July 26, 2008
End Of The Obama Affair
The New Republic: The Dem. Candidate And The Press Are Going Through A Break-Up
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U.S. Democratic presidential contender Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill, right, is seen with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, Friday, July 25, 2008. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
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Play CBS Video
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McCain Irked By Obama Hype
John McCain has struggled to be heard during Barack Obama's widely covered overseas tour of the Mideast and Europe. McCain pokes fun at what he calls the media's love affair with Obama in a new ad. Charlie D'Agata reports.
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Obama Mania In Berlin
Barack Obama spoke to thousands in Berlin about the need to unite divided nations. His message was coupled with his desire to restore the image of the U.S. abroad. Mark Phillips reports.
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Obama Wows Berlin Crowd
Sen. Barack Obama is hoping to win votes at home by showing he can win hearts and minds abroad. He heads to Paris following a blockbuster speech in Berlin. Mark Phillips reports.
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Photo Essay
Obama in the Mideast
Democratic presidential hopeful holds talks in Iraq, Afghanistan
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Photo Essay
John McCain
Some call him a hero, some a maverick. Will Americans call him Mr. President?
Around midnight on July 16, New York Times chief political correspondent Adam Nagourney received a terse e-mail from Barack Obama's press office. The campaign was irked by the Times' latest poll and Nagourney and Megan Thee's accompanying front-page piece titled "Poll Finds Obama Isn't Closing Divide on Race," which was running in the morning's paper. Nagourney answered the query, the substance of which he says was minor, and went to bed, thinking the matter resolved.
But, the next morning, Nagourney awoke to an e-mail from Talking Points Memo writer Greg Sargent asking him to comment on an eight-point rebuttal trashing his piece that the Obama campaign had released to reporters and bloggers like The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder and Politico's Ben Smith. Nagourney had not heard the complaints from the Obama camp and had no idea they were so steamed. "I'm looking at this thing, and I'm like, 'What the hell is this?' " Nagourney recently recalled. "I really flipped out."
Later that afternoon, Nagourney got permission from Times editors to e-mail Sargent a response to the Obama memo. But the episode still grates. "I've never had an experience like this, with this campaign or others," Nagourney tells me. "I thought they crossed the line. If you have a problem with a story I write, call me first. I'm a big boy. I can handle it. But they never called. They attacked me like I'm a political opponent."
So much for "Obama Love." That's the title of John McCain's new web ad, which strings together clips of cable news pundits gushing over Obama like besotted teens. This romance has been a prominent story line of Obama's entire campaign, and clearly elements of it are true: "I felt this thrill going up my leg," Chris Matthews crows in one clip flagged in the ad. But scratch the surface, and you'll find a lot of mixed feelings behind the Obama "love." Reporters are grumbling more and more that the campaign is acting like the Prom Queen. They gripe that it is "arrogant" and "control[ling]," and the campaign's own belief that Obama is poised to make history isn't endearing, either. The press certainly helped Obama get so far so fast; the question is, how far can he get if his campaign alienates them?
Last year, when Hillary Clinton campaigned as a front-runner, Obama provided access to the press corps and won over the media. One night, during a campaign stop in Iowa, he met reporters for off-the-record drinks. He cooperated for magazine profiles and appeared on the cover of GQ. And Clinton's relationship with the press wasn't half as easy. "The difference is the Clinton people were hostile for no reason," a reporter who has covered both Democrats tells me.
But, as Obama ascended from underdog to front-runner to presumptive nominee, the flame seems to have dwindled. Reporters who cover Obama these days grouse that Obama's flacks shroud the campaign in secrecy and provide little to no access. "They're more disciplined than the Bush people," a reporter on the Obama trail gripes. "There was this idea of being transparent, but they're not. They're total tightwads with information."
In June, there was something of a revolt after Obama ditched the press corps on his campaign plane for a secret meeting with Clinton at Senator Dianne Feinstein's house in Washington, leaving the reporters trapped on the flight to Chicago. The D.C. bureau chiefs of half a dozen news organizations, including the late Tim Russert, sent an angry letter to Obama aides Robert Gibbs and David Plouffe and threatened not to reimburse the campaign for the cost of the flight. "The decision to mislead reporters is a troubling one," they wrote. "We hope this does not presage a relationship with the Obama campaign that is not based on a mutual respect for the truth." After the incident, the press corps decided that one pool reporter would keep Obama in sight at all times. "It's a body watch," one reporter jokes.
