2008 Presidential

Recapping Wednesday's presidential debate TV journalists were struck with how Barack Obama conveyed an “appeal to the center” while a “sarcastic” John McCain showed “disdain and contempt” and was hurt by being too much of a right-wing “ideologue” whose  “worst moment” came when he raised the name of William Ayers. Also noteworthy: On NBC, Ann Curry pressed six undecided voters to “raise your hand…

Despite the huge media hubub that it's caused, the U.S. Secret Service is formally denying an allegation from a Pennsylvania newspaper that an attendee at a Republican rally shouted out "kill him" in reference to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama."We have yet to find someone to back up the story," agent Bill Slavoski told the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader. "We had people all over and we…

[See update below for how Toobin did the same thing later in the evening.] CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin brushed aside the issues of Barack Obama’s affiliation with left-wing terrorist William Ayers and the liberal group ACORN during a roundtable discussion on Wednesday’s Situation Room program: "Who cares about ACORN? Who cares about Bill Ayers? I mean, I just don't get this. What is…

Imagine that Chris Matthews was interviewing the former head of the Republican Congressional Campaign Committee, someone who helped engineer the election of a Republican House member after the incumbent Dem had been caught in a sex scandal.  Now imagine that same Republican was currently stuck in a sex scandal of his own, and just that afternoon a credible report emerged that he might drop out of…

Tonight is the final presidential debate between Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama.Discuss the main event here on this thread or take part in our live NB chat. Everything starts at 9:00 Eastern.

CBS political correspondent Jeff Greenfield, who after last week's second presidential debate lashed out at John McCain for referring to Barack Obama as “that one” (“Was it demeaning? Was it an insult?”), just over two hours before the third and final debate suggested McCain should not bring up Williams Ayers or Jeremiah Wright -- and he used far-left/conservative-hating New York Times columnist…

During Wednesday’s Newsroom program, CNN anchor Rick Sanchez tried to portray that there were many so-called conservatives who were "defecting," in his words, from John McCain over his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. His list of conservatives, which he read prior to an interview of National Review senior editor Ramesh Ponnuru, included homosexual activist Andrew…

With Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin receiving some return fire from the media for their criticism of the press, it's interesting to note that they are not alone in criticizing the media at this point in the campaign cycle. In an interview with the New York Times Magazine, Democratic candidate Barack Obama lashed out at Fox News Channel, accusing it of portraying him as an "arrogant…

CNN anchor John Roberts complained in an October 15 interview to Media Life magazine about the "Media Research Council" (he meant Media Research Center) giving him an award in 2001 for being one of the most liberally biased journalists during George W. Bush's first 100 days in office. In the interview, Roberts labeled himself an "equal opportunity holder of feet to the fire," and lamented that "…

While the media were aghast while the Republicans booed the New York Times at McCain-Palin rallies – Jon Stewart suggested they might be "against reading" -- the Democrats were booing Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly in Athens, Ohio, today at a Joe Biden rally. Does this encourage vicious hate, or even violence against the Fox News stars? Washington Post reporter Perry Bacon blogged it as a sign of…

Wednesday’s CBS Early Show began to declare the presidential race over as co-host Julie Chen touted new CBS News/New York Times poll numbers and proclaimed: "Obama surge. As the candidates head to the final showdown, Barack Obama opens up a 14-point lead. Can John McCain turn his campaign around in the final debate?" Co-host Harry Smith followed up with: "A lot of people say this is John McCain's…