RepublicanConvention

NYT's Tale of Two Political Conventions: Optimism for Dems in NC, But 'Woeful Disconnect' Possible for G.O.P. in Tampa

Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:51:00 +0000

Clay Waters

Barack Obama has chosen Charlotte, N.C., as the host city for the 2012 Democratic convention that will officially launch his re-election campaign. (The Republicans picked Tampa, Fla., in May of last year.) New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny on Wednesday evaluated Obama's choice in terms favorable to the Democrats: "Can North Carolina Deliver Again? - Democrats Pick Charlotte for Convention." Obama won North Carolina in 2008.

A Tale of Two Political Conventions: Optimism for Dems in NC, But 'Woeful Disconnect' Possible for G.O.P. in Tampa

admin — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:04:00 +0000

The Times on the Democrats' convention choice: "Can North Carolina Deliver Again?" The Times on the G.O.P.'s choice: "The wrong mix of poverty juxtaposed with Republicans partying - perhaps against a backdrop of oil-stained beaches - could give Democrats just what they need to portray their opponents as woefully disconnected from the middle class."

Clay Waters

Barack Obama has chosen Charlotte, N.C., as the host city for the 2012 Democratic convention that will officially launch his re-election campaign. (The Republicans picked Tampa, Fla., in May of last year.) Reporter Jeff Zeleny on Wednesday evaluated Obama's choice in terms favorable to the Democrats: "Can North Carolina Deliver Again? - Democrats Pick Charlotte for Convention." Obama won North Carolina in 2008.

CNN Parrots Dems on Republicans and Economy

admin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 17:19:53 +0000

Nathan Burchfiel

CNN’s “best political team on television” is proving itself to be the best at closing its eyes, plugging its ears and repeating “la, la, la, we can’t hear you” when it comes to Republicans addressing economic concerns.

CNN – along with the broadcast networks of ABC, CBS and NBC – spent time during the Democratic National Convention parroting Sen. Barack Obama’s dismal view of an economy in “turmoil.” Its coverage of the Republican National Convention (RNC) showed little change, except to incorrectly accuse Republicans of ignoring the issue.

Seelye Shrugs Off Dem. Ed Rendell's "Big Lie" Smear of McCain

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:35:00 +0000

Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell accused the McCain camp of employing "the Big Lie strategy."

Clay Waters

Katharine Seelye's Monday evening post on "The Caucus" blog, "Rendell: 'The Big Lie Strategy,'" passed along without comment an inflammatory, Hitler-tingedaccusation against the McCain-Palin ticket from Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell, who accused McCain of "lying" about Barack Obama's middle-class tax plans. Seelye also accepted the judgment of a liberal-leaning tax policy consortium that Obama's tax plan would not in fact raise taxes on most people.

Bob Herbert Unleashed: "Arch-Conservative" Clarence Thomas's "Self-Hatred"

admin — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 17:40:00 +0000

Mild-mannered columnist Bob Herbert lets the mask slip: "Self-hatred is a terrible thing. Just ask that arch-conservative Clarence Thomas."

Clay Waters

What's gotten into the Times' normally mild-mannered, paleo-liberal columnist Bob Herbert? The former NBC News reporter doesn't usually get too hyperbolic in his twice-weekly columns, which is why Times Watch moreoftencites the spikier leftist columnists like Paul Krugman and Frank Rich - plusHerbert's soporofic style makes one reluctant to read on.

The "Fraudulent...Fiction" of the McCain-Palin Ticket

admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:53:00 +0000

Conservatives are happy, and columnist Frank Rich is spitting mad.

Clay Waters

John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin has conservatives excited and columnist Frank Rich spitting mad at the "fraudulent" "fiction" from theRepublican Convention,as demonstrated in his weekly super-sized Sunday column, "Palin and McCain's Shotgun Marriag

The NYT Tackles US Weekly's "Scandalous" Cover Story on Sarah Palin

admin — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 18:22:00 +0000

A focus on liberal bias: "The celebrity magazine, which usually focuses more on Britney and baby bumps than elections, drew criticism from readers for the cover. A record number of commenters on the Us magazine Web site - more than 6,600, at last count - weighed in, most focusing on the magazine's perceived bias."

Clay Waters

In an uncommon acknowledgement of the media bias issue, reporter Stephanie Clifford tackled allegations of pro-Michelle Obama, anti-Sarah Palin bias in the celebrity magazine US Weekly in a Monday Business section story, "Readers See Bias in US Weekly's Take on Sarah Palin."

