Does bringing up Reverend Wright amount to "swift boating" Barack Obama? That’s what Today anchor Matt Lauer suggested in an interview with John Edwards. For the third time this year the Today show used the term parroted by Democratic partisans to wonder about the evil Republican smear machine.
LAUER: Does he have baggage, though? Let's talk about this Jeremiah Wright controversy. He's now severed his relationship with his former pastor. You know how tough a general election campaign can be.
EDWARDS: Oh, yeah.
LAUER: You remember the swift boating of John Kerry.
EDWARDS: Oh, yeah.
LAUER: Do you see a fall election campaign where there are images of Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright side by side? Is it going to hurt him?
Lauer also took Hillary Clinton to task for saying she appeals to working class whites, which is who the Democrats need to win this November. Lauer opined that "a candidate doesn’t often come out and say ‘whites are supporting me.’" And asked Edwards if this is "old style politics."












In a January 30 Newsweek Web Exclusive, Matthew Philips added his voice to a chorus of mainstream media figures effusively eulogizing the failed candidacy of class warrior par excellence John Edwards.
On Thursday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith continued the media’s love affair with John and Elizabeth Edwards following the former Senator dropping out of the presidential race: "John Edwards says he is stepping aside so 'history can blaze its path.' And it will tonight. Also this morning, we're going to look at the amazing grace of Elizabeth Edwards who has campaigned passionately beside her husband all these months despite her diagnosis that she is terminally ill."
FNC's Brit Hume, in his Wednesday “Grapevine” segment, highlighted the contrast in a glowing a AP review of John Edwards' unsuccessful campaign sympathetic toward his hard-left approach to the race, versus a much less laudatory look by the wire service at Republican Rudy Giuliani's aborted presidential quest.
In her “Katie Couric’s Notebook” video posted on CBSNews.com on Wednesday, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric mourned the loss of John Edwards from the Democratic race, citing an array of liberal issues as proof the ex-candidate “deserves credit for pushing tough issues,” and applauding Edwards for “speaking honestly about why he wanted to raise taxes.”
So much for feminism. On the syndicated "Chris Matthews Show" this weekend, CNN's senior political analyst, Gloria Borger admitted she felt like Hillary Clinton was being ganged up on by "the guys." During a discussion about how female voters in New Hampshire reacted to Hillary Clinton being criticized by her political opponents, Borger seemed to undercut the whole concept of women wanting to be treated as equals, in effect saying, sometimes you just can't pick on the girl. 
Thursday's CBS Evening News took a look at the economic and tax plans for some of the candidates from both parties, but, while Democratic plans were reported without any references to criticism, correpondent Chip Reid took jabs at Republican tax cut plans, labeling that of Mitt Romney, who "made a fortune in business," as being "right out of the playbooks of Ronald Reagan and George Bush." Reid further suggested that Mike Huckabee's plan for a national sales tax contradicts his "populist" message of "protecting the middle class," as the CBS correspondent neglected to mention that Huckabee's plan would also abolish the federal income tax and provide rebates to those with lower incomes. (Transcript follows)
This space has not served as an unmitigated cheering section for Mika Brzezinski. But kudos to the Morning Joe panelist for the well-deserved shot she took at John Edwards today.