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1. NBC Nightly News Trumpets Slight Hike in View Palin 'Unqualified'
After seven weeks of the news media deriding Sarah Palin, Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday night seemed to delight in emphasizing how, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll which led the NBC Nightly News, Palin is hurting McCain as Obama surges ahead. And Williams touted Colin Powell's Sunday endorsement of Barack Obama as "the shot heard 'round the world." After reciting how the survey of registered voters put Obama up by ten points, 52 to 42 percent, Williams asserted: "Perhaps more dangerous for the GOP ticket, most of those polled do not believe Sarah Palin is qualified to be President, by a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent." However, take a look at the PDF of the full poll, which did not pose the same question about Obama, and you learn that despite the media's pounding the public perception of her qualifications has been remarkably consistent across three NBC/WSJ surveys (see question 29d) with more considering her unqualified than qualified not anything new: 40 percent called her "qualified" in the September 19-22 poll, 41 percent replied qualified in the poll conducted October 4-5 and she returned to 40 percent in this new survey. Meanwhile, "not qualified" grew only slightly, from 49 to 50 to the current 55 percent which Williams treated as big news.
2. CBS's Smith Asks McCain If Palin May 'Cost' Him the Election
At the top of Tuesday's CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith teased his interview with John McCain: "Exclusive, McCain one-on-one on Sarah Palin...everything from robo-calls to his health." During the later segment, Smith declared: "A lot of Republican pundits in the last couple of weeks have said that your choice of a vice presidential candidate of Sarah Palin has been a disaster." He then asked McCain: "If, in fact, you found out that her candidacy cost you the election, would you still say it was the right choice?" McCain replied: "Harry. Look. Come to one of the rallies with me. You'll see the ignition out there and the passion and the incredible intensity out there for Sarah Palin."
3. NYT: OK to Bash McCain, Yet Anti-Obama Mail Racially Suspect?
A tale of two mailings: One reporter revels in the AFL-CIO's big political push against McCain, while another lamented "new, harsh anti-Obama literature in my mailbox." Damien Cave fretted another mailing "alleges that Senator Obama would be soft on crime. Few issues are as racially radioactive, especially here in Miami, so it is worth asking: Does the flier go over the line?" Steven Greenhouse, the New York Times' pro-union, anti-Wal-Mart labor reporter, seemed pretty enthused, however, about the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s attack mailings against John McCain in "A.F.L.-C.I.O. Targets Seniors," the neutrally headlined story he filed to the "Caucus" blog Tuesday morning.
4. Brokaw: Electing Obama Would Show 'Giant Steps' for America
Tom Brokaw appeared on NBC's Today and CNN's American Morning on Monday to promote the pro-Obama effect of Colin Powell's endorsement on Meet the Press. On both networks, Brokaw insisted "Colin Powell is one of the most admired and respected men, not just in this country, but around the world. And he has this gold plated military and national security resume." But he was more effusive on CNN, declaring that President Obama would be proof that America's made "giant steps" since Martin Luther King, but John McCain might still be an obstacle to historic transformation with his "guerrilla warfare" on the campaign trail. Brokaw's praise unfurled as CNN anchor Kiran Chetry described Obama as the "culmination" of King's dream.
5. ABC's McFadden Fawns Over 'Genuine' Pals Hillary and Obama
Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden on Monday used the opportunity of the first dual interview with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to gush over the two Democrats and offer no challenging questions. Speaking to the senators after a campaign rally in Florida, she fawned: "You looked pretty good up there together." The co-anchor also excitedly tossed this softball to Clinton and Obama: "Are you going to win? Are you going to win down here?" Fully embracing Democratic talking points that the two once-bitter rivals are now friendly, McFadden fawned, "...Two weeks before the presidential election, they genuinely seemed to have bonded over their singular mission to put a Democrat in the White House." Offering amateur psychology, the ABC host wondered, "How does it feel today? Still a little awkward or have we gotten over the awkward period in the relationship?" McFadden presented no questions about Obama running mate Joe Biden's assertion on Sunday that the Illinois Senator would be tested by a major international crisis in the first six months of his potential presidency. In addition, there were no questions about terrorist bomber William Ayers or any other serious issue.
6. ABC Skips for Almost 24 Hours Own Scoop on Biden's Obama 'Crisis'
Despite featuring the story on its "Political Radar" blog on Monday morning, the ABC network ignored for almost 24 hours the claim by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden that Barack Obama will be tested by a major "international crisis" in the first (potential) six months of his presidency. Monday's Good Morning America skipped the story, as did that evening's World News With Charles Gibson and Nightline. In fact, Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden actually conducted an interview with Senator Obama after a campaign rally in Florida. Despite the fact that she had nabbed the first joint interview with Obama and Clinton since the Illinois senator won the nomination, she didn't address the issue. Rather than ask what his running mate meant when he said, "Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy," McFadden chose to limit her questions to how the relationship between Obama and Clinton had changed.
7. CBS and NBC Refuse to Scold Obama's False Medicare Slam on McCain
Over the past few days, the Obama campaign has been claiming -- both in ads and in statements by Barack Obama himself -- that John McCain would "cut" Medicare benefits by "$882 billion," a charge that the Associated Press called "shaky" and that FactCheck.org bluntly dismissed as "bogus" and "false." Yet of the three broadcast networks, only ABC News has thus far joined the condemnation of Obama's deceptive ad. NBC on Monday would only go so far as to say "McCain's advisors say that's not true..." -- implying that it's merely a partisan difference of opinion -- while CBS has thus far refrained from questioning Obama's truthfulness on this issue. For weeks now, the networks have complained about the McCain campaign's supposed nasty and unfair campaign attacks against Obama, so when will NBC and CBS join ABC in punishing this nasty and unfair charge from the Democrats?
8. CNN's Martin Uses Cliched 'Fat Idiot' Label Against Limbaugh
CNN contributor Roland Martin used an unoriginal line to disparage Rush Limbaugh on Monday's Election Center program. Host Campbell Brown wanted Martin, a Barack Obama supporter, to comment on something the talk radio host had said about Colin Powell's endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate: "Rush Limbaugh said today, this is about race. That's all it's about." Martin's response: "I think I will quote Al Franken when talking about Rush Limbaugh -- is a stupid, fat idiot."
9. Sign Up for Business & Media Institute's 'Balance Sheet' E-Mail
From the media's constant pessimistic outlook on the economy to their bashing of businessmen, the Business & Media Institute (BMI) provides fresh analysis of the top business and economic issues of the day. BMI -- a division of the Media Research Center -- has earned a national reputation and hundreds of TV and radio appearances with its unique look at the media's coverage of business. For the latest insight and commentary about the business point of view that is often overlooked or omitted in the news, you should sign up for BMI's free weekly e-newsletter "The Balance Sheet."