GOP Convention Reminded Reporter of "Belligerent" Buchanan Speech of '92

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:17:00 +0000

"The Republican National Convention this week in Minneapolis-St. Paul hardly measures up to the belligerence of Patrick J. Buchanan's 1992 call for a 'cultural war,' but some of the same refrains are playing in the background."

Clay Waters

In his Friday "Political Memo," "Firing Up the Faithful With Echoes of Culture War Rhetoric," conservative-beat reporter David Kirkpatrick, watching the Republican Convention, uniquely managed to hear echoes of the GOP's 1992 convention - specifically what Kirkpatrick called the "belligerence" of Pat Buchanan's "cultural war" speech, widely cited in the media (though not necessarily at the time) as leadin

Sticking Up for Harry Reid Against Sarah Palin

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:48:00 +0000

Reporter Carl Hulse: "Now Harry Reid is hardly thin-skinned and almost anything else Ms. Palin could have said about him might not have drawn much of a reaction. But to the former boxer from tiny Searchlight, Nev., that insinuation from Governor Palin amounts to fighting words. He sees himself as more than capable of standing up to Mr. McCain..."

Clay Waters

It was "Reid vs. Palin" in a Thursday afternoon "Caucus" posting by congressional reporter Carl Hulse, who firstdowngraded an insult Senate Majority leader Harry Reid hurled at Republican presidential nominee John McCain, then let Reid take aim at Sarah Palin.

Hulse is apparently grading Reid'sinsults on a curve:

Times Still Denigrating Sarah Palin's Experience, Slides by Sexism Charges

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:48:00 +0000

"Ms. Palin's speech came after Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York launched a withering attack on Mr. Obama as part of a relentless assault by Republicans arguing that Ms. Palin, the former mayor of a town of less than 7,000 people who has been governor of Alaska for 20 months, had a more impressive resume than Mr. Obama."

Clay Waters

Thursday's lead story by Elisabeth Bumiller and Michael Cooper covered Palin's rapturously received speech at the Republican Convention Wednesday night, "On Center Stage, Palin Electrifies Convention." After describing how she introduced herself to the "roaring crowd" in St. Paul, the Times threw in thisdubious assertion:

Reporter Laments Loss of Old, Media-Friendly McCain

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:09:00 +0000

Reporter Jim Rutenberg sees charges of liberal media bias as a campaign tactic, not a genuine concern.

Clay Waters

Reporter Jim Rutenberg pined for the old John McCain, media darling, in Thursday's "Old Friends in the Media See a New Side of McCain."

Republican Convention Too White and Too Male for NYT Reporter

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:58:00 +0000

Patrick Healy forwarded Democratic criticism of the GOP's "unrepresentative sea of white faces, the ghost of elections to come..."

Clay Waters

The Republican National Convention is evidentlytoo white and male for (white male) reporter Patrick Healy, according to the lede to Thursday's "Two Conventions With No Shortage of Contrasts."

No Media Sexism Here, Says Alessandra Stanley

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:47:00 +0000

But in June Stanley said that both Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama had endured "antifeminist hazing."

Clay Waters

No media sexism here, says the suddenly blasé TV critic Alessandra Stanley in "Ending a Dangerous Silence, Palin Confidently Makes Her Own Case," her take on Wednesday night's Republican Convention speech by McCain's running mate Sarah Palin.

Another Day, Another Republican Attacking "Obama's Patriotism"

admin — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:47:00 +0000

The Times claims John McCain "initiated a series of attacks on Senator Barack Obama's patriotism..." - but again fails to back up the charge with a single example.

Clay Waters

On the eve of John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican Convention in St. Paul, Thursday's front-page delivered a mixed profile of McCain by Mark Leibovich and David Kirkpatrick, "Serving a Cause and a Desire to Succeed."

Laura Ingraham Points the Finger (Literally) at NYT's "Entrenched Elite"

admin — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:25:00 +0000

Katharine Seelye gets more than she bargained for at a pro-life convention gathering.

Clay Waters

Reporter Katharine Seelye attended a pro-lifeconclave at the Republican Convention hosted by Phyllis Schlaflyand got more than she bargained for from meeting guest and radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, judging from Seelye's Tuesday evening post, "Talk Radio Host Slams Media, Palin Critics."