Wash. Post's Meyerson asserted Clinton "hemm[ed] and haw[ed]" over Obama's religion
The Washington Post's Harold Meyerson wrote that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "hemm[ed] and haw[ed]" in response to a question during a 60 Minutes interview "over whether [Sen. Barack] Obama really is Christian." In fact, CBS correspondent Steve Kroft asked Clinton whether she believes Obama is a Muslim, and contrary to Meyerson's characterization, during the interview, Clinton repeatedly made clear that she believes Obama is not a Muslim. Her first three words in response to the question -- "You don't believe that Senator Obama is a Muslim?" -- were, "Of course not." Read More
CNN's Borger falsely asserted McCain "absolutely" "called for [Rumsfeld] to be fired"
On The Situation Room, CNN senior political analyst Gloria Borger falsely claimed that "[Sen. John] McCain has said over and over again, you know, 'I would have fired [former Secretary of Defense] Donald Rumsfeld.' ... [H]e called for him to be fired while -- in the Senate." In fact, McCain did not call for Rumsfeld to resign or to be fired. Read More
WSJ quoted McCain touting his "pro-environment positions," but didn't note his poor LCV score
The Wall Street Journal uncritically reported that Sen. John McCain "said his pro-environment positions," among others, would "make him competitive" in California. In fact, McCain has a lifetime rating of 24 percent from the League of Conservation Voters. By contrast, Sen. Hillary Clinton has a lifetime rating of 87 percent and Sen. Barack Obama, 86 percent. Read More
O'Reilly, Beck receive honors in Olbermann's "Worst Person" segment
Keith Olbermann awarded the runner-up and "bronze" honors in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment to Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck, respectively -- to O'Reilly, for asserting that the question of whether global warming is natural or man-made is "all guesswork," and to Beck, for asking, "Odds that [Sen.] Barack Obama is the Antichrist?" Read More
Time's Jay Newton-Small asked about "concerns" that "the Clintons might yet again burn down the Democratic Party"
During an Obama campaign conference call, a recording of which was posted on Time's Swampland, Jay Newton-Small stated: "I just wanted to ask about your pitch to superdelegates these days and if that's changed at all. I mean, are you talking to them at all about the concerns that the Clintons might yet again burn down the Democratic Party?" Read More
In editorial, NY Times misrepresented Obama's position on public financing
The New York Times stated in an editorial that Sen. Barack Obama "has backed away from his proposal to run the general election on public funds." In fact, Obama recently confirmed he would "aggressively pursue" an agreement with the Republican nominee on "a publicly funded general election in 2008 with real spending limits." Read More
Fox's Cameron reported that McCain called for "respectful campaign," not McCain's touting of endorsement from TN GOP chair
On Special Report, Carl Cameron reported: "At Republican headquarters, [Sen. John] McCain several times today reiterated his commitment to run what he calls a respectful campaign against Democrats. It seemed a pretty clear signal to his party not to be throwing any low blows on his behalf." However, Cameron did not report that McCain recently touted the endorsement of Tennessee Republican Party chairwoman Robin Smith even after the state party issued a press release titled "Anti-Semites for Obama." Read More
Russert asserted GOP says McCain will appeal to states "moving back to a more ... moderate Republican" -- but he's a "conservative"
On MSNBC, Tim Russert said "Republicans have talked with the McCain candidacy the potential of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Iowa. They see a lot of those Midwest states that had been drifting away from the Republicans moving back to a more mainstream moderate Republican." But McCain identifies himself as a "conservative" and has recently moved to the right on a number of issues including immigration and taxes to align himself with the base of the Republican Party. Read More
News outlets contrast McCain and Bush on taxes without noting McCain wants to make the Bush tax cuts permanent
Reports by ABC, USA Today, and CNN purported to contrast the positions of President Bush and John McCain on tax cuts by noting only McCain's initial opposition to Bush's 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. None of the outlets noted, however, that McCain has changed his position and now supports making the Bush tax cuts permanent, or that McCain has repeatedly claimed that he initially opposed the tax cuts because they were not paired with spending cuts, reasoning he did not mention in his 2001 floor statement explaining his vote. Read More
Matthews: "Pennsylvania prefers a beefier sort to either of these people, a more rustic, tougher sort than" Obama or Clinton
During MSNBC's March 4 election coverage, Chris Matthews said, "[N]either one of these candidates, Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, are perfectly customized for Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania prefers a beefier sort to either of these people, a more rustic, tougher sort than either of them." Matthews has discussed "beef[iness]" in the context of presidential politics before. Read More
Matthews again accused Clinton of fostering doubt about Obama's religion
On Hardball, Chris Matthews asserted that the question -- "Is he, in fact, the religion he says he is?" -- is part of a "tough trio of attacks" Sen. Hillary Clinton is using against Sen. Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential race. However, when Clinton was asked recently by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell if she planned to "raise any doubts about ... him [Obama] being a Christian," Clinton responded, "No, not at all." Read More
Des Moines Register, AP left out McCain reversals in reporting on his immigration position
The Des Moines Register asserted that Sen. John McCain is a "supporter of comprehensive immigration reform" without noting that he now says he would not support his bill if it came up for a vote in the Senate, and that he has reversed himself on a key issue. Similarly, the Associated Press reported that "[t]he three leading candidates for president have somewhat similar views on illegal immigration reform," but did not note McCain's reversals. Read More
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