 NBC Nightly News Trumpets Slight Hike
in View Palin 'Unqualified'
After seven weeks of the news media deriding Sarah Palin, Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday night seemed to delight in emphasizing how, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll which led the NBC Nightly News, Palin is hurting McCain as Obama surges ahead. And Williams touted Colin Powell's Sunday endorsement of Barack Obama as "the shot heard 'round the world." After reciting how the survey of registered voters put Obama up by ten points, 52 to 42 percent, Williams asserted: "Perhaps more dangerous for the GOP ticket, most of those polled do not believe Sarah Palin is qualified to be President, by a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent."
However, take a look at the PDF of the full poll, which did not pose the same question about Obama, and you learn that despite the media's pounding the public perception of her qualifications has been remarkably consistent across three NBC/WSJ surveys (see question 29d) with more considering her unqualified than qualified not anything new: 40 percent called her "qualified" in the September 19-22 poll, 41 percent replied qualified in the poll conducted October 4-5 and she returned to 40 percent in this new survey. Meanwhile, "not qualified" grew only slightly, from 49 to 50 to the current 55 percent which Williams treated as big news.
PDF with the poll questions and findings: s.wsj.net
Reporter Andrea Mitchell highlighted how "for the first time her negatives now outweigh her positives by nine points, turning Palin into a bigger drag on McCain than George Bush." Mitchell contended "the doubts about Palin make it harder Republicans to exploit Obama's biggest weakness in the poll" which is that "23 percent say he's too inexperienced," yet: "McCain's attacks have occasionally been undercut by Palin. As in this interview with KUSA, answering a third grader's question about the role of the Vice President and getting it wrong."
Palin's answer to the young school kid, about how the Vice President is "in charge of the United States Senate. So if they want to, they can really get in there with the Senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family," was denigrated repeatedly by Mitchell's MSNBC colleagues Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann, but how "wrong" she was is a matter of interpretation. What does "in charge" mean? Did she mean taking Harry Reid's Majority Leader job, or just presiding over sessions whenever she wants? And why can't a Vice President work with Senators to craft legislation?
For her part, Mitchell declared: "That is not what the Constitution says. It specifically says the Vice President simply presides over the Senate and has a tie-breaking vote."
[This item, by the MRC's Brent Baker, was posted Tuesday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
The lead story on the Tuesday, October 21 Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Good evening. We are releasing them tonight here for the first time. And our new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll numbers now show a widening gap for Barack Obama in this snapshot of the U.S. electorate if the election were held today. Our poll shows Obama has opened up a 10-point lead now over Senator John McCain, 52-42. Notably this shows Obama at over 50 percent for the first time in our polling.
Perhaps more dangerous for the GOP ticket, most of those polled do not believe Sarah Palin is qualified to be President, by a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent. We will have more of the new numbers from our poll in just a moment. But it is a notable snapshot. With 14 days to go now, two weeks until we elect a new President, it's where we begin tonight. The poll numbers, the Palin factor and politics today. Here with that, NBC's Andrea Mitchell.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Sarah Palin in Nevada today attacking Barack Obama.
 SARAH PALIN: I do want a President who is ready to lead on day one.
MITCHELL: Palin started as the sparkplug to reignite John McCain's campaign. Seven weeks later her initial popularity has faded. For the first time her negatives now outweigh her positives by nine points [47 to 38], turning Palin into a bigger drag on McCain than George Bush. Fully one-third of those questioned say Palin raises concerns about McCain's candidacy, compared to 23 percent who worry McCain would continue George Bush's policies. An attack line for Barack Obama today:
BARACK OBAMA: After eight years of Bush-McCain economics, the pie is shrinking.
MITCHELL: The doubts about Palin make it harder Republicans to exploit Obama's biggest weakness in the poll: 23 percent say he's too inexperienced. McCain hammered him on that over and over again today.
JOHN McCAIN: We don't want a President who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.
MITCHELL: But McCain's attacks have occasionally been undercut by Palin. As in this interview with KUSA, answering a third grader's question about the role of the Vice President and getting it wrong.
PALIN IN INTERVIEW WITH DENVER TV STATION: They're in charge of the United States Senate. So if they want to, they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom. And it's a great job and I look forward to having that job.
MITCHELL: That is not what the Constitution says. It specifically says the Vice President simply presides over the Senate and has a tie-breaking vote....
....
BRIAN WILLIAMS: I mentioned we have more new poll numbers tonight and our NBC News political director Chuck Todd is here with those. And Chuck, as one columnist called it, "the political shot heard 'round the world" this weekend was Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama. It came halfway through our poll in the field, but we were still able to ask a sizable sample about it. And I know you have those results.
CHUCK TODD: Four in five voters said it wasn't going to make any difference [77 percent]. But of those who said it would make a difference, most of them said it made them more inclined to support Obama. 19 percent overall said it would make them more inclined, four percent said it was less inclined. On endorsements most people usually say it makes no difference, but it does solidify the soft voters....
 CBS's Smith Asks McCain If Palin May
'Cost' Him the Election
At the top of Tuesday's CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith teased his interview with John McCain: "Exclusive, McCain one-on-one on Sarah Palin...everything from robo-calls to his health." During the later segment, Smith declared: "A lot of Republican pundits in the last couple of weeks have said that your choice of a vice presidential candidate of Sarah Palin has been a disaster." He then asked McCain: "If, in fact, you found out that her candidacy cost you the election, would you still say it was the right choice?" McCain replied: "Harry. Look. Come to one of the rallies with me. You'll see the ignition out there and the passion and the incredible intensity out there for Sarah Palin."
Smith followed up by wondering if McCain's health would prevent him from being President: "Can you reassure the American people right now that your health is what it needs to be in order to take office and not be concerned that it will become a factor, should you become President of the United States?" To that, McCain offered a challenge: "Have you seen me the last two years? 24/7 out there day after day in the grind. Look. I hiked the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rim a couple of summers ago with my son. Listen. I'll -- listen, I'll invite any of the people who are reporting on that to come out and stick with me and hang with me on the trail."
[This item, by the MRC's Kyle Drennen, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Prior to describing Palin as a "disaster," Smith used her to denounce McCain's campaign tactics: "I asked him about some of his supporters who are moving toward Barack Obama because of the negativity of the McCain campaign...Because even Sarah Palin has come out and said she would prefer that the robo-calls stop. Your robo-calls." In reality, as Athena Jones explained in a post entitled, "Obama Overplays Palin's Robocall Distaste," on the MSNBC blog, First Read: "...while the Alaska governor told reporters she thought robocalls were irritating to voters, she pointedly refused to denounce them." When Palin was asked about ending the calls, she replied: "I'm not calling for an end to the robocalls, no, uh-uh." See: firstread.msnbc.msn.com
After asking McCain about his "negativity," Smith wondered what happened to the real John McCain: "It was very interesting to watch you at the Al Smith dinner the other night, and some people said 'that's the John McCain'...'That's the John McCain I know, that's the John McCain that we liked so much from the past.' Are there different John McCains? Are there different aspects of your personality?"
