CNN's Sylvester again cropped Michelle Obama comments

Summary: A day after CNN's Lisa Sylvester cropped Michelle Obama's recent statement about "run[ning] your own house" to suggest that the comments were an attack on Sen. Hillary Clinton, Sylvester again failed to provide the full context of Mrs. Obama's remarks, which shows she was talking about her own family and did not refer generally or specifically to any other candidates.

For the second day in a row, CNN's Lisa Sylvester, guest-hosting the August 22 edition of Lou Dobbs Tonight, aired a video clip of Michelle Obama, wife of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), saying, "So, our view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House," and suggested that the comments were an attack on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY). However, as Media Matters for America noted, the full context of Michelle Obama's comments show that she was talking about her own family and did not refer generally or specifically to any other candidates.

After airing the cropped clip, Sylvester noted that Sen. Obama "said his wife was not referring to Senator Clinton," but rather talking "about the importance of keeping their family values intact while on the campaign trail." Sylvester then asked New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin for his take on "the Obama/Clinton remarks," adding: "I know there are a lot of people saying that that was at least a sideswipe" at Clinton. Goodwin responded: "I like to take these people at their word, but this one, I think, doesn't pass the smell test. I don't see who else she was talking about and ... the senator's defense doesn't make sense. ... [I]t's not logical when you apply it to the sentence that she said. So, I have to think it was a swipe at Hillary Clinton." Sylvester then asked Democratic strategist Hank Scheinkopf about Mrs. Obama's comments. Scheinkopf responded, in part, that Sen. Obama has "got to lash out somehow; he's got to try to close the gap. He flunked the foreign policy test and now he's got a new problem to deal with."

At an August 16 campaign stop in Iowa, Michelle Obama said:

MICHELLE OBAMA: [O]ne of the most important things that we need to know about the next President of the United States is, is he somebody that shares our values? Is he somebody that respects family? Is a good and decent person? So our view was that, if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House. So, so we've adjusted our schedules to make sure that our girls are first, so while he's traveling around, I do day trips. That means I get up in the morning, I get the girls ready, I get them off, I go and do trips, I'm home before bedtime. So the girls know that I was gone somewhere, but they don't care. They just know that I was at home to tuck them in at night, and it keeps them grounded, and, and children, the children in our country have to know that they come first. And our girls do and that's why we're doing this. We're in this race for not just our children, but all of our children.

As Media Matters noted, during the August 21 Lou Dobbs Tonight, Sylvester aired a cropped version of Mrs. Obama's remarks and claimed that she "apparently blast[ed] Senator Hillary Clinton."

From the August 22 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

SYLVESTER: Democratic presidential contender Senator Barack Obama today said his wife was not aiming at Senator Hillary Clinton in remarks she made last week.

MICHELLE OBAMA [video clip]: So, our view is that if you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House.

SYLVESTER: Senator Obama said his wife was not referring to Senator Clinton, but simply about the importance of keeping their family values intact while on the campaign trail. Joining me now are three of the best political strategists and analysts in the country: from Washington, Republican strategist and former White House political director, Ed Rollins.

ROLLINS: Good evening, Lisa.

SYLVESTER: And here in the studio, New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin and Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf. Thank you gentlemen for joining us.

GOODWIN: My pleasure.

SYLVESTER: First, let's start with you. What do you make of the Obama/Clinton remarks? I know there are a lot of people saying that that was at least a sideswipe.

GOODWIN: Yeah, I mean, I like to take these people at their word, but this one, I think, doesn't pass the smell test. I don't see who else she was talking about and it doesn't -- the senator's defense doesn't make sense. It wasn't -- it's not logical when you apply it to the sentence that she said. So, I have to think it was a swipe at Hillary Clinton.

SYLVESTER: And, Hank, this seems to be getting to be quite a messy sort of thing, when you've got spouses essentially jumping into the fray here.

SHEINKOPF: Well, it gets worse for Barack Obama. His numbers have not been good. The last polls on CNN have shown him neck and neck with Hillary Clinton in Iowa -- not so good. He's got to lash out somehow; he's got to try to close the gap. He flunked the foreign policy test and now he's got a new problem to deal with.

—S.S.M.