Campaign Watch

Sarah Palin found an unlikely voice defending her from constant vicious attacks on the left, "View" co-host Whoopi Goldberg. On the October 15 edition, in sharing her experience meeting John McCain and Sarah Palin, Elisabeth Hasselbeck expressed regret about all of the hate the Alaska governor recieved and added, "she’s a good woman and regardless of what you think, she is."Whoopi Goldberg…

All three morning shows on Wednesday failed to cover a front page Washington Times story asserting that Senator Joe Biden has paid over $2 million in campaign money to family members and their businesses. Washington Times reporter Jim McElhatton wrote in the October 15 edition of the paper that "the money largely flowed from the coffers of Mr. Biden's failed presidential campaign during the past…

Right before the election, CNN is giving a Bush-bashing comedian a weekend show where he can spout off about “politics, entertainment, sports and popular culture,” Variety reported last night.Back in March 2006, as NewsBuster’s editor Brent Baker reported at the time, D.L. Hughley slammed President Bush during an appearance on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher: “If I hear one more person tell me…

For the second time in three days, a major network program has showcased the story of a 106-year-old nun in Rome who is voting for Senator Barack Obama. On Wednesday's "Good Morning America," reporter Jim Sciutto highlighted Sister Cecilia Gaudette, an elderly woman who has caught "election fever" for the Democrat. The journalist featured Gaudette gushing, "I think he's the man, really. I think…

Rather than deliver a single revelation, the 24-hour cable news channel coughed up a reheated, overwrought and misleading story that seemed designed to yoke Sarah Palin and her husband to the most extreme secessionists in Alaska.That's how Los Angeles Times's James Rainey characterized an October 14 effort by CNN's Rick Sanchez to portray Gov. Sarah Palin as a shady secessionist who would like…

In his 1999 memoir, “All Too Human,” George Stephanopoulos defined good spin as “a hope dressed up as an observation.” Starting with the 2000 election, however, Stephanopoulos (supposedly) abandoned the role of paid spinner that he filled during Bill Clinton’s 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, instead offering his expert opinion as an analyst and anchor for ABC News.But a review finds…

Tony Dokoupil, who once asked "is journalism ready for a black president" in the Columbia Journalism Review -- he also excerpted it in a blog entry at Huffington Post -- gave Newsweek readers a look at what the presidential candidates' neckties say about the men who wear them.You may scoff now, but Dokoupil sure finds it a knotty problem (emphases mine):So what does the knot say about today's…

On the trail with Sarah Palin in Richmond, Va., New York Times reporter Patrick Healy filed a condescending profile of her stump speech in Tuesday's "A Riveting Speaker, Waving the Flag." Healy claimed that Palin's "partisan zeal" and "with-us-or-against-us message" could "repel some independent voters," and that her speeches have "holes in logic." It was the sort of treatment that gaffe machine…

Video game maker Electronic Arts confirmed Monday that the Obama campaign has purchased ads that appear on virtual billboards in the online version of the popular racing game "Burnout Paradise."This is deliciously fitting given the junior senator from Illinois' rise to capture the White House being nothing but a high-priced media fabrication.Tastier still, in another glaring hypocrisy that will…

Chris Matthews spent the entire first segment of Tuesday night's "Hardball," questioning Sarah Palin's "intellectual ability" to lead but Republican Congressman Dan Lungren wasn't having any of it, as he countered: "You want to talk about my friend Joe Biden who made at least 10 misstatements in the last debate," and even made fun of Matthews' Obama fondness, as the California Congressman fired…

National Review's David Frum on Monday accused MSNBC's Rachel Maddow of intensifying the ugly tone that exists in politics today.Appearing on "The Rachel Maddow Show," the former Bush speechwriter, after watching the first part of the program from the Green Room "in horror," was apparently "unprepared for the sarcasm and anger" that is the show's -- and the network's! -- trademark. As a result,…

Liberals like Joy Behar claim to have open minds not casting judgment on others, unless of course it involves someone of a different political persuasion. On the October 14 edition of "The View," discussing Sarah Palin’s daugther Bristol’s pregnancy, Behar wondered where Governor Palin’s "family values" are. "The View’s" most reliable leftist berated Palin for allowing her daughter Levi Johnston…

On Monday’s Newsroom program, CNN European political editor Robin Oakley pontificated to Senators McCain and Obama on how the U.S. can be more liked by people in Europe. The U.K. native’s advice -- change the country’s policies, especially its conservative ones, so it’s more like the European Union. The best example of this came when Oakley brought up the issue of guns: "While we're on the…