Here is the full transcript of the October 22 segment:
7:00AM TEASE:
SMITH: Exclusive, McCain one-on-one on Sarah Palin. If, in fact, you found out that her candidacy cost you the election, would you still say it was the right choice?
JOHN MCCAIN: Harry. Look. Come to one of the rallies with me. You'll see the ignition out there.
SMITH: John McCain talks about everything from robocalls to his health.
7:01AM TEASE:
SMITH: And we were on t he campaign trail yesterday with John McCain, as you just saw. So interesting, he is so energized, he is so powered up. And this whole notion of him, you know, not running the economy as being part of who he is about, he is very emphatic in the interview today, that this election really hinges on the economy. We're also going to be talking a little bit about job losses today. There's an old study from years ago that says if the unemployment rate is above 6 -- at 6.2 or above, the incumbent party cannot be sent back to the White House. The U.S. unemployment rate is 6.1 right now. So right on that precipice.
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: John McCain is out to challenge that anyway.
SMITH: Indeed.
RODRIGUEZ: You can tell from his energy. He doesn't mind being the underdog.
SMITH: Not at all.
7:05AM SEGMENT:
HARRY SMITH: Yesterday, I sat down with Senator McCain for an exclusive interview. I asked him about some of his supporters who are moving toward Barack Obama because of the negativity of the McCain campaign.
MCCAIN: Well, I think that whatever is on people's minds is valid but the thing that's intriguing about it, Senator Obama has spent more money on negative attack ads than any political -- presidential campaign in history, in history.
SMITH: Because even Sarah Palin has come out and said she would prefer that the robocalls stop. Your robocalls.
[CLIP OF MCCAIN ROBOCALL]
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers.
MCCAIN: Well, Sarah is a maverick. That robocall is absolutely accurate and, by the way, Senator Obama's campaign is running robocalls as we speak. I'm sure that Sarah and I have disagreed on some issues and, you know, to think that somehow that we are saying something that's not true in those calls is absolutely false. He was friends with a terrorist and his wife. He was. And we need to know the full relationship.
SMITH: Your own people have said, well, if it's about the economy, 'that's not a -- that's not an argument that I can win with -- with the American people.'
MCCAIN: Oh, that's -- that's simply not true. That's simply not true.
SMITH: Right. Do you-
MCCAIN: We're focusing on the economy. Listen to me, I'm the candidate.
SMITH: Alright.
MCCAIN: And this campaign is about the economy.
SMITH: A lot of Republican pundits in the last couple of weeks have said that your choice of a vice presidential candidate of Sarah Palin has been a disaster. If, in fact, you found out that her candidacy cost you the election, would you still say it was the right choice?
MCCAIN: Harry. Look. Come to one of the rallies with me. You'll see the ignition out there and the passion and the incredible intensity out there for Sarah Palin.
SARAH PALIN: Are you ready to make John McCain the next President of the United States of America?
MCCAIN: If someone thinks that -- that somehow she was unqualified, that's their opinion, but that doesn't stack up on paper. I mean, the most popular governor in America, I'm proud to have, and I think she's -- she and her husband and her family are just wonderful.
SMITH: Can you reassure the American people right now that your health is what it needs to be in order to take office and not be concerned that it will become a factor, should you become President of the United States?
MCCAIN: Have you seen me the last two years? 24/7 out there day after day in the grind. Look. I hiked the Grand Canyon from rim-to-rim a couple of summers ago with my son. Listen. I'll -- listen, I'll invite any of the people who are reporting on that to come out and stick with me and hang with me on the trail.
SMITH: It was very interesting to watch you at the Al Smith dinner the other night, and some people said 'that's the John McCain,' what, you're giving me the -- you're giving me the-
MCCAIN: I've heard that, too.
SMITH: Yeah.
MCCAIN AT AL SMITH DINNER: Even in this room full of proud Manhattan Democrats, I can't -- I can't shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me. I'm delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.
SMITH: 'That's the John McCain I know, that's the John McCain that we liked so much from the past.' Are there different John McCains? Are there different aspects of your personality?
MCCAIN: I'm a pretty good stand-up comic. The times are too serious for stand-up comedy. This is serious business. And there are real issues here and there's real problems out there. Somebody who's about to lose their home probably might enjoy that routine at the Al Smith dinner, but that's not what they want to hear from me on the campaign trail.
SMITH: And that's certainly not what they've been hearing the last couple of days. So interesting, the guy's 72 years old. We've been on and off the campaign trail, as you have, with him over the last year or so. He is as vigorous, as committed, as focused as I've seen him in the last year.
MAGGIE RODRIGUEZ: You took the words right out of my mouth. That's exactly what I was going to say watching him. And you and I've talked to him so many times, that's about as energized and upbeat as I have seen him yet. I really think he does relish, mind you, not that he likes, I'm sure, but relishes this underdog status.
SMITH: Seems to function in that role pretty well. And of course, on Thursday, we'll have an exclusive interview with Barack Obama as we visit with him on the campaign trail, too, just before he leaves for Hawaii on Thursday.
 NYT: OK to Bash McCain, Yet Anti-Obama
Mail Racially Suspect?
A tale of two mailings: One reporter revels in the AFL-CIO's big political push against McCain, while another lamented "new, harsh anti-Obama literature in my mailbox." Damien Cave fretted another mailing "alleges that Senator Obama would be soft on crime. Few issues are as racially radioactive, especially here in Miami, so it is worth asking: Does the flier go over the line?" Steven Greenhouse, the New York Times' pro-union, anti-Wal-Mart labor reporter, seemed pretty enthused, however, about the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s attack mailings against John McCain in "A.F.L.-C.I.O. Targets Seniors," the neutrally headlined story he filed to the "Caucus" blog Tuesday morning.
[This item by Clay Waters was posted Tuesday on the MRC's TimesWatch site: www.timeswatch.org ]
Only two of the 19 paragraphs of Greenhouse's story were devoted to (very mildly) fact-checking the false claims from the union-backed mailing. Here's an excerpt:
The latest mailer is headlined, "John McCain: A Disaster for Retirees." It criticizes his proposal for partially privatizing Social Security, saying, "This risky move will jeopardize the chances of a secure retirement for millions of Americans."
The mailer also seeks to undermine the Republican candidate by saying, "McCain will cut Medicare." It says he "wants to fund his pro-insurance company health care plan by taking more than $1 trillion from Medicare."
The McCain campaign has attacked such assertions as wildly distorted, while some neutral experts have noted that Mr. McCain has never proposed such a large cut in Medicare, although he has indicated he would cut health care programs to help balance the budget.
SUSPEND Excerpt
Greenhouse is soft-pedaling here. In fact, the watchdog group FactCheck.org, which the Times has often treated as gospel when it comes to "correcting" John McCain claims, flatly calls the charge that McCain plans to cut Medicare by such a large amount "false." See: www.factcheck.org
RESUME Excerpt:
Ms. Ackerman said, "Once retirees and seniors hear from their unions about where McCain stands on privatizing Social Security and taxing health-care benefits and where Obama stands on the issues, we know we can get a majority of these voters to support Obama."
