Rasmussen: 49 percent of voters believe press is trying to help Obama win

[Real]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Belief Growing That Reporters are Trying to Help Obama Win
Monday, July 21, 2008 Email to a FriendAdvertisement
The belief that reporters are trying to help Barack Obama win the fall campaign has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that 49% of voters believe most reporters will try to help Obama with their coverage, up from 44% a month ago.

Just 14% believe most reporters will try to help John McCain win, little changed from 13% a month ago. Just one voter in four (24%) believes that most reporters will try to offer unbiased coverage.

A plurality of Democrats—37%-- say most reporters try to offer unbiased coverage of the campaign. Twenty-seven percent (27%) believe most reporters are trying to help Obama and 21% in Obama’s party think reporters are trying to help McCain.

Among Republicans, 78% believe reporters are trying to help Obama and 10% see most offering unbiased coverage.

As for unaffiliated voters, 50% see a pro-Obama bias and 21% see unbiased coverage. Just 12% of those not affiliated with either major party believe the reporters are trying to help McCain.

In a more general sense, 45% say that most reporters would hide information if it hurt the candidate they wanted to win. Just 30% disagree and 25% are not sure. Democrats are evenly divided as to whether a reporter would release such information while Republicans and unaffiliated voters have less confidence in the reporters.

Republicans and unaffiliated voters are more likely to trust campaign information from family and friends than from reporters. Democrats are evenly divided as to who they would trust more.

A separate survey released this morning also found that 50% of voters believe most reporters want to make the economy seem worse than it is. A plurality believes that the media has also tried to make the war in Iraq appear worse that it really is.

A survey conducted earlier this year found that 30% of voters believe having a friendly reporter is more valuable than raising a lot of campaign contributions. Twenty-nine percent (29%) believe contributions are more important and 40% are not sure.

These results are consistent with earlier surveys finding that large segments of the population believe the media is biased It is also clear that voters select their news sources in a partisan manner. During Election 2004, CNN viewers heavily favored John Kerry while Fox Fans preferred George W. Bush.

See survey questions and toplines. Crosstabs are available to Premium Members only.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.

Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.</div>

Link

I'd like to see Media Matters for America try to explain this one. "Oh, the American voter is just misguided and brainwashed by the GOP Conservative mainstream media."

 

[Denny Crane]

Interestingly enough:

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashnym.htm

NYT REJECTS MCCAIN'S EDITORIAL; SHOULD 'MIRROR' OBAMA
Mon Jul 21 2008 12:00:25 ET

An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES -- less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The paper's decision to refuse McCain's direct rebuttal to Obama's 'My Plan for Iraq' has ignited explosive charges of media bias in top Republican circles.

'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'

MORE

In McCain's submission to the TIMES, he writes of Obama: 'I am dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it... if we don't win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president.'

NYT's Shipley advised McCain to try again: 'I'd be pleased, though, to look at another draft.'

[Shipley served in the Clinton Administration from 1995 until 1997 as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Presidential Speechwriter.]

MORE

A top McCain source claims the paper simply does not agree with the senator's Iraq policy, and wants him to change it, not "re-work the draft."

McCain writes in the rejected essay: 'Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. 'I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,' he said on January 10, 2007. 'In fact, I think it will do the reverse.'

MORE

Shipley, who is on vacation this week, explained his decision not to run the editorial.

'The Obama piece worked for me because it offered new information (it appeared before his speech); while Senator Obama discussed Senator McCain, he also went into detail about his own plans.'

Shipley continues: 'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq.'

Developing...



The DRUDGE REPORT presents the McCain editorial in its submitted form:

In January 2007, when General David Petraeus took command in Iraq, he called the situation “hard” but not “hopeless.” Today, 18 months later, violence has fallen by up to 80% to the lowest levels in four years, and Sunni and Shiite terrorists are reeling from a string of defeats. The situation now is full of hope, but considerable hard work remains to consolidate our fragile gains.

