Couric & Co.
October 9, 2008 5:18 PM

Katie Couric's Notebook: Campaign Turns Ugly

With less than a month left, this presidential campaign has taken a decidedly ugly turn.

At Republican rallies, some over heated supporters have started to yell things like "terrorist" and "treason" when Barack Obama's name is mentioned. This is depressing and unacceptable.

Freedom of speech is one of our most cherished rights, but words that incite violence should be seriously condemned by all the candidates.

It's no surprise that "civil discourse" is such an oxymoron these days. When I sometimes peruse comments on the Internet, they are loaded with vitriol and profanity. I'm embarrassed for the authors of those comments, and for the readers who stumble upon them.

Words are like weapons – they can damage who we are. This is an important time to remind ourselves that even when passions are high, we can agree to disagree. And we can do so with reason – and respect.
Tags:
katie couric ,
campaign ,
barack obama ,
john mccain ,
rallies ,
free speech
Topics:
Katie Couric's Notebook
Add a Comment See all 77 Comments
by hjs98663 October 12, 2008 5:20 AM EDT
With all the crooks in office,now we have a crook running for vp. Well everyone knows that McCain is the bad guy. He is up to no good.
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by charlenet-2009 October 11, 2008 6:38 PM EDT
I have been voting for Democratic candidates for 40 years. I am disappointed when they lose, and most of the time they have lost.

I never think that the Republican candidate is evil or unpatriotic. I never want to kill or hurt their candidates. I have attended many political rallies, but I have never heard the types of comments I hear coming from the audience at McCain events.

I feel sad. If we cannot respect one another and accept that a different set of ideas from our own may prevail, then Democracy is over. Democracy depends on the willingness of the people to accept the outcome of a free election.
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by charlenet-2009 October 11, 2008 3:02 PM EDT
I have been voting for Democratic candidates for 40 years. I am disappointed when they lose, and most of the time they have lost.

I never think that the Republican candidate is evil or unpatriotic. I never want to kill or hurt their candidates. I have attended many political rallies, but I have never heard the types of comments I hear coming from the audience at McCain events.

I feel sad. If we cannot respect one another and accept that a different set of ideas from our own may prevail, then Democracy is over. Democracy depends on the willingness of the people to accept the outcome of a free election.
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by fiesty_mama2 October 11, 2008 10:16 AM EDT
Hey Sunpac. This is my 3rd post. They all have an original thought. Don''t you know how to use a computer? Are you trying to reduce your point posting it 6 times. Why don''t you contact your Messiah and maybe he can help you with some fresh "talking points"
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by fiesty_mama2 October 11, 2008 9:55 AM EDT
Katie, I am so glad to know your opinion on how unacceptable and depressing it is to hear unkind words towards Senator Obama at McCain/Palin rallies. At least they haven''t sunk to the level of the MSM lefties and the left in general. These are just a few kind words that I have heard from the left in the last 8 years about conservatives. President Bush looks like a Chimpanzee, Rush Limbaugh is like Hitler, George Bush is like Hitler, Henry Hyde should be stoned to death, Govenor Palin is the grandmother, and not the mother of Trig Palin, Governor Palin would be %u201Cganged rape%u201D by black men in New York City if she were to visit the neighborhood or the disgusting things that Keith Olberman has said about conservatives. Katie, before you preach to me and your very limited audience about supporters at a McCain/Palin rally getting angry...the left and that includes you, should try looking in the mirror! Conservatives have much more class than the left can ever %u201Chope%u201D to have.
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by fiesty_mama2 October 11, 2008 8:35 AM EDT
Katie,
Me being just a backwards gal, I am wondering when you last attended a McCain/Palin rally? Are you relying on MSM reporting? You know how unreliable and biased they can be! By the way Katie, thank you for showing us your great intellect during your vice presidential interviews with Gov. Palin and Sen. Biden. I loved your response to Sen. Biden%u2019s foolish comments about FDR''s televised fireside chats in 1929. Wait! You didn''t respond to his ignorant comment and you let it stand leading the American people to believe that his comments were accurate. Were you not aware of Sen. Biden''s glaring faux pas? Could it be that you are the real "airhead in America" and not Gov. Palin? Why are people angry? Maybe it''s because people like you lie and misrepresent the truth. In your unbiased reporting, have you ever referred to the Democratic protesters that claim that President Bush is a War criminal as %u201Cangry%u201D or do you only reserve those adjectives for Republicans? Oh yeah, I am a great fan of Gov. Palin and she has guts and wisdom that you will never understand. She is the only reason I have ever tuned in to your show. How stupid of me to think you would have been half as fair with her as you were with Sen. Biden. Hey Katie...how are those ratings going? Can CBS sue you for malpractice? You are nothing but an ignorant washed up failure! Oops...I hope that doesn''t qualify me as an "angry" McCain/Palin supporter! How does it feel to be replaced as "America''s Sweetheart"?
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by sadd62 October 11, 2008 4:08 AM EDT
Katie, I hope you will read this. How can independent voters make a sound decision when the media is so biased toward Obama. The debate was awful because the questions did not probe into new territory. Objectivity is not even part of the debates when a former anchor from NBC is allowed to pick the questions to be asked in a debate.