Over the past week, the A.F.L.-C.I.O. expanded its campaign efforts into three additional states -- Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia -- that were won by George W. Bush in 2004, but are now viewed as winnable for Mr. Obama.
"We have a very nimble program because we have union members everywhere," [Karen] Ackerman said.
END of Excerpt
For the post in full: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
Greenhouse let AFL-CIO political director Ackerman crow for several paragraphs about the group's big budget and massive campaign effort, while never uttering a discouraging word. It was almost as if they were on the same team.
Compare that reaction to the scandalized tone taken by another Times reporter, Damien Cave, to the sight of two anti-Obama mailers in his Florida mailbox that dared to attack Obama on taxes and crime. Cave's story, "In Florida Mailboxes, Harsh Attacks on Obama," was filed on "The Caucus" blog Monday evening:
Early voting in Florida began today, with long lines at several polling places, a flood of robocalls, a rally by Senator Barack Obama in Tampa -- and some new, harsh anti-Obama literature in my mailbox.
Those of us who live in swing states are already familiar with negative television ads from both Democrats and Republicans. At this point, I'm on the verge of having nightmares with the giant ball of orange thread rolling through Senator Obama's health care ad -- the one that runs incessantly here, ending with a narrator saying Senator McCain will leave you "hanging by a thread."
But even in this hot-headed environment, the literature stands out. One flier, paid for by the Republican National Committee, states that in the midst of the economic crisis "Barack Obama's solution is to take more of your money!"
By several fact-checkers' accounts, that's a misrepresentation of Senator Obama's tax plan, which would cut taxes for roughly 95 percent of the country.
SUSPEND Excerpt
To prove himself right, Cave linked to an article by Times' reporter Larry Rohter, who has rarely met an Obama attack he couldn't spin in Obama's favor. But both Cave and Rohter are wrong. Obama's tax plan can't cut taxes for 95% because many Americans pay no income tax at all. As the September 17 CyberAlert argued:
That 95 percent is impossible since one-third of those who file with the IRS are "non-payers," people who end up paying no tax or get money back which exceeds their payments. Obama plans to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and create other credits. For those for whom the credits surpass their tax obligation, those are not tax cuts, but spending hikes or federal giveaways akin to welfare.
For more details: www.mrc.org
Cave was grossly offended by another piece of literature, which dared to question Obama's record on crime:
The second piece of literature, paid for by the Republican Party of Florida, provides a new line of attack. It alleges that Senator Obama would be soft on crime. Few issues are as racially radioactive, especially here in Miami, so it is worth asking: Does the flier go over the line?
Some of it focuses on Senator Obama's voting history (oversimplifying a present vote in the Illinois senate to suggest he is "against protecting children from danger," in one example). But on the front, there is a picture of Senator Obama, looking menacing, with an all-black background. On the other side, above the address it says: "Obama: 'he acted more as a friend to criminals than to cops...'"
At the end, Cave half-heartedly clarifies that race wasn't actually mentioned in the flier:
It ends with "Barack Obama, not who you think he is" but it does not mention Mr. Wright, nor does it mention race.
Calls to the state Republican party were not returned.
END of Excerpt
For Cave's blog item: thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
 Brokaw: Electing Obama Would Show 'Giant
Steps' for America
Tom Brokaw appeared on NBC's Today and CNN's American Morning on Monday to promote the pro-Obama effect of Colin Powell's endorsement on Meet the Press. On both networks, Brokaw insisted "Colin Powell is one of the most admired and respected men, not just in this country, but around the world. And he has this gold plated military and national security resume." But he was more effusive on CNN, declaring that President Obama would be proof that America's made "giant steps" since Martin Luther King, but John McCain might still be an obstacle to historic transformation with his "guerrilla warfare" on the campaign trail. Brokaw's praise unfurled as CNN anchor Kiran Chetry described Obama as the "culmination" of King's dream:
"Everybody thought that we needed to make the giant steps that Dr. King led the country through. He'll truly be a historic figure forevermore in America and for the world, for that matter. But the idea that an African-American man would be the head of the Democratic ticket and be in this kind of position with just three Tuesdays to go in effect, before we have election day, is pretty astonishing. And we have to say, we don't know whether he's going to make it or not because John McCain's a warrior and he believes [in] guerrilla warfare out there on the campaign trail."
[This item, by the MRC's Tim Graham, was posted Tuesday morning on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Neither CNN nor NBC pressed Brokaw on whether Meet the Press was being used by Powell and the Obama campaign as a launching pad for a mid-October surprise. Brokaw seemed very pleased that this event would help Obama, and no one inside the media questioned whether Brokaw looked partisan by aiding this gambit. Chetry did bring up Rush Limbaugh's dismissal of the endorsement, and Brokaw (who's expressed his loathing for Limbaugh and his dogma on several occasions) insisted Rush was ignoring Powell's harsh words for how conservatives are shrinking the GOP.
For two occasions on which Brokaw has expressed loathing for Limbaugh or his ideology, see the Novemember 27 CyberAlert item, "Tom Brokaw Trashes Rush Limbaugh and Talk Radio on Ingraham Show," at: www.mrc.org
And the January 22 CyberAlert item, "Brokaw: Limbaugh's Hurting GOP as Voters Reject Reagan 'Dogma,'" at: www.mrc.org
From the CNN transcript, discussing Brokaw's book Boom! about the Sixties generation:
CHETRY: Yes. It's very interesting. In fact, one of the things you talk about in your book of course, is the historic nature of the 1960s, especially launching the civil rights movement.
BROKAW: Right.
CHETRY: And so here we are right now, the election, almost the culmination of that movement, especially if Barack Obama wins the presidency.
BROKAW: It's nothing that anyone could have anticipated at that time. Everybody thought that we needed to make the giant steps that Dr. King led the country through. He'll truly be a historic figure forever more in America and for the world, for that matter. But the idea that an African-American man would be the head of the Democratic ticket and be in this kind of position with just three Tuesdays to go in effect, before we have election day, is pretty astonishing. And we have to say, we don't know whether he's going to make it or not because John McCain's a warrior and he believes guerrilla warfare out there on the campaign trail.
CHETRY: Right. Well, one of the things that certainly helped Barack Obama was the endorsement on your show this weekend, Meet the Press. How significant is this for the campaign? That Colin Powell is endorsing Barack Obama?
BROKAW: Well, I think it's symbolically very important because Colin Powell is one of the most admired and respected men, not just in this country, but around the world. And he has this gold plated military and national security resume. And when he puts his arm metaphorically around Barack Obama, and says he has the experience and judgment to be a transformational president, that's very helpful to Obama, who has been attacked by McCain as a man who doesn't have the experience and the judgment. If you had flipped it, if Powell had gone for McCain, that would have been a devastating blow for Barack Obama, obviously. Does it move a lot of voters? We'll see. I think some leaners probably will be more comfortable with Obama.
