CBS Channels Liberal Fretting Over Obama: 'Where's the Fight?'

Photo of Brent Baker.
  • Bookmark and Share

With “Where's the Fight?” on screen under video of a man in New Hampshire who pushed Barack Obama (“When and how are you going to start fighting back?”), Katie Couric teased Friday's CBS Evening News: “Supporters of Barack Obama are frustrated and letting him know it.” Couric set up the story by highlighting how “an Obama campaign official sent out a memo saying 'today is the first day of the rest of the campaign,' and vowing to take the fight to John McCain. But Dean Reynolds reports the new edge Obama tried out today wasn't sharp enough for some of his supporters.”

Indeed, Reynolds, who soon asserted that “many think” McCain's ads are “lies,” began his piece by showcasing the one questioner: “At a stop in New Hampshire today, Glenn Grasso of Dover asked Barack Obama a question on the minds of many Democrats.” Grasso pleaded: “When and how are you going to start fighting back against attack ads and the smear campaigns?” After a clip of Obama insisting “our ads have been pretty tough,” Reynolds focused on how “the audience here was clearly expecting more” and “what bothers many Democrats is what happened next. The audience literally coaxing a word from him that baldly describes what many think of the McCain camp's tactics.” Viewers then heard a man in the audience yell “lies!” before Obama endorsed his word: “Lies, that's the word I was looking for.”

Story Continues Below Ad ↓

In the next story, a “Reality Check” on inaccuracies in campaign ads, mostly McCain's, reporter Wyatt Andrews concluded by painting Obama as the victim being forced to respond in kind:

McCain has been the aggressor in this slide to negativity, and that is putting pressure on Obama to respond. Either way, this is not the elevated discussion both candidates promised to deliver.

Interestingly, while CBS News (and the Washington Post) found Grasso's question newsworthy -- maybe because it matched the concern of more than a few journalists -- neither of two articles on Saturday in the local Dover, New Hampshire newspaper, Foster's Daily Democrat, mentioned the question: “Obama goes after McCain on taxes, economic policy” and “Obama woos undecided, but some voters still uncertain after visit.”

In a Saturday Washington Post story, “Obama Campaign Begins Counterattack,” reporter Jonathan Weisman recounted:

Even after being prodded by the audience in Dover, Obama appeared reluctant to get too aggressive. Glenn Grasso, 39, a doctoral student, pleaded: "When and how are you going to start fighting back?"

Obama responded by calling McCain's ads "just fabricated" and "just made up," an answer that spurred some to shout out: "Lies."

"Lies, that's the word," Obama said.

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video to provide this transcript of the Reynolds story on the Friday, September 12 CBS Evening News:

KATIE COURIC: Turning to the presidential race, Barack Obama is looking to get his campaign back on track and stop his opponent's momentum. An Obama campaign official sent out a memo saying "today is the first day of the rest of the campaign," and vowing to take the fight to John McCain. But Dean Reynolds reports the new edge Obama tried out today wasn't sharp enough for some of his supporters.

DEAN REYNOLDS: At a stop in New Hampshire today, Glenn Grasso of Dover asked Barack Obama a question on the minds of many Democrats.

GLENN GRASSO, OBAMA SUPPORTER: When and how are you going to start fighting back against attack ads and the smear campaigns?

REYNOLDS: Obama responded that his campaign is running new ads.

BARACK OBAMA: I have to tell you, our ads have been pretty tough.

REYNOLDS: This is the latest, suggesting the 72-year-old McCain is very old school.

CLIP OF AD: He admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail.

REYNOLDS: But after a drum roll of promises that Obama would now toughen his approach, the audience here was clearly expecting more than this.

OBAMA: I just have a different philosophy, and that is that I'm going to respond with the truth. [APPLAUSE] I'm going to respond with the truth.

REYNOLDS: They applauded, but what bothers many Democrats is what happened next. The audience literally coaxing a word from him that baldly describes what many think of the McCain camp's tactics.    