Meanwhile, there have been widespread complaints over the shortage of spots to accompany Obama on his tour of the Middle East and Europe. A few days before the tour departed, Time magazine was told it couldn't send a photographer along, and, on July 22, NBC foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell complained on-air that the only images the press had received of Obama meeting with the troops was released by the U.S. military. (To be fair, congressional delegations to Iraq are kept secret for security purposes). And there's been widespread grumbling that the campaign revoked New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza's spot on the trip as retribution for the magazine's recent satirical cover. These may or may not be legitimate complaints -- the evidence is mixed -- but the press is hardly inclined to give the campaign the benefit of the doubt.
Obama's press liaison, Robert Gibbs, has built a particularly large reservoir of ill will. David Mendell, who covered Obama's Senate campaign for the Chicago Tribune and authored the 2007 Obama book From Promise to Power, wrote about Gibbs as "the anti-Obama" and described him as "Obama's hired gun, skillfully trained to shoot at reporters whose coverage was deemed unfair. Mendell tells me, "if [Gibbs] feels you're necessary to achieve a campaign goal, he will give you access and allow you in. But, if he feels you're not going to be of help, he can just ignore you." Mendell has his own specific gripe: Apparently, the Obama team was less than pleased with his biography, on which they cooperated, and Gibbs has since refused to help with the second edition.
One reporter sniffs that Gibbs, a native Alabaman and veteran of John Kerry's 2004 campaign, is the "communications director who doesn't communicate." "If you're getting an interview, and they say ten minutes, it's ten minutes," adds Time's Karen Tumulty, who scored an interview with Obama in June. "Robert Gibbs will cut it off."
Much of this is certainly the run-of-the-mill complaining of campaign reporters who can't get enough access. Still, the campaign hasn't helped itself, approaching reporters with a sense of entitlement. "They're an arrogant operation. Young and arrogant," one reporter covering the campaign says. "They don't believe in transparency with their own campaign," another says.
Reporters who have covered Obama's biography or his problems with certain voter blocs have been challenged the most aggressively. "They're terrified of people poking around Obama's life," one reporter says. "The whole Obama narrative is built around this narrative that Obama and David Axelrod built, and, like all stories, it's not entirely true. So they have to be protective of the crown jewels." Another reporter notes that, during the last year, Obama's old friends and Harvard classmates were requested not to talk to the press without permission.
As tensions escalate, the risk to Obama, of course, is that reporters will be emboldened to challenge his campaign ever more aggressively. At the same time, McCain has demonstrated a longstanding ability to deftly manage the press. After all, it wasn't long ago that McCain, short on cash and trailing in the Republican primaries, re-launched his campaign in New Hampshire by courting the press, "my base," as he once proudly put it. In June, the McCain camp unveiled its redesigned campaign plane, a Boeing 737 that recreates the Straight Talk Express bus, so reporters can assemble with McCain and shoot the breeze.
Now, Obama may be handing McCain a shot at winning back his "base." Of course, making ads that paint the media as Obama's stooges may not be the best way to accomplish that. But the press wants to put its love somewhere, and, right now, that love is up for grabs.
By Gabriel Sherman
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See all 61 CommentsMaybe there''s a lot less Obamamania at the top and middle-tiers, but I still say there''s a difference between disenchanted Dems like myself and Republicans. Like the NYT has an article up on their website right now that says McCain wants to give Russia and China the cold shoulder ("other Republicans say the administration%u2019s policy shifts highlight the more confrontational nature of Mr. McCain%u2019s foreign policy, particularly in his approach toward Russia and his embrace on Friday of the Dalai Lama"). I think a pragmatic Republican might be more inclined to assume McCain''s going to ultimately side with them rather than the neocons and embrace a more conciliatory posture (?)