CHETRY: You talk about this briefly in your interview with Powell that some will say that an African-American is supporting Barack Obama simply because he's an African-American. Rush Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail to Politico, 'Secretary Powell said his endorsement is not about race. Okay, fine. I'm now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all of the inexperienced, very liberal white candidates he has endorsed. I'll let you know what I come up with.' Did Secretary Powell make the case to you that it was not about race?
BROKAW: He said if it was about race I would have done this 10 months ago. He said, I really want to take the measure of these two people. And what Rush Limbaugh does not get into is Colin Powell's indictment of what the Republican Party, he says is doing to itself. Colin Powell showed up at the convention in 2007, and praised President Bush and Dick Cheney, saying that he thought that they would heal the racial divide in America. He thinks it contracted the Republican Party, rather than reached out to a lot of people. He has great, great admiration for John McCain, he just doesn't think he's run a very good campaign. He's very unhappy with the selection of Sarah Palin. Doesn't think she's ready to be president in these troubled times.
CHETRY: Just quickly before we go. Senator Barack Obama ran his campaign and won the primary on his opposition to the Iraq war. Secretary of State Colin Powell led the case and laid out the case to the United Nations and still doesn't say the Iraq war was a mistake. Does that hurt the credibility?
BROKAW: No, I don't think so. I think because the Iraq war has gone down a notch, I think that Colin Powell's endorsement transcends that in many ways. And in some ways it helps Barack Obama. They still have some difficulty on how quickly they ought to get the troops out of there and setting a timeline. That also helps Barack Obama, probably. But caveat, we still got three Tuesdays to go and if we proved in 1968, these elections can tighten up. Barack Obama said just yesterday, and I say this to Matt Lauer, that he expects this race to tighten a lot.
From the NBC transcript, complete with a screen graphic focusing on the "Impact" of the Powell endorsement (Hint: we at NBC think it should be huge):
LAUER: What surprised me was when Barack Obama said to me, he had no advance noting, notice. He learned of the endorsement the same way the rest of us did, by watching the program.
BROKAW: Oh I think he, if he didn't get a phone call from General Powell, I'm sure they were in touch with a lot of his friends. And there was so much anticipation in the, over the weekend. Actually General Powell, when we made the arrangements for him to appear, asked us not to begin publicizing it until Friday...
LAUER: Why so close to the vest?
BROKAW: Because he didn't want to get a lot of calls and have his life disrupted more than, than it already is. And he wanted to state his endorsement on his terms, and not have a lot of undue speculation out there.
LAUER: Can he have a huge impact if, as Senator Obama said, he's not gonna be out there on the campaign trail, even though Barack Obama would like him out there. But making this one television appearance, albeit across a wonderful moderator, is that gonna have the kind of impact that Senator Obama really desires?
BROKAW: Well I think there are two parts to this Matt. The overnight polling that we've been doing shows that helps on the margins. He does not move the needle a lot. But he's a very powerful, symbolic presence for Barack Obama. Here's a man who's one of the most admired and respected, and not just in this country, but in the world. He has a gold-plated military and national security resume. And he speaks to the areas that McCain has been attacking Obama on: experience, judgment, can he do the job? He says, "Yes he can."
LAUER: The John McCain campaign seems to be feeling that they're getting some traction in a couple of areas. One, when they talk about Senator Obama's tax plan, they say, "it's redistributing wealth, it's spreading the wealth." Also when they compare the tax program to almost a welfare system. Who exactly are they talking to here? Is it new voters or are they just ensuring the base turns out?
BROKAW: No I don't think it's new voters, I think that what we've always been talking about are those independent voters, now make up one-third of the country. A lot of them are male, working-class guys. Set aside "Joe the Plumber," because it turns out he's not exactly what everyone says that he was.
LAUER: Right.
BROKAW: But there are a lot of workers out there who are in the $50 to $60,000 category or maybe even a little more in the small business category that are worried, especially in this economic climate about what's gonna happen to their tax bills now. And they're making up their minds in the last two weeks. This is a regular pattern we see every four years. We've all been talking about this for almost two years now. But a lot of people are beginning to read the platforms, look at the positions and trying to decide what they're gonna do when they go into that voting booth.
LAUER: Tough answer to make quick but-
BROKAW: Yeah.
LAUER: -$150 million raised by Barack Obama in the month of September. More than a half billion dollars in this campaign so far. This is a long, long way away from public financing that was intended to keep big money -- and most of these donations are small donations coming from a lot people -- this, this now the end of public financing based on the success of Barack Obama?
BROKAW: I think it is because frankly the other part of it is that the Supreme Court will never say that this is within the tenets of, of free speech. That you can't have public finance and free speech at the same time. So I think it's a tough one. I do think we do have to do something about money. There was a California politician by the name of Jess Unruh who once described it as, "the mother's milk of politics." No one has more milk than Barack Obama right now. And that's a big advantage.
LAUER: What did you think of Governor Palin on "SNL?"
BROKAW: Oh I thought she, I thought it was the right thing for her to do and it was very helpful to "SNL." Does it get them to where they want to get to, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue? I don't know. Maybe back to 30 Rock, though.
LAUER: It gets "SNL" to where they want to be. There's no question about it! Tom Brokaw. Tom, thanks very much.
 ABC's McFadden Fawns Over 'Genuine' Pals
Hillary and Obama
Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden on Monday used the opportunity of the first dual interview with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to gush over the two Democrats and offer no challenging questions. Speaking to the senators after a campaign rally in Florida, she fawned: "You looked pretty good up there together." The co-anchor also excitedly tossed this softball to Clinton and Obama: "Are you going to win? Are you going to win down here?"
Fully embracing Democratic talking points that the two once-bitter rivals are now friendly, McFadden fawned, "...Two weeks before the presidential election, they genuinely seemed to have bonded over their singular mission to put a Democrat in the White House."
Offering amateur psychology, the ABC host wondered, "How does it feel today? Still a little awkward or have we gotten over the awkward period in the relationship?" McFadden presented no questions about Obama running mate Joe Biden's assertion on Sunday that the Illinois senator would be tested by a major international crisis in the first six months of his potential presidency. In addition, there were no questions about terrorist bomber William Ayers or any other serious issue.
[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
But McFadden did seem to make fun of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's remarks last week that she liked visiting "pro-America" parts of the country. The reporter mockingly asked Obama, "So, are we in the real America? The pro-America part of America here in Florida?"
McFadden's interview was so accepting of Obama spin, that it was left to her co-anchor Martin Bashir to provide some much-needed skepticism. He queried, "Cynthia, these are two mightily ambitious people. He won the nomination, she did not. Are you telling me that their friendliness and their camaraderie was really genuine tonight?"
