NBC's Brian Williams and Andrea Mitchell on Friday night used their presumption, that Senator Joe Biden is Barack Obama's VP choice, to showcase, for a second straight night, the Obama campaign's attack on John McCain over his inability to say how many homes he owns. In setting up the lead Nightly News story on VP speculation, Williams highlighted how “the Obama camp is telling the McCain campaign people who live in that many houses shouldn't throw stones.”
After asserting that “it is looking more and more like Senator Joe Biden is the choice,” reporter Andrea Mitchell contended “Biden, with blue collar roots, could help reinforce Obama's latest message” conveyed in an Obama TV ad: “Call it country club economics. How many houses does he own?”
Following her story, Williams returned to what interested him the most: “Back to the McCain campaign and this issue they're fighting which you predicted yesterday would go down as one of those moments in a campaign. Does this live on and on and on, do you think?” Mitchell maintained it's now an “emblematic” issue which arrived “just when” Obama “needed it.” So, what a coincidence the media have pounced to assist Obama. Mitchell answered:
I think it does, it becomes emblematic and it gives Obama an opening just when he needed it. He was having trouble identifying himself, defining himself. The McCain people were having a couple of good weeks. This has definitely been a setback.
Neither the CBS Evening News nor NBC Nightly News mentioned the McCain homes issue on Friday night, though, like NBC, they certainly didn't hold back on Thursday evening. My August 21 NewsBusters item, “Nets Pounce on McCain's 'Housing Crisis,' But Not So Fast with Kerry's '04 Gaffe,” recounted:
Four years ago when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry made his “I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it” remark, the CBS Evening News instead ran a soundbite of Kerry promising “we're going to build an army of truth-tellers” as it took the newscast six months (!) to finally air the vote for/voted against clip and the NBC Nightly News didn't play it for nine days. Yet on Thursday night, both newscasts led with what NBC's Lee Cowan declared is “John McCain's personal housing crisis.”ABC, which in 2004 aired Kerry's comment a day later when Dick Cheney raised it, didn't lead Thursday with McCain's failure Wednesday to say how many homes he and his wife own, but devoted a full story-plus to it with Jake Tapper deciding “it could be a seminal moment” in the campaign before George Stephanopoulos relayed how the Obama camp thinks “this is one of those metaphorical moments.” He recalled 1992, “when it seemed like President Bush didn't know what a supermarket scanner was.”
Fill-in CBS anchor Maggie Rodriguez led: “John McCain couldn't answer a question most Americans would find simple, how many homes do you own?” NBC's Brian Williams, back in Manhattan from Beijing, opened with how though “reporters are busy chasing down all available clues” on Obama's VP pick:
This was not the biggest political story of the day. That came from John McCain in response to a question about how many houses he owns. He didn't answer. The actual answer is a sizable number.
Relevant portions of the lead story on the Friday, August 22 NBC Nightly News:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Good evening. If there were gold medals handed out for secrecy, then the Obama campaign has at least entered the medal round of the competition. The candidate says his mind is made up about a number two. Yet, tonight, there are tea leaves but no hard take them to the bank facts and no evidence that the future vice presidential nominee has been told of the job. We'll all know by tomorrow, unless we find out any minute now. And while this all goes on, the Obama camp is telling the McCain campaign people who live in that many houses shouldn't throw stones. Covering all of it tonight to start us off this Friday evening, NBC's Andrea Mitchell........ANDREA MITCHELL: Barring a last-minute change, it is looking more and more like Senator Joe Biden is the choice....
Biden, with blue collar roots, could help reinforce Obama's latest message, battled again today in dueling ads.
OBAMA AD: Call it country club economics. How many houses does he own?
MITCHELL: All about McCain's multiple homes. As many as ten says the Obama campaign. Only four says the McCain campaign.
McCAIN AD: Obama's solution? Higher taxes.
MITCHELL In June, when Brian Williams asked Biden if he'd take the job.
JOE BIDEN ON JUNE 22 MEET THE PRESS: If asked, I will do it. I made it clear, I did not want to be asked.
BRIAN WILLIAMS ON MTP: Do not want to be asked, but if asked, of course would be yes.
BIDEN: Of course I would.