I''m shocked to hear how abusive and overbearing camp Barack is towards the press. Then again the press are also just people and he''s been really dismissive to a whole range of people - he blew off his base when he flipped on that whole host of issues and then tried to discredit us when we called him out on it; he uses his supporters as props as he''s appealing to a totally different crowd (like the father''s day speech which was meant for the rust belt), he claims that Petraeus is just the guy who does what Barack tells him to (!?!), Jim Webb said he didn''t feel like he could be himself and speak freely in camp Obama, etc.
The press control though there have been stories about that - like how Barack was doing interivews with Glamour Magazine, Us Weekly, and Access Hollywood but not FoxNews. The weird part about Glamour Magazine, is that the average reader is like 18-34...that''s already his base. It made me feel like he was using the Magazine to get softball questions which he knew would get disseminated to the press at large. I mean like he wouldn''t even do Ladies Home Journal - what''s next, Cat Fancy?
Obama, on the other hand, is always newsworthy.
Nobody really cares very much what John McCain and the GOP says or does any more - is that Obama''s fault? Hardly.
Posted by SamTheTVCat
Where did you get the idea that there is anything legitimate about Fox News?
All due respect to the longevity of John McCain''s Senate and military service, John McCain is not even in the same league of diplomacy as Obama. Imagine John McCain side-by-side with the same heads of state that Obama so eloquently engaged. McCain would be dull, awkward, clumsy, void of vision and void of bringing anything original to the table. Plus he''d probably embarrass us every now and then. Let%u2019s face it; McCain is %u201Cho-hum%u201D, more of the same. Fortunately for McCain, the media wants to keep their viewers and readers on board. By coming up with headlines like %u201CEnd of the Obama Affair%u201D, they can make a contest out of it and create some competition for Obama, since McCain offers none.
The world wants to experience the Obama phenomenon. The press is simply reporting the story.
LOL. I''m sure The New Republic wishes it were so.
Posted by sparks224
In bringing up the idea of legitimacy in news as it pertains to Barack''s choice of interviewer, doesn''t your comment necessarily either imply that Glamour Magazine is more legitimate for political news than FoxNews? Or that none of them are legitimate for political news?
I''m assuming it''s the latter, so I''d be curious to know what your take on Barack hiding out in young women''s magazines while not holding any press conferences in Iraq.
Posted by wilco105
I think he''s a sociopath . . . they tend to give off the very same impression . . .
Woah, dude - you said it, not me :o
That Gibbs guy''s been on tv before - he looks like the classic beta male . . . willing to do whatever others tell him to do. Did the press have any of these same problems when this guy was working for Kerry?
I think this piece is extremely kind to Barack in that it makes this Gibbs guy out to be the problem. Other people have blamed Barack''s strategists for leading him astray . . . but the profile again and again is the same - controlling, people user, dismissive.
Are any of us REALLY in the position to not continue to deal with him? What are our alternatives?
It won''t be long and the press will tire of his blatant arrogance.
Posted by greeneyes222 at 06:51 AM : Jul 27, 2008
Sound''s like wishful thinking to me. LOL What difference does it make? Look at what he''s running against? A man who can''t remember what he said yesterday? LOL In my honest opinion I don''t think McCain can make it to the election let alone govern in what would be a VERY hostile Government.
It won''''t be long and the press will tire of his blatant arrogance.
Posted by Gunfighter51 at 04:47 AM : Jul 27, 2008
I really don''t think it matters much anymore. McCain has NOTHING to run on, he can''t win on the economy and with the acceptance of Obama''s position on Iraq, he''s pretty much a man without a cause.
EVERYONE OF THE AIPAC MEMBERS AND THE SEND OTHER PEOPLES CHILDREN TO DEFEND ISRAEL AN THE OIL COMPANIES FOR THE NEXT HUNDRED YEAR CROWD ARE USING EVERYTHING IN THEIR ARSENAL TO DISCREDIT OBAMA.
THEY CANT BUY HIM!
THEY CANT BLACKMAIL HIM!
THEY WANTED TO TAKE HIM OUT ON THIS TRIP!
THEY KNOW HE IS GETTING AMERICA OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST WHERE AMERICA HAS BEEN BOGGED DOWN FOR THE PAST 65 YEARS!