McFadden covered Clinton during the primaries and developed quite a history of putting forth easy questions to the senator. On December 19, 2007, she sympathetically mused, "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?" On January 30, McFadden returned to the subject and seriously asked, "When you lie awake at night...what worries you?" See a February 4 CyberAlert posting for more: www.mrc.org
A transcript of the October 20 Nightline segment:
MARTIN BASHIR: There's late news tonight from the presidential campaign trail. Barack Obama's 85-year-old grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, is gravely ill. So ill, that Obama will cancel two days of campaigning from Thursday to return to Hawaii to see her. This has come at a critical moment. There are just two weeks until Election Day. An ABC News poll released today found Obama holding a nine-point advantage among likely voters, over rival John McCain. And today in Florida, the largest battleground state, Barack Obama was joined by his former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. And perhaps surprisingly, they appeared as the best of friends, as my co-anchor, Cynthia McFadden now reports.
CYNTHIA MCFADDEN: Having followed Hillary Clinton around on the campaign trail for the better part of the last two years it seemed pretty obvious when she lost the nomination to Barack Obama and the two of them appeared on the stage together, well, it had about all the warmth of a shotgun wedding. An unquiet peace had been declared, but it was that, unquiet. We saw something different today here in Orlando, Florida where the two senators agreed for first time to a joint interview. It was a moment many thought would never happen and certainly not in Florida. And it crackled. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sharing a stage in Orlando as 50,000 enthusiastically united Democrats cheered them on.
PEDESTRIAN (FEMALES): Yes, we can.
CYNTHIA MCFADDEN: Hillary Clinton, who not so long ago tried to force the Democratic Party to count her one-sided win here, in Florida's primary.
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON: Thank you, Orlando.
MCFADDEN: Tonight, those old wounds have been put aside as Clinton stood up and delivered.
CLINTON: We need you to work as hard as you can in the next two weeks. Many of you supported me in the primary and I am very grateful and very appreciative of each and every one of you. Now I am asking you to work as hard for Barack as you worked for me.
MCFADDEN: Obama seized the moment.
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: The main thing I want to do is I want to thank Hillary Clinton. [Trying to start a chant.] Hillary, Hillary. Hillary.
MCFADDEN: And then turned his sights on John McCain.
OBAMA: Misleading mail and TV ads. Careless, outrageous statements, all aimed at keeping us from working together. All aimed at stopping change. I mean, it's getting so bad that Senator McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night. Now, you have to work really hard to violate Governor Palin's standards on negative campaigning.
MCFADDEN: After the rally, we spoke exclusively with Senator Obama. What can Hillary Clinton do for you in Florida that you can't do for yourself here?
OBAMA: You know, Hillary I think is as effective a spokesperson for the Democratic idea, which is that everybody gets a fair shot. That's what she's been fighting for. You know, there are some passionate supporters of hers that, you know, may still be trying to figure out who to vote for. You know, she's got some great crossover appeal. And so, you know, for her to take the time to come down, and she's been consistent in campaigning down here in Florida for us. I think it's part of the reason why we're doing a little better now than we were just a month ago.
MCFADDEN: You think so?
OBAMA: Absolutely.
MCFADDEN: So, are we in the real America? The pro-America part of America here in Florida?
OBAMA: You know, as I said in my speech, I haven't been to a spot yet that's not pro-America. People have differences politically. But everybody is a patriot, and that's one of the things that I hope we get back to in our politics, if I'm elected president.
MCFADDEN: And then Senator Clinton joined him, for their first dual interview ever. Let me ask, let me say, the last time you two appeared on the stage together campaigning was a different time. The raw wound was still a little bit more open in June in New Hampshire. How does it feel today? Still a little awkward or have we gotten over the awkward period in the relationship?
CLINTON: No, we've had a great campaign.
OBAMA [Hugs Clinton]: She's been doing great. And I can't- I was just telling her, I can't thank her enough. And in places like Florida where she's got so much popularity, she can be a more effective messenger for us than just about anybody.
MCFADDEN: Are you going to win? Are you going to win down here?
CLINTON: We're going to win. I mean, we are going to win. This campaign has so much momentum for all the right reasons. Not only are people concluding, I think in their own self-interest, that they need Barack as our president, but external circumstances and the economy have focused everybody's attention on what's gone on for the last eight years. And, you know, what Barack is offering is the kind of change that is needed. It's not just campaign slogan. It is absolutely at the root of everything he stands for. And the more I campaign across the country I'm seeing people really make up their minds that they're voting for themselves by voting for Senator Obama.
MCFADDEN: You looked pretty good up there together. Thank you. [voice over] And that was true. They may not ride off into the sunset together, but tonight, two weeks before the presidential election, they genuinely seemed to have bonded over their singular mission to put a Democrat in the White House. Like 30 other states, Florida has early voting and today was first day of early voting here. Barack Obama would dearly like to have Florida's 27 electoral votes, but John McCain needs them. There is no road to the White House, according to most pundits, except through Florida for John McCain. We'll see what happens in this state. Right now the polls show the men neck in neck with Obama with a slight lead. Martin?
BASHIR: Cynthia, these are two mightily ambitious people. He won the nomination, she did not. Are you telling me that their friendliness and their camaraderie was really genuine tonight?
MCFADDEN: Well, of course I don't know, Martin. And maybe I'm easily persuaded but it did seem that the tension had gone out of the balloon. The two of them seemed to be joking around together, both when the camera was on and when the camera off. I can't tell you they're gonna be best friends forever, but I can tell you that something significant has changed in that relationship in the course of the last four months. At least it seemed so to me. Martin?
 ABC Skips for Almost 24 Hours Own Scoop
on Biden's Obama 'Crisis'
Despite featuring the story on its "Political Radar" blog on Monday morning, the ABC network ignored for almost 24 hours the claim by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden that Barack Obama will be tested by a major "international crisis" in the first (potential) six months of his presidency. Monday's Good Morning America skipped the story, as did that evening's World News With Charles Gibson and Nightline.
In fact, Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden actually conducted an interview with Senator Obama after a campaign rally in Florida. Despite the fact that she had nabbed the first joint interview with Obama and Clinton since the Illinois senator won the nomination, she didn't address the issue. Rather than ask what his running mate meant when he said, "Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy," McFadden chose to limit her questions to how the relationship between Obama and Clinton had changed. For more on Biden's quote, see Political Radar: blogs.abcnews.com
Details of Monday night coverage on the CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News: www.mrc.org
The issue finally came up when reporter Jake Tapper mentioned it on Tuesday's GMA, a day later. Discussing Senator John McCain, he observed: "Meanwhile, John McCain has been on the attack, responding to Joe Biden's comment that the world would quickly test a President Obama." He then featured a clip of McCain during a campaign speech: "We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars."
(World News caught up on Tuesday night as reporter Ron Claiborne included this audio from Biden: "Watch, we're gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.")
[This item, by the MRC's Scott Whitlock, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
Co-host Robin Roberts also raised the issue with Obama's communications director, Robert Gibbs. She wondered, "Robert, Senator Biden raised a lot of eyebrows with what he said yesterday about the possibility, if Barack Obama is elected, that he would be tested, possibly, in the first six months." The ABC host then asked, "Now, John McCain says, we don't want a president who invites testing. Is he right there?"