MITCHELL: One person not vetted Hillary Clinton. Obama had said she'd be on anyone's short list, but his team did not ask her for any personal records.
HILLARY CLINTON: That's for him to decide.
REPORTER: What advice would you give him?
CLINTON: I'm not in that arena.
MITCHELL: Among the first to know could well be the law students at Widener University in Wilmington, Delaware. Biden was scheduled to teach their class tomorrow as he has for 17 years. They've been told they may have a substitute professor. Brian?
BRIAN WILLIAMS: And while all of this goes on, back to the McCain campaign and this issue they're fighting which you predicted yesterday would go down as one of those moments in a campaign. Does this live on and on and on, do you think?
MITCHELL: I think it does, it becomes emblematic and it gives Obama an opening just when he needed it. He was having trouble identifying himself, defining himself. The McCain people were having a couple of good weeks. This has definitely been a setback.
WILLIAMS: We'll keep covering all of these stories as we move on to news elsewhere. Andrea Mitchell, thanks for starting us off.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
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Comments Policy
Someone smarter than me stated:
August 22, 2008 - 20:05 ET by FastEdwhat should be more important - the number of houses owed by the McCain's or the number of buildings blown up by Ayers!
Houses - legal, bombings - not. How does Barry answer that character question?
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
A set back only to those in
August 22, 2008 - 20:08 ET by bigtimerA set back only to those in the msm that are in desperation mode...most people in the real world just do not care Andrea...and Brian....hope as you will...it is only in your imaginations that this is going to be any big issue.
Gawd I wished these leftists in the msm would get a real clue to how the people in the real world think.
Poor babies are really scrapping the bottom of the barrel to bring up the polls for their messiah...their Chosen One.
This is going nowhere....and I'm no McCain fan, whatsoever.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
bt - how can the lefties of the lame stream media
August 22, 2008 - 20:28 ET by FastEdhave ANY idea what the rest of us think? They only talk amongst themselves, have no idea what goes on outside of their offices (bars, cafes and party houses) and don't know or speak to anyone who resides outside of their metro areas.
Too bad that there are a great deal of people who listen to these idiots, thinking they know what is being reported (sic).
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
Fast... Too bad that
August 22, 2008 - 20:40 ET by bigtimerFast...
Too bad that there are a great deal of people who listen to these idiots, thinking they know what is being reported (sic).
You have that right...I just got done talking to my ex, we are still great friends after almost 40 years....he only gets the alphabet networks, nothing else,plus he doesn't read much, never has, let alone forget the PC so when we talk I try to inform him of the latest info...as if it matters...lol..but heck he asks, plus he still tries to get my goat after all these years politically...I tell ya, you have to inform some people little by little one step at a time.
...every little bit helps.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Imagine if McCain said there
August 22, 2008 - 20:20 ET by the strugglerImagine if McCain said there were 57 states.
Imagine what would happen if Barry
August 22, 2008 - 20:31 ET by FastEdsaid he loved or understood this country? Then, I guess, you'd also have to wish or imagine you had a few dollars (with those presidents who don't look like him) in your pocket, knowing it wasn't going to go to Washington.
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
How odd, this is the second
August 22, 2008 - 20:47 ET by mandrakeHow odd, this is the second time today I've read a NB blog/post that began with the word "Imagine" and then proceeded to tell me what to imagine. I'll do my own imaginingering thank you!
WE know that!
August 23, 2008 - 20:37 ET by FastEdThese posts are for the demolibs who can't imagine anything, mostly because they like to have things done/given to them. Their "imaginingering" usually comes from the lamestream "journalists", and the hand-out pols who they keep electing.
There is no sense in being stupid, if you can't prove it! - my dad V
Yet for all the talk about
August 22, 2008 - 20:23 ET by jdhawkYet for all the talk about McCain's homes, still no interest by the drive by media regarding how a former "community organizer," state senator, and now, U.S. Senator can afford to purchase a mulitmillion dollar home? Could it be he had help from a convicted felon? Maybe, it was help from his buddy, the admitted terrorist and communist? Could it be payback for supporting all those years a hate mongering racist "pastor" who he himself was "given" a 10 million dollar mansion? I know! It was a gift from his Kenyan brother who has taken a vow of poverty.