OBAMA: You have ads that are based, are just fabricated. They're just made up. And-

MAN IN AUDIENCE: Lies!

OBAMA: Lies, that's the word I was looking for.

REYNOLDS: Obama acknowledged that some of his supporters are getting nervous. They've seen this movie before, as he put it. But his campaign is assuring Democrats that what they will now see is a methodical and well-planned offensive in the 53 days left in this race. Dean Reynolds, CBS News, Concord, New Hampshire.

—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

hold the phone... just hang on a minute!

"But his campaign is assuring Democrats that what they will now see is a methodical and well-planned offensive in the 53 days left in this race."

Now I'm really confused... Obamessiah touts his ability to run a national presidential campaign as part of his experience - the experience that qualifies him to be President.  Is his campaign now saying that we have not yet seen a methodical, well-planned campaign?  They're going to start running such a campaign NOW?  Doesn't seem to say too much for Obama's supposed qualifications.

 Don't hold your breath waiting for the media to call him on it, though. 

It's is confusing

until you apply a healthy dollop of circular logic.

I think Obama has a new problem, most men have realized Obama plans to reinstate the 'useless assault weapons ban', which would have the effect of banning most of the handguns now used for concealed carry. Guns now protected by the SC decision.

The shift in Democrat thinking from tying gun control to fixing the crime problem, to now just banning guns because they are liberals, is interesting. What about protecting your liberties, your library card. I guess that wasn't really the real goal, was it. What about Constitutional rights, don't liberals care about them -- No, to a liberal, the Constitution is just an inconvenience, to be gotten around.

Gov Palin has stomped on more liberal temples of styrofoam than anyone thought possible.

»→ Whimpering Obama

It's a defenseless crybaby who resorts to calling his opponent a liar.

Are y'all sure this guy is a Harvard Lawyer?

"Us white folk will take care of you" - Barbara Walters

The problem for liberals is

The problem for liberals is that they are bringing a knife to a gunfight. Always have been.

"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

Fight?

For all of the Obama supporters who are screaming for him to start fighting, here's some sad news: he HAS been fighting.  Plagarizing a political cartoon and saying things like 'lipstick on a pig' is, for him, fighting.  Releasing ads mocking John McCain for not being able to send e-mail is, for him, fighting.  What do you folks really expect?  Obama doesn't know how to fight, and his handlers (rejects from previous losing campaigns) don't know how to fight, either.  This is the fourth time in his campaign where he's claimed that the 'gloves are coming off'.  Ho-hum.  I'll watch the MSM fight for you, Comrade Obama.

And a rubber knife at that.

And a rubber knife at that.

Come on Barack Come out Come out Come out

By all means feed the Obamaniacs their raw meat. They have cheered the political rape of a woman, the abuse of children and the slapping around of a down's syndrome child..........even the stressing out a pregnant teenager putting an infant under medical jeopardy.

Come on Barack, the Obama people so lofty Oprah bawling at Denver and your messiahship calling out to "god", show us the real Barack and really go after Gov. Palin.

Maybe you could really get down and make your people cheer in going to Alaska and running over the Palin's cat, lighting up the Palin house, nailing her to a cross and shipping her children to Africa for the slave trade.

Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh what on earth do you sick people expect from Barack Obama?
He reads fricking teleprompters, makes mistakes in Denver reading in saying gay people can't visit gay people in hospitals and does his preacher routine one phrase at a time.

You idiot Obama people elected an incompetent your media stooges propped up for 19 months and you couldn't figure it out, because you were too busy hating on Hillary.

Goodness you Obama people, you have brought savagery out, smear, lies and now you are demanding Obama get mean.

You already have Obama with a pile of felonies, but go ahead and lets see what the messiah has up his sleave as right now I believe this:

No weapon formed against Sarah Palin will stand against her.

 

*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS

What can they fight with?