Well-known liberal Dan Rather actually made a very salient point about this subject on Tuesday's Morning Joe on MSNBC. He explained: "Certainly if Sarah Palin had said this, it would be above the fold in most newspapers today." A few seconds later, Rather reiterated his contention: "If Sarah Palin had said this, the newspapers would have jumped all over it and so would have the major television outlets." For more on this, see an October 21, 2008 NewsBusters posting: newsbusters.org
Transcripts of the two mentions on the October 21 Good Morning America:
7:04:
JAKE TAPPER: Meanwhile, John McCain has been on the attack, responding to Joe Biden's comment that the world would quickly test a President Obama.
JOHN MCCAIN: We don't want a president who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.
7:09am:
ROBIN ROBERTS: And Senator McCain has stayed on message and talking a great deal about that. Robert, Senator Biden raised a lot of eyebrows with what he said yesterday about the possibility, if Barack Obama is elected, that he would be tested, possibly, in the first six months. And he urged supporters to stand with him because it may not be apparent right away, that they're right. Now, John McCain says, we don't want a president who invites testing. Is he right there?
ROBERT GIBBS: Well, look. Any president, whoever the next president of the United States is going to be tested [sic]. We have a global economic crisis that's affecting everybody in this country, not just on Wall Street, but on main street. Unlike Senator McCain, Senator Obama doesn't believe that the economy is fundamentally strong. We're going to be tested overseas in both Iraq and Afghanistan and throughout the world. You know, we've- over the last eight years, we've, this country has been pointed in the wrong direction. We're in a deep hole that we have to dig out of because of the Bush years and quite frankly, because of John McCain voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time over these eight years. So, there's no doubt we have challenges. We have to get Washington working for America again. I think that's what the key is. We have to bring people together. We have to take on the special interests. Unite as one country and move this country forward.
 CBS and NBC Refuse to Scold Obama's False
Medicare Slam on McCain
Over the past few days, the Obama campaign has been claiming -- both in ads and in statements by Barack Obama himself -- that John McCain would "cut" Medicare benefits by "$882 billion," a charge that the Associated Press called "shaky" and that FactCheck.org bluntly dismissed as "bogus" and "false."
Yet of the three broadcast networks, only ABC News has thus far joined the condemnation of Obama's deceptive ad. NBC on Monday would only go so far as to say "McCain's advisors say that's not true..." -- implying that it's merely a partisan difference of opinion -- while CBS has thus far refrained from questioning Obama's truthfulness on this issue.
For weeks now, the networks have complained about the McCain campaign's supposed nasty and unfair campaign attacks against Obama, so when will NBC and CBS join ABC in punishing this nasty and unfair charge from the Democrats?
[This item, by the MRC's Rich Noyes, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
ABC's Jake Tapper in a "Fact Check" that aired on Monday's Good Morning America, as transcribed by the MRC's Scott Whitlock:
JAKE TAPPER: Good morning, Robin. Well, in the closing weeks of any political campaign, as candidates careen through battleground states in their campaign buses, they tend to leave the facts by the side of the road. In Virginia, Senator Barack Obama launched a new attack, saying John McCain plans to gut Medicare to pay for his health care proposal.
 SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: It turns out, Senator McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare, $882 billion worth.
TAPPER [Big red "FALSE" stamp appears onscreen]: That's false. The $882 billion number comes from a liberal think tank. The McCain campaign says the savings would not come from cutting benefits, but from program changes such as encouraging the use of more generic drugs.
On Friday's World News Tonight, ABC's David Wright had slammed the Obama claims as a "distortion," but gave McCain a verbal kick in the shins at the same time:
DAVID WRIGHT: Today Barack Obama accused John McCain of undermining Medicare.
BARACK OBAMA: Time and again, he's opposed Medicare. In fact, Senator McCain has voted against protecting Medicare 40 times.
WRIGHT: That's a distortion of McCain's record, just as McCain distorts Obama's record when he claims Obama voted 94 times to raise taxes.
On Saturday's Good Morning America, ABC's John Berman discussed Obama's ads, but instead of questioning their accuracy, he saluted the Democratic campaign's incredible financial resources:
JOHN BERMAN: With just two weeks to go until Election Day, Barack Obama is unleashing a three-pronged attack, with his voice, his wallet, and his airplane. The latest front, the new charges about Medicare, claiming McCain would cut spending....It's a sensitive issue in key states with a lot of seniors, such as Florida and Pennsylvania....
BERMAN: This new ad is just one of the multimillion dollar barrage from the Obama campaign. He has spent about $60 million more on ads than McCain. And he's outspending him three to one in Virginia, four to one in Florida, and eight to one in North Carolina.
On Monday's NBC Nightly News, in a longer piece about the candidates' health policies, reporter Mark Potter raised the issue Obama's ad but would not condemn it as factually flawed:
MARK POTTER: A recent Obama ad running in Florida and other states-
OBAMA AD: 882 billion from Medicare alone
 POTTER: -accuses McCain of threatening to cut Medicare benefits. But McCain's advisers say that's not true, arguing any cuts in Medicare spending will only come from attacking waste and fraud. Despite its importance, though, neither candidate has made Medicare a campaign priority.
On Saturday, the Associated Press put out a "fact check" headlined: "Obama's claim of benefit cuts suspect." Reporter Kevin Freking found little basis for Obama's incendiary claim:
Obama's charge is built on a shaky foundation. The campaign's evidence that McCain would make such cuts relies on a Wall Street Journal article where no specific cuts were mentioned.
In what little detail McCain discusses Medicaid and Medicare on his campaign Web site, he makes no mention of cutting benefits. He says this about the two health programs, the first for the poor, the second for the elderly and disabled: "We must reform the payment systems in Medicaid and Medicare to compensate providers for diagnosis, prevention and care coordination. Medicaid and Medicare should not pay for preventable medical errors or mismanagement."
AP article: LINK: ap.google.com
Then on Monday, FactCheck.org's Brooks Jackson came out even stronger against the Obama claims:
In a TV ad and in speeches, Obama is making bogus claims that McCain plans to cut $880 billion from Medicare spending and to reduce benefits.
# A TV spot says McCain's plan requires "cuts in benefits, eligibility or both."
# Obama said in a speech that McCain plans "cuts" that would force seniors to "pay more for your drugs, receive fewer services, and get lower quality care."
These claims are false, and based on a single newspaper report that says no such thing. McCain's policy director states unequivocally that no benefit cuts are envisioned. McCain does propose substantial "savings" through such means as cutting fraud, increased use of information technology in medicine and better handling of expensive chronic diseases. Obama himself proposes some of the same cost-saving measures. We're skeptical that either candidate can deliver the savings they promise, but that's no basis for Obama to accuse McCain of planning huge benefit cuts.
