No Letup in LAT's Love Affair With Obama, 'Liberal' Tag Avoided

The Los Angeles Times's love affair with Barack Obama continues to writhe hot and heavy. We've reported on it in the past here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

The paper continued its string of flattering, adulatory profiles of Obama yesterday (Sat. 9/8/07) with a generous, front-page, 2100+-word piece. With the article are two photos, including a nice full-color pic of Barack and his wife Michelle enjoying a smooch (see images of the article here and here). As with other pieces the paper has run on Obama, any unflattering episodes about the candidate are downplayed or excused.

Then today (Sun. 9/9/07), the Times published "Obama finds lots of green in Oprah's meadow," about Oprah Winfrey hosting a posh fundraiser for Barack. The paper touts "Barack Obama's turn to enjoy billionaire chat diva Oprah Winfrey's favor." In the most fawning of terms, the paper described that "there was a sense of history being played out" as the "enthusiastic" and "stunning cross section of the country's entertainment and sports elite" gathered to raise big bucks for Barack's campaign.

How is it that it seems when rich Democrats gather for fundraising, everything is presented as so wonderful and happy? Yet wealthy Republicans are often described along the lines of "Big Money" and "military-industrial complex" folks who represent the "upper-10th-of-1% folks who benefit from Bush's tax cuts"? (That's how a Times reader described GOP supporters in a letter to the editor today.) Double standard, anyone?

By the way, over the course of the two articles this weekend, the word "liberal" is nowhere to be found. Now if this had been about a Republican fundraiser ...?