IF THAT ANGERS THE RIGHT WING CHRISTIAN NUT JOBS AND THEIR BRAIN WASHED NEOCONS OR THE DUEL PASSPORT HOLDING AMERICAN ISRAELIS LIKE JOE LIEBERMAN THEN SO BE IT!
IT IS TIME AMERICA DID WHAT WAS IN ITS OWN BEST INTEREST!
THERE IS NOTHING IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT AMERICA NEEDS!
THERE IS NOTHING IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT IS A THREAT TO AMERICA!
THE ONLY REASON MIDDLE EAST ARTICLES ARE KEPT IN THE AMERICAN MEDIA IS BECAUSE AIPAC MEMBERS RUN THE AMERICAN MEDIA AND FILM INDUSTRY!
AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!
TAKE BACK YOUR COUNTRY!
Obama is the only hope for an America nearly destroyed, turned into a third world country by the conservative filth that controls the government today,
McSAME is in that ilk just one more neo con out to
start the new NAZI regime
Posted by sandycat2 at 10:15 AM : Jul 27, 2008
If the surge has worked - just how many of those 18 benchmark goals have been met?
"There''s not a history of clashes that are violent between Sunnis and Shiahs. So I think they can probably get along." [MSNBC, 4/23/03]
" I believe that the success will be fairly easy." [CNN, 9/24/02]
"We''re not going to get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad. " [CNN, 9/29/02]
"But the point is that, one, we will win this conflict. We will win it easily." [MSNBC, 1/22/03]
"But I believe that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators." [NBC, 3/20/03]
"It''s clear that the end is very much in sight." [ABC, 4/9/03]
"This is a mission accomplished.." [This Week, ABC, 12/14/03]
Want to repeat the last 8 catastrophic eight years? Vote McSame!
1: I love how McCain says he believes in "positive campaigning" then sits there and does the opposite.
I am not surprised and he is showing how he will lie. like Bush lied and continues to lie and therefore, not be the change we need on Washington.
I will be posting, in support of Obama...daily on McShame''s site to fight the smears!!!
2: I volunteer in Pa. Our grassroots group is GROWING!
People feel like Obama wants to make people''s lives better.
Senator McCain/McMad/McBush does not have people enthused to work on their days off.
People see Barack Obama changing the world''s opinion of the US. THAT IS BIG NEWS!!!
WoW.. it has been years since crowds have been seen waving US flags in Europe.
I think Americans are ready for inspiration rather than the desperation McMad shows.
As Barack says "It''s time to turn the page"
Rhonda
1: I love how McCain says he believes in "positive campaigning" then sits there and does the opposite.
I am not surprised and he is showing how he will lie. like Bush lied and continues to lie and therefore, not be the change we need on Washington.
I will be posting, in support of Obama...daily on McShame''''s site to fight the smears!!!
2: I volunteer in Pa. Our grassroots group is GROWING!
People feel like Obama wants to make people''''s lives better.
Senator McCain/McMad/McBush does not have people enthused to work on their days off.
People see Barack Obama changing the world''''s opinion of the US. THAT IS BIG NEWS!!!
WoW.. it has been years since crowds have been seen waving US flags in Europe.
I think Americans are ready for inspiration rather than the desperation McMad shows.
As Barack says "It''''s time to turn the page"
Rhonda
On Etsy, which I mentioned in an earlier message, I did a comparison of Obama vs. McCain items.
Obama shirts: 135 results; McCain shirts: 13 results, but: 4 were actual McCain shirts, a couple were general vote shirts, a few were anti-mcain and the rest were obama.
Obama jewelry: 212; McCain jewelry 15
Obama pins: 160; McCain pins: 20
In the other categories of items like purses, etc., the McCain brand is nearly absent.
Granted, it''s an artist-oriented website so the enthusiasm gap is bound to show up there. But it''s interesting that many of those making McCain stuff also make Obama stuff, they are just election profiteering.
Interesting to note that several Obama artists promise campaign contributions with purchase, or invite donations via their Obama fundraising pages.
It will be like the imperial presidency of Richard Nixon. Obama is part of the cut throat Daley machine politics of Chicago - the 21st century version of Tammany Hall in New York. He smiles a lot and gives pretty speeches - but his organization is cold and ruthless.
