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NBC Touts Bill Clinton’s New ‘Backstage’ Role In Hillary’s Campaign
On Wednesday, NBC’s Today offered up yet another puff piece on the Clintons as Andrea Mitchell touted Bill Clinton's new role as a "backstage advisor" for Hillary's 2016 presidential campaign. She beamed at how “[n]ever known to shy away from a campaign, Bill Clinton now vowing to step back when his wife runs in 2016, telling Town and Country magazine, ‘My role should primarily be as a backstage…
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Rand Paul to Guthrie: ‘Instead of Editorializing…Ask Me A Question'
On Wednesday, Today co-host Savannah Guthrie repeatedly badgered Kentucky Senator Rand Paul over his views on foreign policy following his presidential announcement. Things got so heated during the discussion that Paul had to tell Guthrie “before we go through a litany of things you say I’ve changed on, why don't you ask me a question.”
Van Jones: GOP 'Not in Touch' With Minorities, 'Don't Care' About Them
It is not surprising that Rand Paul has a media target on his chest for announcing himself as a Republican presidential candidate. What is unusual is the fact that CNN saw fit to bring in Van Jones, a man with flirtations with communism and 9/11 conspiracy theories (and who briefly President Obama’s "green jobs" czar) to evaluate Paul’s political aspirations.
When Carol Costello asked Jones for…
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CBS, NBC Again Omit ‘Conservative’ Tag in Descriptions of Rand Paul
After all three networks declined to label Senator Rand Paul a conservative during their morning news shows, on Tuesday night ABC’s World News Tonight broke ranks and labeled him a “mainstream conservative” on issues such as abortion, gay marriage, and tax cuts. Fellow networks CBS and NBC continued to not use the conservative label and stuck to labels such as “Republican” and “libertarian.”
Chris Matthews Hails 2009 Rand Paul Speech: It Sounds Like 'My Crowd'
Earlier today, appearing on a segment with Thomas Roberts, a visibly agitated -- more so than usual -- Chris Matthews sputteringly spewed invective against neo-con war "pigs" who he insists are behind an attack ad leveled at Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) in light of his having said previously that we should negotiate with Iran over its nuclear program. Tonight, opening up the Tuesday edition of Hardball…
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Halperin-Heilemann: Rand's Wife Kelley Good, But No Michelle Obama
Let's be clear: on today's With All Due Respect, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann were very complimentary about Kelley Paul's performance today in introducing her husband Rand at his presidential announcement speech. They described her as a big asset and anticipate seeing a lot more of her on the campaign trail.
That said, the duo said something that boggled my mind, claiming that as good as…
Mika: Rand Paul's Grandiose Ad 'Setting Yourself Up for Failure'
When Republicans make campaign announcements, the press usually grab their pitchforks, light their torches, and proceed to run them down. Such was the case with Mika Brzezinski, who typified the Morning Joe crew’s response to Rand Paul’s announcement trailer with the question, "Isn't that kind of setting yourself up to fail?"
Donny Deutsch also lamented the over-the-top rhetoric of the Paul…
Nation Writer: ‘Wisconsin Badgers Deserve Better Than Scott Walker'
In a Tuesday post, The Nation blogger Dave Zirin argued that it’s politically unseemly for Gov. Scott Walker to root publicly for certain Wisconsin sports teams, including the University of Wisconsin basketballers, who came up just short in last night’s men’s national title game against Duke.
Zirin claimed that it’s “almost flagrantly irresponsible” for the media to publicize Walker’s support of…
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Nets Skip ‘Conservative’ Tag for Rand Paul; Labeled Cruz 13 Times
On Tuesday, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul became the second Republican to officially enter the 2016 presidential race, following Senator Ted Cruz’s announcement on March 23. However, on the morning of their respective presidential announcements, the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) networks went out of their way to label Cruz a “conservative” 13 times, compared to zero conservative labels for Senator…
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NBC Hails Clinton Aide While Touting ‘Embarrassing Situation' for Bush
After NBC’s Today touted the latest hire for Hillary Clinton’s expected presidential campaign, Monday’s NBC Nightly News also gushed over the move while blasting Republican Jeb Bush for creating an “embarrassing situation” by identifying as a Hispanic on a voter registration form. Peter Alexander reported Clinton has hired “a former aide to First Lady Michelle Obama” in Kristina Schake, who, he…
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Revolving Door Revolves Again: MSNBC's Karen Finney to Clinton Team
According to CNN, MSNBC regular Karen Finney will be joining the yet-to-be-announced Hillary Clinton presidential campaign as a communications adviser and spokesperson. In 2012, the liberal Finney bitterly connected Rush Limbaugh to the death of Trayvon Martin: "Rush Limbaugh calls a presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, a magic negro...In the case of Trayvon, those festering stereotypes…
Writer: ‘Horrifying’ Ideas on Display in GOP Presidential Primaries
Conor P. Williams really enjoys watching the amazing race -- not the CBS program, but the race for the Republican presidential nomination, which Williams called “my favorite TV show” in a Monday column on Talking Points Memo.
For Williams, much of the “entertainment value” of the GOP contest lies in its right-wing extremism: “This is a show where the American conservative id fully unravels in…
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NBC Touts New Clinton Aide Helping to Fix Her Public Image
On Monday, NBC’s Today gave some free publicity to Hillary Clinton by copying a recent New York Times article profiling Kristina Schake, the woman whose “job is to recast Hillary Clinton’s image.” Matt Lauer introduced the network’s promotion of Hillary's rebranding by proclaiming that “[a] lot of people think that Hillary Clinton has hopes of becoming the next host of one of those Easter egg…
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The Media vs. the "Radical, Right-Wing, Scary, Dangerous" Ted Cruz
This week liberal reporters welcomed Ted Cruz to the 2016 presidential race by blasting him as "hardline," "right-wing," "radical," "dumb," "scary," "dangerous" and "slimy" -- all in the first 24 hours. And: the networks hype the "growing outrage" over Indiana's religous freedom law, with one pundit saying that Republicans who came out in support Mike Pence were having a "premature intolerance…