Also, instead of trying to get quality information from the candidates, the outcome of your interview with Sarah Palin was to make her look bad to the public. She is a smart women who made it to the governor level but you asked questions such as what newspaper do you read? The same unfair treatment that was shown to Hillary is being shown to Palin. Women are not treated fairly and I''m surprised you are feeding that fire.

The money put behind Obama is the reason why he is ahead.

I would respect and watch your newscast if you demonstrated that you weren''t biased one way or the other. That is clearly not the case. Reconsider and deliver unbiased news reporting/journalism so independent voters can decide based on the facts and not the information that biased news organizations and reporters want them to hear.

I hope you will read and consider this.
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by newslink October 11, 2008 1:49 AM EDT
Katie if this is what we are to look foward to from MCcain. Than we are in Big trouble. He has promoted fear, racism and every evil work. From my stand point this man is Unstable, and can not run this Country and be Fair to All Americans. I am ashamed of this type of campaigning. And disappointed.
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by tigerrram9 October 11, 2008 1:32 AM EDT
Katie
The panel in Alaska found that Governor Sarah Palin abused her powers. It was noted that Todd Palin has too much power and input as her husband.
Katie, If Sarah does not go to Alaska and testify, she will agree with the findings of the panel. If she does not have nothing to hide she needs to testify. That is the only way to set the record straight.
Katie, should something happen to John McCain we don''t want Todd in the position to run this country.
How about another interview with Sarah to set the record straight. I want to know why Todd had so much power? I want to know who was the governor of Alaska? I want to know why Todd was a member of the Alaskan Separatist Party.
We need to get to bottom of things before the wrong person is put into power in the White House. The American people deserve to know the TRUTH and you can help us bring the truth out.
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by sunpac October 11, 2008 12:09 AM EDT
This is our third election cycle -- at least -- that has been dominated by ad hominem attacks, propaganda, and dirty tricks. (Actually, too nice a term for some of the awful acts which have become common in our elections).

Suggestion: News media could change this. One specific way -- do a series on propaganda techniques. Show the way people are manipulated without even knowing it.

1. Include some context, e.g., the way propaganda was used by the Nazis and the Communists. ("Back in the day," Florida schools were required to teach a course on "Americanism vs. Communism." A big chunk of that course dealt with propaganda techniques.)

2. Show examples of mind manipulation in U.S. political contests, past & present.

3. Perhaps a contest for kids who can ID propaganda techniques used in 2008 races, with rewards for those sending in examples you can use on the air.

All this negativity is exhausting! Educate kids & adults re. propaganda. The techniques will lose their power. Then, perhaps, we can have a campaign moves toward real solutions to the many problems we face.
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by October 10, 2008 10:06 PM EDT
Neo-conservatism has now advanced to the republican conservatives who bestow their unwanted values on everyone whether they agree or not. It is a new philosophy that wants to regulate the masses, taking away constitutional freedoms and re-examining the constitution to fit their desires.
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by palcah October 10, 2008 9:34 PM EDT
ALERT TO ALL MEDIA-McCain and his ilk are going to pull the same fear mongering and hateful talk that GW Bush used in 2000 and 2004.
They seem to think that calling the media in the tank for Obama and other such nonsense will scare off the media from covering all of the stories-it worked with the lead up of the Iraq war. The NY Times admitted today that they ran that story on the Ayers fantasy because the McCain campaign "pushed them". Well, excuse me, where are your journalistic ethics.

Where are the stories about all of the Americans suffering from the Bush economy, why don''t the news agencies ask follow ups when republicans try to throw this mess on Frank and Dodd??

I wonder and I am watching!!
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by October 10, 2008 9:10 PM EDT
Neoconservatism (or Neocon) is a right-wing political philosophy that emerged in the United States from the rejection of the social liberalism, moral relativism, and New Left counterculture of the 1960s. In United States, they align themselves with most conservative values, such as free market, limited welfare, and traditional cultural values. Their key distinction is on international affairs: they prefer a proactive approach internationally that would protect the national interests.