EVERYONE OF THE AIPAC MEMBERS AND THE SEND OTHER PEOPLES CHILDREN TO DEFEND ISRAEL AN THE OIL COMPANIES FOR THE NEXT HUNDRED YEAR CROWD ARE USING EVERYTHING IN THEIR ARSENAL TO DISCREDIT OBAMA.
THEY CANT BUY HIM!
THEY CANT BLACKMAIL HIM!
THEY WANTED TO TAKE HIM OUT ON THIS TRIP!
THEY KNOW HE IS GETTING AMERICA OUT OF THE MIDDLE EAST WHERE AMERICA HAS BEEN BOGGED DOWN FOR THE PAST 65 YEARS!
IF THAT ANGERS THE RIGHT WING CHRISTIAN NUT JOBS AND THEIR BRAIN WASHED NEOCONS OR THE DUEL PASSPORT HOLDING AMERICAN ISRAELIS LIKE JOE LIEBERMAN THEN SO BE IT!
IT IS TIME AMERICA DID WHAT WAS IN ITS OWN BEST INTEREST!
THERE IS NOTHING IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT AMERICA NEEDS!
THERE IS NOTHING IN THE MIDDLE EAST THAT IS A THREAT TO AMERICA!
THE ONLY REASON MIDDLE EAST ARTICLES ARE KEPT IN THE AMERICAN MEDIA IS BECAUSE AIPAC MEMBERS RUN THE AMERICAN MEDIA AND FILM INDUSTRY!
AMERICA STAND UP OR SHUT UP!
TAKE BACK YOUR COUNTRY!
Posting multiple times is childish.
Gallup Daily: Obama 49%, McCain 40%
Third day with Obama holding a significant lead over McCain
%u2022 USA
%u2022 Election 2008
%u2022 Gallup Daily
%u2022 Americas
%u2022 Northern America
PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama now leads John McCain among national registered voters by a 49% to 40% margin in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 24-26.
__________________________________________________________
July 26, 2008
Gallup Daily: Obama Retains Lead, 48% to 41%
Second day with Obama holding a significant lead over McCain
%u2022 USA
%u2022 Election 2008
%u2022 Gallup Daily
%u2022 Americas
%u2022 Northern America
PRINCETON, NJ -- Barack Obama has stretched his lead over John McCain among national registered voters to seven percentage points, 48% to 41%, in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 23-25.
__________________________________________________________
This is why McSame is becoming such a pathetic figure. Obama will beat him into the ground come November. And, McSame knows there isn''t anything he can do to stop it. McSame''s attacks will become even more negative as the election approaches. But, these attacks will only prove that McSame is devoid of any ideas as to how to clean up the mess left by the Bush/Cheney Administration. Obama 08!!!
Posted by caliguy55 at 05:50 PM : Jul 27, 2008
Ok, so tell me this - what are Obama''s ideas? I know he said that we need new faces in Washington, that we need to clean up the lobbyists, and the government should be for the people, not for the few. I know this, because EVERY POLITICIAN WHO HAS EVER RUN FOR ANY OFFICE EVER has said these exact same things.
But what are his ideas? What proposals? What specifics? What is his voting record, other than 1000 "present" votes and a flip-flop on telecom spying? He never voted on Iraq, so we didn''t get to see his flip-flop there, I am certain, from his actions so far, he would have voted 100% with Hillary and the other war-mongrs on that issue, since he ALWAYS VOTES EITHER "PRESENT" OR WITH THE PERCEIVED POLITCALLY SHREWD POSITION.
His ideas don''t extend much further than the usual rhetoric and scheming for power. A huge nothing, a moal zero with nothing but a deep voice and platitudes. Sorry you fell for it, sucker.
I think so many of us were because we just really couldn''t stand to see the domineering and controlling power-hungry sham-marriage Clintons running amok in the White House with Bubba and Gina Gershon making a fool of the President right under her nose.
If I had the choice to vote again in the Primaries, I''d probably choose Bill Richardson or Chris Dodd. They SEEM like nice family guys with experience, but who knows . . . although I''m starting to think low key people are may be a sign of solidity rather than ''boringness'' the way Al Gore got pegged. I don''t know . . .
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