A campaign built high on hope but little on substance has nothing to fight back with. Take a classic example. McCain accuses Obama of raising taxes. The Obama camp screams "It's a lie! Obama will only raise taxes on the very wealthy, like corporations and the top 2% of income earners!"

  • But that 2% create jobs, which is the point of the tax break in the first place. (Phil Gramm has a good article about this in Saturday's WSJ.)
  • Besides, do you know any small business owner or corporation who will pay the tax cut by taking it out of their profit? Why would they? They went into business to make money, and if you try to limit that, it gives them less reason to stay in business. Everyone knows they'll either cut jobs or pass the price to the consumer, probably both. We'll lose far more than we gain by being exempted by an income tax cut.

You know why Obama isn't fighting back on taxes? Because that will expose the emptiness of his own plan. Obama has succeeded until now because the media hasn't looked at his plans. He has flown entirely on his "star power" and his "rock star" personality; he's stayed up so long because the media has avoided his policies (stale McGovernism) and his theory of government (he has none). If he fights back on policy, he's got nothing to fight with.

His only "hope" until now has been to tie McCain to Bush's unpopularity. But Obama is fighting the 2005 version of Bush, and this is 2008. Let me put it another way: Obama is good at fighting Donald Rumsfeld. He has no chance against Robert Gates.

What I think fighting means to a lib

1. take the crap on Daily Kos's home page and make the candidate say it

2. Call Palin/McCain a nazi war criminal (sorta #1)

3. Get in the republicans face and start screaming words that do not make sense

4. Call both of them horrible name, be sure to curse

I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it - Voltaire

Income redistribution

Excellent KC. A discussion of Barrys tax plan will expose it to its real intent. Income redistribution! I.E. Vote for me and I will give you money.

»→ Obama supports Palin!

He realy does. And he supports her job creation initiative.

We should work with the Canadian government to finally build the
Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline, delivering clean natural gas, and creating
good jobs in the process
,” Obama said Aug. 4 in Lansing, Mich.  

Now if Obama had done anything at all to help the private sector advance, maybe Gov. Palin could reciprocate.  But, alas . . .

"Us white folk will take care of you" - Barbara Walters

What would be different?

The Obama-Biden Laden campaign has orchestrated the most vicious campaign of personal destruction on Sarah Palin since the Dems/Media ruined McCarthy for outing their fellow Commies in the government. We're supposed to believe that none of this has happened, but now their going to get tough. What are they going to do different? Spread scurrilous lies? Send a small army of lawyers to AK to dig up dirt - real or manufactured? Make fun of McCain's inability to type due to his war injuries on a national ad? Short of plotting an assasination, I don't know how they could get tougher.

"Distortions"@myway

In the headlines of the messnbc site, the word "distortion" appears exclusively  in all articles regarding the McCain/Palin campaign. None for Obama.

You just know that Katie

You just know that Katie wanted to be the one in that New Hampshire audience shouting out "Lies, Lies, Damn Lies"!

___________________________________ 

If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber

TnT, it was probably a CBS

TnT, it was probably a CBS employee in the crowd who yelled it.  

The whole thing looks staged to me anyway... to put the Dahli Bama "above the fray" and paint him as a kind and sympathetic figure, being begged to go negative to "defend" himself against a campaign of lies.

All this while his minions and MSM cohorts relentlessly attack Palin 24/7.

When asked if he went to war with Iraq  to derail the impeachment vote:  “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).

Must see Video Too Funny

Funniest Video Ever

AD...

Brought to my attention by our Friend here "Clear thinker"   . CT hope you don't mind if I push it back up the board?....too funny to be lost. Warning,  do not drink any beverage while watching or you might have to clean off screen like me after spitting out my coffe from laughing so hard.    Please pass around to all you know, soon to be a classic .                Steve

You really need to see this...

What Do Obama And Hitler Have In Common?

"If your 20 and not a Liberal, You have no Heart. If you are 40 and not a Conservative, You have no Brain"    Sir Winston Churchhill

Obama takes the high road? What a joke.