The term neoconservative was originally used as a criticism against liberals who had "moved to the right".[1][2] Michael Harrington, a democratic socialist, coined the usage of neoconservative in a 1973 Dissent magazine article concerning welfare policy.[3] According to E. J. Dionne, the nascent neoconservatives were driven by "the notion that liberalism" had failed and "no longer knew what it was talking about."[4]
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by October 10, 2008 8:59 PM EDT
This is typical of the rich and powerful when they do NOT want to share the wealth.

I ask you this, if you are an American and care about your country would you want to help when she needs help? If you are an American and your neighbor is in need, would you help him, if he was political? If your daughter were a republican and was being chased by a rapist, would she refuse the help of a democrat? If your Grandmother was in a car accident and bleeding but could not get help from a republican because she was liberal, would you be angry? I could go on and on with this but I think you get my drift. When this election is all done, no matter how or what is decided, we will have a new American President. I pray he will not be hated because he is black or that he is accused of something so far over the hill that it''s really stupid, dumb and ridiculous, that even a mutant knows better. Spewing hatred is UN-AMERICAN and in no way belongs in 21st century politics.

Lets stop with the dumb, stupid claims that we know are not true. Obama is a Black/White American. He is not a terrorist nor is he on the payroll of the Arab''s. That is really stupid, and you know it. You are spreading hatred and you should be accountable. Not one of US should be spreading trash like this. We are Americans!! Now think about, how you look in the eyes of the world when one of you hollers, "TERRORIST! KILL HIM!" I wonder what they think?

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by gloryb8 October 10, 2008 8:51 PM EDT
NeoCons! I love that word, it means new! It certainly fits me better than Socialist, Marxist, Communist, anti-militaristic, anti-capitalist, anti-heterosexual, anti-white, I think you get the picture but Katie says words "hurt" people. Yeah Katie these words are really gonna take a bite if two-faced Obama HUSSEIN gets elected.
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by gloryb8 October 10, 2008 8:46 PM EDT
Here is the most ridiculous thing of the day, a Sheriff in Florida said Barrack HUSSEIN Obama and now he is being investigated by the FBI. Can we possibly get any more ridiculous. Everyone should go around saying Barrack HUSSEIN Obama until Katie starts to cry!
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by gloryb8 October 10, 2008 8:42 PM EDT
Katie, when I used to watch you on the Early Show, you were good at the little garden and fashion spots but ever since you went to prime time you have been ridiculous! You think you are so cute! I saw you last night and you sounded just like a little girl when you said "why are they doing that?" referring to some comments at a McCain/Palin rally. Do you really naively believe the Demobrats are clean with everything they stand for? I don''t consider you an adult at all and I feel sorry for your ignorance. Why don''t you start reporting on the issues like voter fraud from ACORN and Obama''s alliances with terrorist, anti-american, hate-mongering ministers and slumlords. You don''t have the guts and that is the difference between you and Sarah Palin. She is a lady and you don''t know the meaning of the word.
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by lucite53 October 10, 2008 8:31 PM EDT
I suppose Obama is leading us to the slaughter. His overall agenda for running for President is to blow up the country and turn every US citizen into a terriost muslim preaching the Koran to our sons and daughters. Ayers, CAIRS, Obama, al Queada all working together. One big subversive plot to destroy America. Meanwhile Michelle and his daughters are safely secured in a bunker with Rezko and all the Acorn members. I tell you, I gotta love you guys what a great Hollywood script. I think you''ve been watching to much TV.
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by jlopez55 October 10, 2008 8:20 PM EDT
dear ms couric...i have been an viewer of yours for many years, however, i have noticed a changed in your way of presenting the news. Your start the majority of your news with a negative intro just like the majority of the news casters. we know its realy hard times but don''t remind us constantly. Take notice of Senator McCains intros when asked a quesion. He knows its hard times and he understands the public knows it hard times but he some how manages to present this terriable times with some hope and support. It''s not the end of the world and always manages to tell us in his own way to hang-in-there. You may be losing me as one of your listener. Your interview with Gov.Palin was your worst yet. Palin is constantly asked out her exerience yet no one including yourself has ask Senator Oboma (in dept)about his exerience and then compare it to Gov. Palin experience for Vice President not President of this great country. ourresident..
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by jorjalex October 10, 2008 7:52 PM EDT
Dear Americans,

I am appalled and dismayed with our current Government for the Government and by the Government policy.

I ask you what is being done with all of issues occuring and reoccuring in our Nation and the policy makers are not working to safeguard our futures, nor the futures of our children?

Anwwer: Nothing!

Everything from energy to economics to edcuation and security to enviroment to social security to taxes, nothing is being done to help US, the American, the worker, the taxpayer, the Family.

Does anyone remember from American History class what happened to the
British Tax Collectors????

It''s time for tea my fellow American.

God bless you all. God save us and our Country!!!!
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