Progress has been due primarily to an increase in the number of troops and a change in their strategy. I was an early advocate of the surge at a time when it had few supporters in Washington. Senator Barack Obama was an equally vocal opponent. "I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq is going to solve the sectarian violence there,” he said on January 10, 2007. “In fact, I think it will do the reverse."

Now Senator Obama has been forced to acknowledge that “our troops have performed brilliantly in lowering the level of violence.” But he still denies that any political progress has resulted.

Perhaps he is unaware that the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has recently certified that, as one news article put it, “Iraq has met all but three of 18 original benchmarks set by Congress last year to measure security, political and economic progress.” Even more heartening has been progress that’s not measured by the benchmarks. More than 90,000 Iraqis, many of them Sunnis who once fought against the government, have signed up as Sons of Iraq to fight against the terrorists. Nor do they measure Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki’s new-found willingness to crack down on Shiite extremists in Basra and Sadr City—actions that have done much to dispel suspicions of sectarianism.

The success of the surge has not changed Senator Obama’s determination to pull out all of our combat troops. All that has changed is his rationale. In a New York Times op-ed and a speech this week, he offered his “plan for Iraq” in advance of his first “fact finding” trip to that country in more than three years. It consisted of the same old proposal to pull all of our troops out within 16 months. In 2007 he wanted to withdraw because he thought the war was lost. If we had taken his advice, it would have been. Now he wants to withdraw because he thinks Iraqis no longer need our assistance.

To make this point, he mangles the evidence. He makes it sound as if Prime Minister Maliki has endorsed the Obama timetable, when all he has said is that he would like a plan for the eventual withdrawal of U.S. troops at some unspecified point in the future.

Senator Obama is also misleading on the Iraqi military's readiness. The Iraqi Army will be equipped and trained by the middle of next year, but this does not, as Senator Obama suggests, mean that they will then be ready to secure their country without a good deal of help. The Iraqi Air Force, for one, still lags behind, and no modern army can operate without air cover. The Iraqis are also still learning how to conduct planning, logistics, command and control, communications, and other complicated functions needed to support frontline troops.

No one favors a permanent U.S. presence, as Senator Obama charges. A partial withdrawal has already occurred with the departure of five “surge” brigades, and more withdrawals can take place as the security situation improves. As we draw down in Iraq, we can beef up our presence on other battlefields, such as Afghanistan, without fear of leaving a failed state behind. I have said that I expect to welcome home most of our troops from Iraq by the end of my first term in office, in 2013.

But I have also said that any draw-downs must be based on a realistic assessment of conditions on the ground, not on an artificial timetable crafted for domestic political reasons. This is the crux of my disagreement with Senator Obama.

Senator Obama has said that he would consult our commanders on the ground and Iraqi leaders, but he did no such thing before releasing his “plan for Iraq.” Perhaps that’s because he doesn’t want to hear what they have to say. During the course of eight visits to Iraq, I have heard many times from our troops what Major General Jeffrey Hammond, commander of coalition forces in Baghdad, recently said: that leaving based on a timetable would be “very dangerous.”

The danger is that extremists supported by Al Qaeda and Iran could stage a comeback, as they have in the past when we’ve had too few troops in Iraq. Senator Obama seems to have learned nothing from recent history. I find it ironic that he is emulating the worst mistake of the Bush administration by waving the “Mission Accomplished” banner prematurely.

I am also dismayed that he never talks about winning the war—only of ending it. But if we don’t win the war, our enemies will. A triumph for the terrorists would be a disaster for us. That is something I will not allow to happen as president. Instead I will continue implementing a proven counterinsurgency strategy not only in Iraq but also in Afghanistan with the goal of creating stable, secure, self-sustaining democratic allies.

 

[Denny Crane]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080720/ap_en_...tv_obama_s_trip

Is media playing fair in campaign coverage?

