Exactly how wide is the gulf between elite media opinion and public opinion on matters of politics?
Let’s put it this way, after Sen. Barack Obama falsely accused Sen. John McCain of saying he (Obama) doesn’t look like the other presidents on the currency and has a funny name, Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, called Obama's "Dollar Bill" statement "self-deprecating":
ANDREA MITCHELL: I have to tell you that the people who heard Barack Obama say what he said Wednesday night—and it's very similar to things he's said in Paris and Berlin and a lot of other stops—it's very self-deprecating. He says "I don't look like other people who have been President of the United States," most people who watched that, I don't know very many people who've watched that, and the people in the audience, the reporters, have never interpreted it, have never inferred from that, that he is making some kind of racial statement, but that's the way the McCain camp says that they took it, and Rick Davis by putting it out there, sure –
Sen. Obama, echoing Mitchell's talking points, himself made the same observation during his Saturday morning press conference:
SEN. BARACK OBAMA: Most of the people here were at this event in Union, Missouri. Almost none of you, maybe none of you, thought that I was making a racially incendiary remark for playing the race card. …
So we’re clear: According to Andrea Mitchell and Sen. Obama himself, no one in the journalist class heard Sen. Obama’s remarks about his looks and name to be a reference to his race.
There can be no doubt that this lopsided view within elite media has colored the coverage. Here’s how CNN’s Wolf Blitzer kicked off a panel discussion last Thursday:
WOLF BLITZER: It doesn't get more poisonous or explosive than to inject this whole issue of race, especially when you have obviously the first African-American on a major ticket. So what's the strategy behind the McCain campaign right now?
Meanwhile, on a Sunday morning panel, Blitzer gave credence to the idea that the McCain campaign’s Britney-Paris-Obama ad was racial in tone:
WOLF BLITZER: All right. Images are very important, and there's been several comments in recent days, our own Donna Brazill made the suggestion here in "The Situation Room" the other day and Bob Herbert a columnist for "New York Times" wrote this, referring to this ad. Referring to the blonde and the Harold Jr. ad when he was running for senator in Tennessee. That's a very serious charge that's been leveled against the McCain campaign right now saying that what the McCain campaign did this week was similar to what Republicans did against Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee when he was running for the senate …
According to the media consensus, then, Sen. Obama was not playing the race card when he wrongly accused Sen. McCain of commenting on his looks but Sen. McCain’s campaign was playing the race card when he compared Barack Obama to mindless celebrities.
This morning pollster Scott Rasmussen provides for us a snapshot of regular peoples’ views on the controversy. And it isn’t at all in line with the elite media’s view. According to Rasmussen:
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of the nation’s voters say they’ve seen news coverage of the McCain campaign commercial that includes images of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton and suggests that Barack Obama is a celebrity just like them. Of those, just 22% say the ad was racist while 63% say it was not.
However, Obama’s comment that his Republican opponent will try to scare people because Obama does not look like all the other presidents on dollar bills was seen as racist by 53%. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree.
To recap: Zero journalists interpreted Sen. Obama’s remarks as racist. Fifty-three percent of the general public did.
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WOLF BLITZER: It doesn't
August 3, 2008 - 12:24 ET by GregEWOLF BLITZER: It doesn't get more poisonous or explosive than to inject
this whole issue of race, especially when you have obviously the first
African-American on a major ticket. So what's the strategy behind the
McCain campaign right now?
Nice McCain-campaign-is-using-race framing job there, Blitzkrieg! Nice of you to help the viewers understand the evil McCain. You're an idiot Wolfie.
The McCain "celebrity" ad had zero racism in it. Just because the MSM morons like to bring that up doesn't make it so. I'm sure if we were to ask anyone, who says it's racist, why it's racist, they either wouldn't have an answer, or have one so out of whack our heads would spin at the stupidity of it.
The word "racist" used to actually mean something. But now it's thrown around without any credibility and is beginning to mean nothing, but instead it's simply used to as a hopeful silencing tool on someone with whom the name-caller can't otherwise deal in the arena of ideas.
time for some reality
August 3, 2008 - 12:23 ET by candanceObama did not mention his different look to poke fun at himself. He specifically said that Republicans would mention it to scare people. So this is how Andrea Mitchell's mind works:
Obama: McCain uses my ethnicity against me.
McCain: I've done no such thing and don't appreciate you calling me a racist.
Obama: How dare you mention race!
Andrea: McCain is racist. Oh, and Obama was joking.
Looks like the media's favorite maverick is being thrown under the bus to protect Obama. Now he knows how Romney felt.
