CNN's Lawrence again suggested Tester is "a get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy," unlike other "urban, elite Democrats"
During CNN's special November 7 coverage of the midterm elections, CNN correspondent Christopher Lawrence again suggested that Montana Democratic Senate candidate Jon Tester is "a different kind of Democrat" because Tester is "a farmer; he's a get-your-hands-dirty kind of guy," unlike "urban, elite Democrats." As Media Matters for America noted, on the November 6 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, Lawrence similarly stated that Tester is "not your typical Democrat," because he is a "third-generation farmer" and "runs a butcher shop," suggesting that few Democrats hold similar occupations. Read more
On MSNBC, O'Donnell let conservative guests baselessly dismiss allegations of voter intimidation in Virginia
During MSNBC's special November 7 coverage of the midterm elections, MSNBC chief Washington correspondent Norah O'Donnell repeatedly failed to confront her Republican and conservative guests when they dismissed reports of alleged voter intimidation in Virginia. According to a report from MSNBC correspondent David Shuster posted at 8:15 a.m. ET on NBC News' First Read weblog, at issue are "complaints of suspicious phone calls to voters that attempted to misdirect or confuse them about election day." In his report, Shuster stated that the secretary of Virginia's Board of Elections confirmed that the FBI is investigating the matter. But O'Donnell never mentioned the specific allegations being investigated when three different guests attempted to dismiss such allegations with charges that Democrats were "crying wolf": Read more
Fox's MacCallum said, "[L]ook at ... Barack Obama ... he looks young, he looks healthy, he looks strong," over footage of Harold Ford Jr.
On the November 6 edition of Fox News' The Live Desk, footage of Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (TN) played on-screen while host Martha MacCallum said, "I was reading something about evolution and it talked about virility and, you know, health and fitness and survival of the fittest. It's sort of a natural instinct, in many ways, to look at someone like [Sen.] Barack Obama [D-IL] as you point out, and say, you know, he looks young, he looks healthy, he looks strong." Read more
NY Times' Zeleny cherry-picked Santorum campaign expenses to suggest extravagant spending by Clinton campaign
New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny purported to show that "bills for catering, flowers and photography" elevated campaign expenses for Sen. Hillary Clinton, contrasting them with more mundane expenses by Sen. Rick Santorum's campaign. But Zeleny ignored Santorum's more costly expenses; in fact, Santorum's campaign spent more money in the third quarter of 2006 than Clinton's did. Read more
Shipman suggested Democratic-controlled Congress would result in "a culture of gridlock," misled on Democrats' tax position
On Good Morning America, Claire Shipman warned that "we're still likely, if the Democrats get the House, to see a culture of gridlock" because "[n]either side will have the 60 votes in the Senate they would need to really get things done." Shipman did not inform viewers of the number of issues on the GOP legislative agenda that went unaddressed in this congressional session. Read more
Contrasting Steele and Ford, Matthews asserted "unthreatening" Steele is a "gentleman of the first order" and later endorsed him
During MSNBC's Battleground America coverage, Chris Matthews stated that Tennessee Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. is "not as good a candidate as [Maryland Republican Senate candidate] Michael Steele," citing an incident in which Ford approached his opponent outside a campaign event. Matthews compared this to a 2000 presidential debate in which Al Gore approached George W. Bush; Matthews said Gore was "being a fool" and "a dork" for doing so. However, in a 2002 book, Matthews wrote that Gore "turned in his best performance" during that debate. Read more
Ingraham encourages listeners to jam phone lines of Democratic voter assistance hotline
As the weblog Firedoglake first noted, during the November 7 edition of her nationally syndicated talk radio show, Laura Ingraham urged listeners to jam the phone lines of 1-888-DEM-VOTE, a voter assistance hotline sponsored by the Democratic Party. Ingraham stated: "I want you to call it and I want you tell us what you get when you call 1-888-DEM-VOTE. They're on top of all of the shenanigans at the polling stations. One problem: you can't get through." Minutes later, while talking with a listener who called the hotline, Ingraham said: "Let's keep 'dem' lines ringing." Ingraham, a frequent Fox News contributor, is scheduled to appear on the November 7 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto. Read more
Brokaw compared Foley scandal, Haggard to Kerry's "botched joke"
Discussing the weeks and months leading up to the midterm elections on the November 7 broadcast of NBC's Today, NBC special correspondent Tom Brokaw stated, "Both parties have been rocked by the unexpected," and then compared "[Sen.] John Kerry's [D-MA] clumsy joke about education and service in Iraq" to "Congressman [Mark] Foley [R-FL] and the congressional page scandal," as well as "the Ted Haggard story." Read more
Mitchell baselessly suggested misleading Republican "robocalls" are "the kind of procedure that both parties have used"
NBC News' Andrea Mitchell baselessly suggested that making "robocalls," such as the one "being used in Illinois against [Democratic congressional candidate] Tammy Duckworth" is "the kind of procedure that both parties have used -- clearly -- but the Republicans have used it more this year than not." Read more
Rupert Murdoch -- who once predicted Iraq war could lead to $20/barrel oil -- described war casualties as "minute"
On November 6, News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch reportedly said at a conference in Tokyo that U.S. casualties in Iraq, "by the terms of any previous war are quite minute," as the weblog Democratic Underground noted. He further stated: "I believe it was right to go in there. I believe that certainly the execution that has followed that has included many mistakes. But that's easy to say after the event." Murdoch, whose conservative media empire includes Fox News Channel, the New York Post, and The Weekly Standard, vocally supported the war in 2003, citing potential economic benefits. As of November 3, according to CNN, a total of 2,836 U.S. soldiers have been killed since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Read more
ABC, NBC morning shows suggested -- contrary to administration statements -- that Bush will reconsider Iraq policy
On the November 7 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, ABC chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz baselessly asserted that President Bush "will likely reassess what is happening with his policy in Iraq" because "he does not want this to be an issue in 2008." Similarly on the November 7 edition of NBC's Today, NBC special correspondent Tom Brokaw uncritically aired part of an October 26 press conference in which Bush claimed to be "not satisfied with the situation in Iraq" and added that "we're taking new steps to help secure Baghdad." In fact, more recent statements by Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have indicated that the Bush administration has no plans to change its policy in Iraq. Read more
In scandal discussion, Dobson and allies omitted Haggard's admission that he purchased drugs During the November 6 broadcast of Focus on the Family, James Dobson and a group of allies did not mention one of the allegations surrounding Rev. Ted Haggard: that Haggard has admitted purchasing methamphetamines from self-described male prostitute Mike Jones. Read more
Scarborough baselessly suggested Weldon probe is politically motivated
In an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Michael Smerconish during the November 7 edition of MSNBC's Decision 2006: Battleground America, host Joe Scarborough baselessly suggested that the investigation into whether Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA) used his position in Congress to improperly steer lucrative contracts to his daughter's lobbying firm was a "dirty trick" because the FBI launched the "investigation and [issued] a search warrant three weeks before voters go to the polls." Scarborough added: "[O]h, I'm sure that was just a coincidence." Smerconish later commented: "What I've always liked about Curt Weldon is his fierce independence, and I would just hate to think that he's legitimately jammed up now with the Justice Department." But contrary to Scarborough's suggestion that the FBI investigation of Weldon is politically motivated, the FBI is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is part of the Bush administration and headed by Bush confidante Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales. Read more
MSNBC's O'Donnell failed to identify Matalin as Allen campaign adviser, misrepresented recent polls
During the November 7 edition of MSNBC's Decision 2006: Battleground America, host Norah O'Donnell did not identify Republican political strategist Mary Matalin as an adviser to the campaign of incumbent Sen. George Allen (R-VA), despite a question from O'Donnell about potential "monkey business" in the Virginia Senate race. As Matalin denied the charge "that Republicans are engaged in dirty tricks in Virginia," on-screen text throughout the interview identified Matalin simply as a "Republican strategist." As Media Matters for America has noted, Chris Cillizza, editor of washingtonpost.com's political weblog The Fix, wrote in an April 6 post that Matalin had "join[ed] Team Allen" to "oversee fundraising for the Allen Victory Committee. Funds raised for the state GOP will go to get-out-the-vote efforts, according to Allen chief of staff Dick Wadhams." On October 29, the Allen campaign issued a press release in which Matalin, who was identified as an "informal advisor to the Allen campaign," attacked Allen's Democratic opponent, former Navy Secretary James Webb. Read more
No comments:
Post a Comment