No interest whatsoever? I am still in a state of shock I tell you . . .
Yeah, isn't that choice
August 22, 2008 - 20:50 ET by 10ksnookerAll the while, Obama never having a real job, or for that matter ever having done anything of significance ... So he sold some books he probably didn't even write and made a few audio tapes. How many people actually cared when he made them?
Out of touch
August 22, 2008 - 21:22 ET by nkviking75The fact that McCain could hit back immediately by bringing up the Rezko scandal proves that this non-issue is a loser for BHO. And there are plenty of ways BHO is out of touch. That's really what his "Messiahship" shows.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
maybe mccain should focus on ...
August 22, 2008 - 21:31 ET by pmohbuckobama's half-brother in africa ... here's a man running for president, writing books, vacationing in hawaii and blasting mccain about houses ... meanwhile a member of obama's family sits in hut eating grass on a whopping $1-a-month income. low blow? i hope so.
I'm amused to no end...
August 22, 2008 - 21:46 ET by unkeeafIt is really quite funny how incredibly desperate the NBC news crew seems to be. You can almost see them hyperventilating over the housing story and working extra hard to make it stick.
If they were any more transparent, they'd be an open window.
MSM = PR firm for the Democrat Party
How many typical Americans
August 22, 2008 - 21:54 ET by lnthompHow many typical Americans own one or more investment properties in addition to the home where they live? A lot I'ld say, though I'm not one of them. “the Obama camp is telling the McCain campaign people who live in that many houses shouldn't throw stones.” is not the right way to put it, because McCain doesn't live in all those homes. How about checking who purchased homes without moving into the area of "appearance of impropriety" or worse?
Lee T.
"Democrats, there is one reason Obama is your party's nominee, and it's not because he's black -- it's because he's not Hilary Clinton." -- Rush Limbaugh, 6/2/08
The modern art of political reporting
August 22, 2008 - 22:18 ET by KC MulvilleIt's self-manufactured justification to report a story endlessly, and then claim that it's a solid story because "it simply won't go away." Yeah, it won't go away because the media is reporting that it won't go away. You know what the law calls this kind of self-manufacturing justification? Extortion. The person who is selling the solution is himself the cause of the problem. And that's what this "story that won't go away" really is. It's journalistic extortion.
The media is justifying its reporting on the fact that it's a story that being repeatedly reported, thus adding to the problem it created itself.
Does This Live On and On???
August 22, 2008 - 22:21 ET by Secret ConservativeBrian Williams asks, "Does this live on and on and on, do you think?" and, of course, Andrea Mitchell replies, "I think it does." OF COURSE it will if the MSM won't shut up about it! I'm not a McCain fan, but, frankly, if this is the worst thing they have on him, it's gonna be a long campaign...
I imagine McCain's hesitancy about giving a number is that some of the homes are owned by John and Cindy, others are investment properties owned by Cindy, and others are homes owned by family trusts and lived in by people other than John and Cindy. I know that's a lot of houses, condos, etc., but they have never shied away from the fact that McCain's wife is RICH!!!
Of course, the MSM keeps harping on the fact that the Republicans beat up John Kerry about how many homes and SUV's etc, he and his rich wife owned. The difference here is that John McCain isn't trying to legislate that normal Americans have to reduce their "carbon footprint" while he lives in luxury. He thinks it would be cool if we ALL lived in luxury, and wants to make laws that will make that more possible.
I personally think that this
August 22, 2008 - 22:41 ET by USA4freedomI personally think that this will backfire on them.
The public is tired of all of the totally in the tank the MSM is, and every time they echo the DNC talking points a large percent ofAmericans can see though it.
This also opens the angle that Mc Cain can use with “well Imight not know how many houses I got but I know I got them legally."
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
USA.... Now that would be
August 22, 2008 - 22:47 ET by bigtimerUSA....
Now that would be a perfect one-liner to use from the McCain camp to come right back at 'em....I love it.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Short-Term Price/Long-Term Benefit
August 22, 2008 - 22:43 ET by Intellectual HonestyWith the polls and Obama syncophants both in the pits in the last couple weeks, the short-term jabs that Obama and the his media lovers can make from McCain's quote will be overwhelmed by the long-term costs.