Obama and the MSM are complicit in this farce that he has not attacked Palin. Perhaps he personally and his paid compaign staff have not directly attacked her, but the entire left-wing has gone off the rails in doing everything they can to destroy a decent woman, whatever her qualifications may or may not be.

There is a major difference between the left and right. On the right, there are a limited number of outside groups who go after Obama, but by and large, conservatives have real lives to live and politics is a secondary concern.

However, since leftism (which includes all the -isms like environmentalism, feminism, socialism, Marxism, as nauseum) is an ideology that can arguably be called a religion for secularists, there is a huge coterie for which politics is a life and death struggle of good (them) vs evil (us). These people will do anything, literally lie, cheat, and steal, to destroy the vile poor-hating, racist, capitalist-roader McBusHitler before he can trash the Constitution and declare himself king.

But since these armies of fruitcakes are not directly tied to Obama, he has plausible deniability to claim that he is all for a fair fight, and the media go along with it, even though they are also part of his team.

My deepest concern is that even if Palin is the next Reagan, and is an exceptional candidate, and they can find no real faults with her, what will happen to her is death by a thousand cuts. Unless we can trust the independents of this country to see through the relentless avalanche of negative coverage that will be flooding the airwaves for the next two months, her image will suffer from the constant barrage of lies, rumors and innuendos. That has to have an effect when they go to vote, and maybe on enough of them to swing this election to The One.

When Elected

I have a concern for Sarah after she is elected. Look what the "liberals" have done to president Bush, a person history will prove to have been one of the best ever. However, like President Bush, this woman has the character to withstand it. Nonetheless, the lefty lies must hurt everyday. It is sad that the nation has to suffer the fools in the MSM.

NEVER,NEVER trust a"liberal"

Women Acting Like Men?

The Caucasian women, which the media say have shifted to McCain by 20 points, are guilty of what they have for centuries accused men of:  Just wanting a vagina.  Never mind that it can't walk and chew gum at the same time.  It doesn't matter if the way to can tell it's lying is if it's mouth is moving.  They want one.  I know how much you want a woman in the White House. Well, ladies, this is not the right one. 

Very nice

And vulgar.

Calling Sarah Palin "it".

Take your DKos talking points elsewhere, Red.

We need a better class of troll, here. 

David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive

 

Nice try SeeBS, nice try.

Nice try SeeBS, nice try. Claim that McCain is "smearing" and "lying" when the networks have been the ones smearing McCain all along.  Very good, cry victim and then commence the smearing of Sarah Palin. Good job. Textbook!  Only one problem SeeBS, it's not 1992 and yours is no longer the final word on any political  or social issue. Talk radio and the interent, much to your consternation, have a  way of providing a kind of balance and analysis to political issues that never existed before. Now, like never before, when you're nailed shilling for yet another beloved Democrat candidate or caught gearing up the smear machine for another round of  Republican character assassinations, we can get the word out  quickly and shoot down the smears faster than you can say "hubiris". As I said, good stealth smear job on McCain and we didn't forget the Rather/Mapes bogus document scandals of '04  but it's all currently being  debunked in the alternative media. Voters will now be able to decide for themselves whether or not anything you say about McCain/Palin is actually true.

The fiberals are late in

The fiberals are late in discovering what the rest of us have known all along about Obama: There is no "there" there.

The major media report only half the news. Why are they surprised they have only half the potential audience?

CBS might have to release

CBS might have to release the fake document early this year.

 But Dean Reynolds reports

 But Dean Reynolds reports the new edge Obama tried out today wasn't sharp enough for some of his supporters.

...What the msm really means is REPORTERS.

...after-all they have been his biggest supporters, now haven't they... 

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Proof Liberal Media Scared

The fact that the liberal media now feels like giving tips, pointers, directions, and roadmaps to victory for Obama's campaign is proof that they're scared that he might lose...

It is delicious to watch.