
During MSNBC's live New Hampshire primary night coverage, former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw warned that poll results getting ahead of the voters could turn the public against the media, but then blamed the inaccurate polling on how "people probably are not as honest with pollsters." Chris Matthews, who urged an "inquest" on the polls which all had Barack Obama well ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Granite state when Clinton actually won, saw "an ethnic factor here." Matthews extrapolated on his theory involving "Archie Bunker," the bigoted 1970s TV character: "I've always thought that pollers, people, pollsters who call people up and ask them how they're going to vote, speak in perfect English, and standard English, they speak with a kind of a politically correct manner and it encourages a politically correct answer. I've often thought that if an Archie Bunker voice were to come over the phone, and ask people how they're going to vote, you'd get a more honest answer." 
"We don't have to get in the business of making judgments before the polls have closed and trying to stampede, in effect, the process. Look, I'm not just picking on us, it's part of the culture in which we live these days. But I think that the people out there are going to begin to make judgments about us -- if they haven't already -- if we don't begin to temper that temptation to constantly try to get ahead of what the voters are deciding in many cases as we learned in New Hampshire when they went into the polling booth today or in the last three days. They were making decisions very late.... 
On the day of the New Hampshire primary, NBC's Today show booked former Clinton administration Secretary of State and Hillary Clinton supporter Madeleine Albright to praise Hillary's credentials to be "a great commander-in-chief," and slam Bush foreign policy as she declared: "Internationally, I don't think I've ever seen such a mess." Ann Curry cued up Albright: "Bottom line, people feel very hopeless about our being able to improve relations with other nations, of finally being able to restore peace. Through your, through this effort in creating this book is there, is there hope? What would be the most hopeful thing you can say to the American people?" 
On Tuesday's Good Morning America, reporter Claire Shipman appeared touched by Hillary Clinton's emotional display at a New Hampshire diner on Monday. She exhibited no skepticism about the outpouring, describing it as "unexpected, spontaneous emotion." The ABC reporter rhapsodized: "From this woman in particular, who remains stoic publicly even as her emotional world caved in, who has cultivated such an image of strength and invulnerability, it was a surprise that just might pay off." Much of the segment related to crying in politics and whether it's now thought to be acceptable. However, Shipman clearly appeared to be fascinated with the New York Senator's display of emotion in response to a question from a voter: "And it's so fascinating when you are the first woman to make a serious stab at the presidency, every move, every emotion is fraught and scrutinized." 
For the second day in a row, Good Morning America provided a gushing forum for Hillary Clinton's spin. On Tuesday's program, co-host Diane Sawyer asked the presidential candidate about her emotional display at a New Hampshire diner on Monday. The ABC journalist sympathetically wondered: "Is it different when a woman shows that kind of emotion and (sic) a man does?" 