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
Sun Jul 20, 1:06 PM ET

NEW YORK - Television news' royalty will fly in to meet Barack Obama during this week's overseas trip: CBS chief anchor Katie Couric in Jordan on Tuesday, ABC's Charles Gibson in Israel on Wednesday and NBC's Brian Williams in Germany on Thursday.

The anchor blessing defines the trip as a Major Event and — much like a "Saturday Night Live" skit in February that depicted a press corps fawning over Obama — raises anew the issue of fairness in campaign coverage.

The news media have devoted significantly more attention to the Democrat since Hillary Rodham Clinton suspended her campaign and left a two-person contest for the presidency between Obama and Republican John McCain, according to research conducted by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

News executives say there are reasons for the disparity, such as the continuing story about whether Clinton's and Obama's supporters can reconcile. They even partly blame McCain. By criticizing Obama for a lack of foreign policy experience, McCain raised the stakes for Obama's trip, "especially if he winds up going into two war zones," said Paul Friedman, senior vice president of CBS News.

Obama has traveled to Afghanistan and is expected to go to Iraq. He is also scheduled to visit Jordan, Israel, Germany, France and England. Network anchors stayed home during McCain's recent foreign excursions.

"The question really needs to be posed: Is this type of coverage fair?" said Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. "This is nothing but a political stunt."

Talk show host Rush Limbaugh said none of this should be a surprise.

"My prediction is that the coverage of Obama on this trip will be oriented toward countering the notion he has no idea what he is talking about on foreign policy and defense issues and instead will prop him up as a qualified statesman," Limbaugh told The Associated Press. "McCain, on the other hand, is a known quantity on these issues and his position does not excite nor fit the mainstream media's narrative on Iraq and Afghanistan, so they simply ignore it and him."

Along with newsworthiness, the question of fairness was discussed within ABC News before it was agreed Gibson would travel, said Jon Banner, executive producer of "World News." Also, if one network anchor decides to hit the road for a big event, chances are the others will follow.

"We have already been in discussions with the McCain campaign to try to afford them the same or a similar opportunity," Banner said. "We have gone to great lengths to be fair and provide equal time to both campaigns."

Shortly after Obama clinched the Democratic nomination, Gibson flew to Miami for a McCain interview, he said.

For each of the weeks between June 9 and July 13, Obama had a much more significant media presence. The Project for Excellence in Journalism evaluates more than 300 political stories each week in newspapers, magazines and television to measure whether each candidate is talked about in more than 25 percent of the stories.

Every week, Obama played an important role in more than two-thirds of the stories. For July 7-13, for example, Obama was a significant presence in 77 percent of the stories, while McCain was in 48 percent, the PEJ said.

Sure, there are some weeks Obama's going to make more news, said Tom Rosenstiel, the project's director.

But every week?

"No matter how understandable it is given the newness of the candidate and the historical nature of Obama's candidacy, in the end it's probably not fair to McCain," he said.

The Democrat has proven an attractive commodity; TV debates involving Democrats this campaign consistently drew more viewers than the Republicans. A Time magazine cover with Obama in 2006 was the second-best-selling of the year, and a Men's Vogue cover outsold every issue but the debut, according to circulation figures reported by Portfolio.com. Newsweek has done six covers with Obama over the past year, two with McCain. A Rolling Stone cover with Obama stopped just short of adding a halo.

If the attention gap continues, the campaign will essentially become a referendum on Obama, Rosenstiel said. While that may serve McCain's purpose — it beats a referendum on President Bush — it could leave the nation electing a president while the media are paying attention to someone else. Past press infatuations, like Howard Dean in 2004 and McCain in 2000, didn't turn into long-term affairs.

TV executives noted that Obama has courted attention, particularly for the overseas trip, more so than McCain. There's some danger involved, too. One Obama gaffe while overseas, or the appearance that he's not ready for an international spotlight, and the media's elite will be there to judge him, said Bob Zelnick, Boston University journalism professor.