1-Most important, just as there seemed to be a wave of buyers remorse that may have given Hillary an opening to at least force an VP nod towards her or even a revolt come ballot time has been evaporated, buzz-wise. While, when it comes to the Clintons, it ain't over until it is over, I was really worried that Obama would panic and go with Hillary. Presuming that is not the case by tomorrow night, the Clinton's background interference will be worth at least 5 points election time. While in no way do I believe that McCain made his comments on purpose in my mind that comment saved Obama and killed Hillary and thus could very well prove one of the main factors for a very possible McCain win.
2-In the final analysis, McCain didn't do the two things he could have: fudged (bad) or lied (devastating). His answer was badly phrased and lacked instant follow-up ("My wife has some as investments, an aunt lives in one" etc.) but in the end it was straight forward and honest.
3-Rush had a great point on Friday in saying that the combined value of the (Cindy) McCain houses was $13 million - just enough to buy one of Mrs. John Kerry's mansions.
4-The Obama campaign, as many have noted, opened the doors to the McCain campaign to play the Rezko card just in time for the convention. What an appropriate "gift" to give Obama during the coronation.
5-If the Obama campaign complains about an ad blitz by McCain during during the DNC Convention, McCain should take such a comment and insert it in an ad that points out that McCain stuck by his pledge to accept federal limits for the general campaign (thus he must spend some leftover cash before the RNC Convention) while Obama reneged (show Obama's pledge & waffle with direct audio/video quotes)
6-This will be played as McCain's equivalent to Obama's 57-state goof. Fine. At the same time the Obama camp and a variety of MSM/Hollywood/musician sychophants will continue to play on the "too old" mantra to the point that "seasoned citizens" will feel greatly slighted. Not good for the Big O because no matter how often the youth vote is played up as being different this time, the same hype has been played before with no stats to back it up eventually. There may be a bump due to Obama's age but in the long run the most reliable voters, 65+, will crush any youth vote.
wait just a sec
August 22, 2008 - 23:19 ET by candanceThe McCain people were having a couple of good weeks. This has definitely been a setback.
When did Mitchell ever admit McCain was having a few good weeks? She spread "scuttlebut" about him sabeutaging Obama and then accused him of cheating at Saddleback. Not to mention his "attack ads" that were so mean and vicious, and how he's been tacky enough to question Obama's patriotism, and how his campaign lied about the BAIP bill, and how he's been using racist fear mongering.
You would never have guessed from NBC's coverage that those had been "good weeks."
It's Biden
August 23, 2008 - 00:03 ET by RESTLESS 1Apparently Fox News is reporting that Joe Biden is obama's choice for veep.
"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008
CNN too
August 23, 2008 - 00:18 ET by CobraManThat's being reported on CNN too. I caught that while channel surfing. They report that it's been confirmed by "Democratic sources," what ever that means.
Obama: My job is above my pay grade
AP as confirmed it Real
August 23, 2008 - 00:22 ET by shawn228AP has confirmed it
Real life video games are cool
Ain't it grand
August 23, 2008 - 00:42 ET by Cool ArrowObviously Obama is easily forced into making stupid decisions.
Now we get to question Obama as to whether he agrees with Biden's statements about the failure of DC schools versus Iowa.
Walking case of Foot-in-mouth disease.
I ♣ my seal
During one primary debate,
August 23, 2008 - 02:54 ET by Troika37During one primary debate, moderator George Stephanopoulos referred to some of Biden's comments on Obama.
"You were asked, 'Is he ready?' You said, 'I think he can be ready, but
right now, I don't believe he is. The presidency is not something that
lends itself to on-the-job training,'" Stephanopoulos said.
"I think I stand by that statement," Biden replied.
THANK YOU, OBAMA! Of course he chose the one guy FAMOUS for saying something awkward and racist. I really hope his 7-11 comments aren't mentioned in a McCain ad...
Wait... No I don't. Bring it.
"On-the-job training"
August 23, 2008 - 04:12 ET by SchnikeysBut hell, who in their right mind would turn down a potential promotion?
Apparently somebody who's not "a-biden" by their previous statements!
Ha, ha-ha! I'll be here all week!
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"My morality is your morality."