Radio host Laura Ingraham was on the Obama Gush Watch this morning, noting this breaking news on the ABC News Political Radar blog on Wednesday morning: "Barack Obama: Soccer Dad." There’s even a (boring) video of Obama sitting on the sideline smiling. Then, as the day progressed, ABC added these Obama entries: "Obama Fist Bump Refusal? Not So Fast...." (They explained that it would be wrong to make any hay out of Obama’s refusal to fist-bump a fan in Ohio.) And then there was "Vetting Obama’s Canine Companion," reporting the American Kennel Club is taking a survey to figure out what kind of dog the Obama family should get. (Ooh, they add, "Click HERE to vote.")
Meanwhile, the McCain headlines were serious, and more negative. There was "McCain Campaign Shake Up," and "RNC Plans Ad Assault," and "McCain Health Credit Could Morph Into Tax Hike" (according to Elizabeth Edwards and the Clintonistas at the Center for American Progress.)
The day's version of "The Note" even added this sneering line:
Maybe the start of his Colombia trip (and that’s with two "Os") – when McCain left U.S. soil, with its sputtering economy and spiraling gas prices, and declared war on drugs like it was 1984 -- will be remembered like the house-cleaning of almost exactly a year ago: When the campaign hit bottom.
The Note writers do suggest that promoting Steve Schmidt to the top of the campaign will add "Bush/Arnold swagger" and message discipline.
But this day of ABC blogging suggests a campaign narrative of fluffy Obama coverage and nit-picking substantive negativity toward McCain.