Friedman cautioned against reading too much into things like PEJ's coverage index, noting that it's a long campaign. Yet it's an open question about whether Obama is simply a more interesting candidate at this point, partly because McCain has been on the scene longer.

While fairness is the goal, "what are we supposed to do, go gin up some story about McCain to get some rough equality of airtime?" he said. "I don't think so."

NBC News President Steve Capus said he finds it funny this is an issue, considering how much people have accused the press corps — and still do — of being too cozy with McCain. The Arizona senator had been a frequent guest of "Meet the Press."

"We're just trying to do our jobs," Capus said. "There's no question that there's great news value in Sen. Obama's trip overseas. That's why we are doing this."

___

Associated Press writer Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

 

[Real]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>'It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama's piece,' NYT Op-Ed editor David Shipley explained in an email late Friday to McCain's staff. 'I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written.'</div>

Horseshit.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>NBC News President Steve Capus said he finds it funny this is an issue, considering how much people have accused the press corps — and still do — of being too cozy with McCain. The Arizona senator had been a frequent guest of "Meet the Press."</div>

Well of course he'll go on Meet the Press. It's Meet the Press. It's not Fox News Sunday, it's been around for fifty years. Tim Russert grilled everyone on that show for seventeen years. Democrat, Republican, or other.

What am I supposed to think as a viewer if I'm watching MSNBC's coverage of the primaries and see two liberals anchoring and presenting themselves to be fair and balanced when we all know who they prefer?

 

[Denny Crane]

This is rather stunning. A comment on a blog by a guy who wrote for the NYT:

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politi..._oped_89774.asp

If what appeared on The Drudge Report is in-fact the op-ed column submitted by Sen. McCain, then any pretense of "fairness" died with the rejection of Sen. McCain's submission.

I have written for the NYT, covering the shooting death of an abortion doctor, and the subsequent trials, among other topics over a 15-year period. It was the days of the "the unknown stringer," so don't look for the by-line.

While the NYT is one of the world's most important newspapers, any delusions I had going into writing for the Times evaporated in short order when actually dealing with the National Desk. When I submitted a powerful quote from a pro-life (aka anti-abortion) leader for inclusion in the assassin's trial story, I was told in no uncertain terms, "we are not a conduit for the anti-abortion movement."

For that reason, today's controversy doesn't surprise me, nor should it either surprise - or anger - anyone else. All newspapers are political players, with an agenda in their hearts and minds. Hypocritically, they refuse to be honest about it.

But we all know it's true, even if they must lie to the world, and themselves, that it isn't.

The real story about this campaign is the way that the "stars" of all major journalism enterprises - and note I said "all" because this is not exclusively an NYT thing; Fox is in it just as deep - have lined up at the literary agencies to hawk their book, video, and speaking deals for "the definitive story" of the election of America's first black president. The deals are inked, the copy is emailed to the publishers daily, and the books will hit the stands the morning after Mr. Obama wins - they hope. Mr. Obama is literally their "Lotto of a lifetime," offering them the chance to make more money with one story line than they could ever hope to make otherwise.

They are rah-rahing Mr. Obama because they are not about to let it slip through their fingers - he must win for them to win at the bank. Morals, professional ethics, common decency, and the respect of a nation - or even the respect of the world - are not going to get in their way.

That is why you are seeing the media bias toward Mr. Obama; he is literally their best chance ever to strike it rich.

If a shred of honesty still prevailed, you would see a story about the journalists and their book deals. But you won't; after all, you know some NYT "star" would be in the mix, and if you don't know anything else about the NYT after Judith Miller, or the well-known "assertions of professional status" carried on my Maureen Dowd, it is that you better not get in the way of a NYT star.

But please, you saw Mr. O'Reilly throw a snit fit on You Tube, and frankly, all the journalism "stars" are touched with a narcissist god-complex. There are no exceptions at any first-tier journalistic organization of excellence that I have ever seen.

So accept this for what it is: the American political system at work, and journalists who see the chance of a lifetime to cash in.

