Campaign Watch

MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough appeared on the October 8 edition of "The Colbert Report" to declare John McCain the loser and use Democratic talking points to blame his own party (or former party?) on the current economic situation. An astonished Stephen Colbert exclaimed "look at how MSNBC has changed you!" In response the employee of the Keith Olbermann and Chris "…

At the top of Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith declared: "The McCain campaign sharpens its attacks on Barack Obama using one of its biggest guns." The "big gun" Smith was referring to was Cindy McCain, who criticized Obama on Wednesday for voting against Iraq troop funding. Smith followed by claiming: "But Obama strikes back with his own secret weapon," referencing Michelle Obama on…

ABC reporter David Wright continued to rail against John McCain's "full-bore attack on [Senator Barack] Obama's character" during Thursday's "Good Morning America." Speaking of the McCain/Palin campaign's references to Obama's relationship with unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers, the network journalist complained that the Republicans were suggesting Obama is "yellow, disloyal and doesn't belong." […

While the networks and much of the mainstream media channeled their outrage at Sarah Palin for daring to mention Barack Obama’s ties to terrorist Bill Ayers, the October 9 "Fox and Friends" featured a victim of Mr. Ayers, John Murtagh, whose home was bombed at the age of nine. Murtagh explained that the Obama-Ayers relationship goes back to the 1980's, when they met at a law firm.Further…

The smart folks soberly support Barack Obama, while the ridiculous-looking rednecks love Sarah Palin. That's the subtext of the New York Times coverage on Wednesday. Jennifer Steinhauer was watching the second presidential debate with Obama fans at a Mexican restaurant in Des Moines, "Where He First Got Going, Cheering Obama On." Debate watchers at Dos Rios -- the sort of crowd that can cite…

Thursday’s Washington Post featured a splashy front-page Style section article headlined "MoveOn Grows Up." Reporter Jose Antonio Vargas lapped up MoveOn’s claims that it’s much more powerful and effective than the National Rifle Association, employed euphemisms to mask that MoveOn opposed any "violence" in response to the 9/11 attacks, and waited 18 long paragraphs to arrive at that "stumble"…

NBC anchor Brian Williams reported Wednesday night “there were no devastating or towering moments in the Obama/McCain debate in Nashville last night,” but he insisted, though neither ABC nor CBS mentioned them in their next day stories, “two moments from last night loomed large today.” Both, no surprise, were supposed insults from John McCain, but before getting to those, reporter Andrea Mitchell…

At the top of CNN.com’s most popular stories at midday Wednesday was a commentary by CNN contributor Roland Martin, a relentless unpaid Obama spin controller and host of a series of weekend specials. Martin's commentary argued that the Bill Ayers issue is a "smokescreen" and that if Barack Obama is tarred by working with Ayers, McCain is just as tarred by working with....Strom Thurmond, Jesse…

On Wednesday, all three network morning shows interviewed Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden and offered no Republican counterpoint, punishing the McCain campaign for Sarah Palin declining to make similar appearances. On ABC’s Good Morning America, co-host Diane Sawyer concluded her interview with Biden by declaring: "And we want you to know that we have asked Governor Palin to come…

On Tuesday’s Hannity and Colmes program top Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs displayed the latest example of the Democratic campaign attempting to whitewash their opponents. When co-host Sean Hannity asked him about Obama’s connections to William Ayers, Gibbs shot back, "Are you anti-Semitic?" He then changed the entire subject of the discussion to whether Hannity was anti-Semitic for recently…

If only the United States were more like Europe, Joy Behar laments. Recapping the previous night’s debate on the October 9 edition of "The View," the panel discussed John McCain’s healthcare plan. In the midst of the conversation Joy Behar wondered why the United States can not "solve" health care like quasi-socialist governments in Europe."What they haven’t discussed in any of these debates is…

Liberal Chicago Tribune columnist and blogger Eric Zorn argued today that while Bill Ayers violent past must be condemned, it is improper to label him as a domestic terrorist (emphases mine):My view is that one can unequivocally condemn the campaign of destruction and bomb-setting waged by the Weather Underground and still ask whether "terrorism" is or was the right word to describe that form of…