END of Excerpt
See: www.factcheck.org
Every election year, Democrats seek to convince senior citizens that Republicans are scheming to cut Social Security and/or Medicare benefits, and the media typically provide only a half-hearted pushback against such scare tactics. So far, this year seems little different.
 CNN's Martin Uses Cliched 'Fat Idiot'
Label Against Limbaugh
CNN contributor Roland Martin used an unoriginal line to disparage Rush Limbaugh on Monday's Election Center program. Host Campbell Brown wanted Martin, a Barack Obama supporter, to comment on something the talk radio host had said about Colin Powell's endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate: "Rush Limbaugh said today, this is about race. That's all it's about." Martin's response: "I think I will quote Al Franken when talking about Rush Limbaugh -- is a stupid, fat idiot."
Martin made the comment during a panel discussion with Brown, CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger, and Kevin Madden, the former spokesman for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign, in which the four of them discussed the Powell endorsement of Obama. After his cliched attack, the CNN contributor accused Limbaugh, as well as Pat Buchanan and George Will, of disregarding Powell's record and simplifying his endorsement to a matter of skin color: "Colin Powell gave one of the most thoughtful, meticulous endorsements of any candidate, and laid it all out very methodically, and it is an insult for people like Rush Limbaugh and Buchanan and Will and others to somehow say, oh, it's only because he's black."
[This item, by the MRC's Matthew Balan, was posted Tuesday afternoon on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]
The transcript of the relevant portion of the panel discussion, which aired 18 minutes into the 8 pm Eastern hour of Monday's Election Center program:
CAMPBELL BROWN: Roland, Rush Limbaugh said today, this is about race. That's all it's about.
ROLAND MARTIN: I think I will quote Al Franken when talking about Rush Limbaugh -- is a stupid, fat idiot. Here's the problem, Campbell, that I have with this -- people like Rush Limbaugh and Pat Buchanan and George Will -- they have praised Colin Powell over all these years for being race-neutral, for being somebody who they can look to differently than other African-Americans. They have embraced him. Now, all of a sudden, they have thrown out the fact that he was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thrown out the fact that he's a general, a four-star general -- thrown out National Security Adviser, Secretary of State. All of sudden, oh, no, because he's black. Colin Powell gave one of the most thoughtful, meticulous endorsements of any candidate, and laid it all out very methodically, and it is an insult for people like Rush Limbaugh and Buchanan and Will and others to somehow say, oh, it's only because he's black. No -- this guy has observed four U.S. presidents up close. I think he has a much better idea of who can occupy the Oval Office than Rush Limbaugh ever could.
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-- Brent Baker
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After seven weeks of the news media deriding Sarah Palin, Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday night seemed to delight in emphasizing how, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll which led the NBC Nightly News, Palin is hurting McCain as Obama surges ahead. And Williams touted Colin Powell's Sunday endorsement of Barack Obama as "the shot heard 'round the world." After reciting how the survey of registered voters put Obama up by ten points, 52 to 42 percent, Williams asserted: "Perhaps more dangerous for the GOP ticket, most of those polled do not believe Sarah Palin is qualified to be President, by a margin of 55 percent to 40 percent." 
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Good evening. We are releasing them tonight here for the first time. And our new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll numbers now show a widening gap for Barack Obama in this snapshot of the U.S. electorate if the election were held today. Our poll shows Obama has opened up a 10-point lead now over Senator John McCain, 52-42. Notably this shows Obama at over 50 percent for the first time in our polling. 
SARAH PALIN: I do want a President who is ready to lead on day one. 
At the top of Tuesday's CBS Early Show co-host Harry Smith teased his interview with John McCain: "Exclusive, McCain one-on-one on Sarah Palin...everything from robo-calls to his health." During the later segment, Smith declared: "A lot of Republican pundits in the last couple of weeks have said that your choice of a vice presidential candidate of Sarah Palin has been a disaster." He then asked McCain: "If, in fact, you found out that her candidacy cost you the election, would you still say it was the right choice?" McCain replied: "Harry. Look. Come to one of the rallies with me. You'll see the ignition out there and the passion and the incredible intensity out there for Sarah Palin." 
Tom Brokaw appeared on NBC's Today and CNN's American Morning on Monday to promote the pro-Obama effect of Colin Powell's endorsement on Meet the Press. On both networks, Brokaw insisted "Colin Powell is one of the most admired and respected men, not just in this country, but around the world. And he has this gold plated military and national security resume." But he was more effusive on CNN, declaring that President Obama would be proof that America's made "giant steps" since Martin Luther King, but John McCain might still be an obstacle to historic transformation with his "guerrilla warfare" on the campaign trail. Brokaw's praise unfurled as CNN anchor Kiran Chetry described Obama as the "culmination" of King's dream: 
Nightline co-anchor Cynthia McFadden on Monday used the opportunity of the first dual interview with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to gush over the two Democrats and offer no challenging questions. Speaking to the senators after a campaign rally in Florida, she fawned: "You looked pretty good up there together." The co-anchor also excitedly tossed this softball to Clinton and Obama: "Are you going to win? Are you going to win down here?" 
Despite featuring the story on its "Political Radar" blog on Monday morning, the ABC network ignored for almost 24 hours the claim by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden that Barack Obama will be tested by a major "international crisis" in the first (potential) six months of his presidency. Monday's Good Morning America skipped the story, as did that evening's World News With Charles Gibson and Nightline. 
Co-host Robin Roberts also raised the issue with Obama's communications director, Robert Gibbs. She wondered, "Robert, Senator Biden raised a lot of eyebrows with what he said yesterday about the possibility, if Barack Obama is elected, that he would be tested, possibly, in the first six months." The ABC host then asked, "Now, John McCain says, we don't want a president who invites testing. Is he right there?" 
Over the past few days, the Obama campaign has been claiming -- both in ads and in statements by Barack Obama himself -- that John McCain would "cut" Medicare benefits by "$882 billion," a charge that the Associated Press called "shaky" and that FactCheck.org bluntly dismissed as "bogus" and "false." 
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: It turns out, Senator McCain would pay for part of his plan by making drastic cuts in Medicare, $882 billion worth. 
DAVID WRIGHT: Today Barack Obama accused John McCain of undermining Medicare. 
POTTER: -accuses McCain of threatening to cut Medicare benefits. But McCain's advisers say that's not true, arguing any cuts in Medicare spending will only come from attacking waste and fraud. Despite its importance, though, neither candidate has made Medicare a campaign priority. 
CNN contributor Roland Martin used an unoriginal line to disparage Rush Limbaugh on Monday's Election Center program. Host Campbell Brown wanted Martin, a Barack Obama supporter, to comment on something the talk radio host had said about Colin Powell's endorsement of the Democratic presidential candidate: "Rush Limbaugh said today, this is about race. That's all it's about." Martin's response: "I think I will quote Al Franken when talking about Rush Limbaugh -- is a stupid, fat idiot." 