There will be no quarter given by the NYT because they have a political agenda, and they are playing for keeps. How many decades of dissing did you expect them to take on the chin?

So calm down, and admit this is reality. Journalistic "fairness" and "detachment" in an election situation are fantasies, right up there with Santa Claus and Mother Goose.

But if you must draw a "win" for Mr. McCain on this, allow me to suggest this: While it is true the NYT achieved its goal of keeping his op-ed out of the paper, Matt Drudge trumped them by not only putting it out for everybody who is anybody to read, but they compounded the damage to themselves by firing up the opposition and making them even more intense about "teaching the NYT a lesson."

IN short, far fewer eyeballs would have read it in the NYT than will now read it on Drudge. If the goal was to suppress ;Mr. McCain, well, they certainly don't understand how to go about doing it.

You'd thought that after Jason Blair, Howell Raines (for whom I did research while he was at the St. Petersburg Times), Judith Miller, and Times Select - the most insane idea ever conceived that literally gutted the NYT's columnists' influence for 2 very long years - the NYT would know better than to set itself up for a fall.

Oh well, freedom of the press belongs to the person who owns it. And you never want to pick a fight with anyone who buys ink by the barrel.

Unless of course, it means you'll get published in the Drudge Report because you did.
-30-

 

[Real]

McCain returns to NH with visit to Rochester
By SCOTT BROOKS
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
18 hours, 23 minutes ago

MANCHESTER – "Mac" is back.

Sen. John McCain returned to New Hampshire last night, flashing an "OK" sign at an aide as he stepped out onto an airport tarmac in Manchester.

The Arizona Republican will be in Rochester today. He is slated to speak at the Rochester Opera House at noon.

Campaign staffers said McCain will take questions during the event, which is open to the public. No tickets are required.

A spokesman, Jeff Grappone, said other events may be announced today.


John McCain gestures with an "OK" sign on arrival in Manchester. (DAVID LANE)
"John McCain will continue to talk about the issues that matter most to New Hampshire voters," Grappone said, "including leading America to energy independence, unleashing the economy by keeping taxes low and expanding access to affordable, quality health care."

The senator's low-key arrival in Manchester stood in stark contrast to his Democratic rival's ongoing visit to the Middle East. Sen. Barack Obama, of Illinois, was swarmed by media as he arrived in Baghdad yesterday for a meeting with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other Iraqi leaders.

It was the second leg of Obama's excursion, following a visit to Afghanistan over the weekend.

McCain spent most of the day in Maine, where he joined former President George H.W. Bush in Kennebunkport and later campaigned in Portland with the state's two Republican senators.

In Manchester last night, there was just one reporter and one photographer waiting for McCain as his plane -- a white, blue and gold Boeing 737-400 emblazoned with his campaign slogan, "Reform, Prosperity, Peace" -- touched down on the Wiggins Airways tarmac.

The Vietnam War veteran limped as he made his way down the metal stairway, a leather briefcase in one hand and a cell phone in the other, and walked straight into an awaiting Chevy Suburban.

Yesterday, the McCain campaign announced it was releasing a new ad in New Hampshire.

The ad, entitled "Pump," says voters can "thank" Obama for rising gas prices at the pump and says McCain "knows we must now drill more in America and rescue our family budgets."

McCain's appearance in Rochester today marks his third campaign stop in New Hampshire since he clinched the Republican Presidential nomination in March. The candidate's last visit to New Hampshire was on June 12, when he spoke at Daniel Webster College in Nashua.

Grappone said the campaign was prepared for an "overflow" crowd at the Rochester Opera House at 31 Wakefield St. Doors open at 10:30 a.m.

The Rochester Opera House hosted several presidential campaign stops in the lead-up to this year's New Hampshire Primary. Obama spoke there on the night of Jan. 7, hours before the polls opened.

Link

 

[Real]

NBC's Andrea Mitchell blasts Obama