...and the media's strategy
August 3, 2008 - 13:21 ET by motherbelt...and the media's strategy is: if Barack Obama says something stupid or racist...deny, deny, deny!
gulf between press and public
August 3, 2008 - 12:45 ET by regimeofterrorI'd love to see a comprehensive study from THIS SITE showing the difference between the press and the public on the major issues coupled with the media's approval numbers by the public and the polls on if the public thinks the media is biased more to the left or right. Then take that WHOLE study and send it to everyone in the press who keeps insisting they aren't biased. The PROOF is showing THEIR opinions being TO THE LEFT of the public's as the proof.
Saddam Hussein and terrorism. The rest of the story...
http://www.regimeoft...
The goofy part is if you
August 3, 2008 - 13:38 ET by USA4freedomThe goofy part is if you gave us a true conservative.. not a RINO, I would vote for him if he was green with purple spots and wore a beret, (ok.. not a beret) but we would still vote for him with out the hat.
If Mike Steele was running I would vote for him.
The only party that brings up race is the Democrats!! Every time its them, accusing the Republicans for their own actions.
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
Romney / Jendal 2012 (if,we survive)
Good point. They still would
August 3, 2008 - 13:39 ET by USA4freedomGood point. They still would not believe it..
Ronald Reagan, 1962: I did not leave the Democratic party, the party left me.
Insert: your name, 2008, and the Republican party.
Romney / Jendal 2012 (if,we survive)
The msm... The deaf, dumb
August 3, 2008 - 14:43 ET by bigtimerThe msm...
The deaf, dumb and blind.
...trying to inflict their agenda on us won't work...not going to either...in fact it is backfiring...
Keep up the good work though.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
deaf dumb and blind act...
August 3, 2008 - 16:52 ET by VT Con ManHey BT, You nailed it.
Andrea comes off sounding like an Obama campaign manager in this snippet, and likely most of her snippets.
Baseless racism charge
August 3, 2008 - 17:00 ET by nkviking75WOLF BLITZER: All right. Images are very important, and there's been several comments in recent days, our own Donna Brazill made the suggestion here in "The Situation Room" the other day and Bob Herbert a columnist for "New York Times" wrote this, referring to this ad. Referring to the blonde and the Harold Jr. ad when he was running for senator in Tennessee. That's a very serious charge that's been leveled against the McCain campaign right now saying that what the McCain campaign did this week was similar to what Republicans did against Harold Ford Jr. in Tennessee when he was running for the senate …
So McCain's ad is racist because a couple of libs are comparing it to another ad which they falsely called racist. And they did so without making any real connection between the two ads. When you get to the bottom of all of this, it amounts to, "McCain is a racist because he dared to criticize the Great Black Hope, and because we say so." The verbal fog is meant to make people believe McCain is racist without really knowing why.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Agreed
August 4, 2008 - 08:28 ET by motherbeltThe Harold Ford ad wasn't racist either.
I said in another thread: these Democrats have got to get over their fixation about black men and white women. They are the only ones who seem to be bothered by the idea.
Not even close
August 3, 2008 - 17:52 ET by Cool ArrowMy favorite race card driver is Barry Obama.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
Mitchell DOES have sense of humor after all
August 4, 2008 - 07:48 ET by SickofLibsObama and 'self-deprecating' in the same sentence? That's the biggest oxymoron of all time!
Put Obama and "self-adoring"
August 4, 2008 - 08:07 ET by Jack BauerPut Obama and "self-adoring" together and now you're talking.
There are two racist in this campaign...
August 4, 2008 - 08:43 ET by c5thenSenator Obama and the MSM.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
Barack Obama: "I don't look
August 4, 2008 - 09:27 ET by Hunter12Barack Obama: "I don't look like other people who have been President of the United States..."
Let's analyze this statement in the light of past presidents:
He can't be talking about height, because many of the past presidents have been taller, some much taller. He can't be talking about the color of his eyes, because we've had at least two presidents with brown eyes. He can't be talking about his angualr build with people like Lincoln and Jefferson preceding him. He can't be talking about sex, because all past presidents have been male. Many of them have had dark hair, big ears, thin lips, and white teeth. So to what can he be referring?
I think I have it! The color of his skin must be what he is talking about! Presented in this manner, Obama is obviously trying to say that anyone who opposes him must be a racist, because the only thing making him different from past presidents is the color of his skin. All differences with his opinions must make you a racist. And the media continues to spin issues in this light. It's not that he's the most liberal senator in a chamber that is leaning liberal and he's voted a strict party line on all past issues for the few years he's actually been in DC and not campaigning for President. I still get royally PO'd that none of the elites pimping for this guy will be subjected to the realities of the depressed economy brought about by cap and trade policies and long queues put in place with the implementation of universal health care (read "socialized medicine").
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill