Wash. Post and Politico ignore subjectivity, McCain omission, and self-admitted flaw in uncritically reporting National Journal rating
SUMMARY: The Washington Post and the Politico both noted the National Journal's rating of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama as "the most liberal senator in 2007" without mentioning an admitted flaw in the Journal's 2003 rating of Sen. John Kerry as "the most liberal senator," or that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain did not receive a composite score in 2007 because he "missed more than half of the votes in both the economic and foreign-policy categories."
In separate articles, The Washington Post and the Politico highlighted National Journal's rating of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (IL) as "the most liberal senator in 2007," without noting an admitted flaw in the publication's previous rating of then-Democratic presidential front-runner Sen. John Kerry (MA) as the "most liberal senator" in 2003, or that Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (AZ) "did not vote frequently enough in 2007 to draw a composite score" because he "missed more than half of the votes in both the economic and foreign-policy categories." Moreover, neither article informed readers of the criteria used by the Journal in assessing Obama as "most liberal senator." As Media Matters for America pointed out, among the "liberal" votes Obama took that purportedly earned him this label were the following: to implement the bipartisan 9-11 Commission's homeland security recommendations, provide more children with health insurance, permit federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research, and maintain a federal minimum wage.
The February 11 Post article, headlined "Clinton, Obama Each Claim Footing to Push Shifting Va. Across the Aisle," discussed the upcoming Virginia Democratic presidential primary and reported: "GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said Obama's real challenge in many parts of Virginia will be his voting record." The article then noted: "National Journal ranked Obama as the most liberal senator in 2007." Similarly, the Politico reported on February 10 that "many conservatives interviewed, like [conservative activist Paul] Weyrich, said the recent nonpartisan National Journal ranking of Obama as the most liberal senator illustrates a significant vulnerability." The article quoted Weyrich as saying: "I think [Democrats] really don't know what's coming. ... "In other words, they don't really understand that his [Obama's] philosophy, his viewpoint, is going to be made an issue."
From the February 11 Washington Post article, headlined "Clinton, Obama Each Claim Footing to Push Shifting Va. Across the Aisle":
GOP pollster Tony Fabrizio said Obama's real challenge in many parts of Virginia will be his voting record. National Journal ranked Obama as the most liberal senator in 2007.
"What new could you possibly tell a voter about Hillary Clinton that they don't already know?" Fabrizio asked. "On Hillary, the cake is already baked in the voter's mind. The guy who isn't baked in the voter's mind is Barack Obama. At the end of the day, his issue positions would be his undoing in a state like Virginia."
From the February 10 Politico.com article, headlined "Conservatives Learn to Live with McCain":
Though Weyrich believes New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton "is clearly an easier target because her negatives are so high," he also argued that Democrats have not considered Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's "weaknesses."
Most Republicans cite both Democrats' relative inexperience compared with McCain. But many conservatives interviewed, like Weyrich, said the recent nonpartisan National Journal ranking of Obama as the most liberal senator illustrates a significant vulnerability.
"I think [Democrats] really don't know what's coming," Weyrich said. "In other words, they don't really understand that his philosophy, his viewpoint, is going to be made an issue. Right now he has been winning on oratory and personality. Both of which are outstanding. But once people begin to understand where he is, and that he is really the same as Hillary on most everything, I think it's going to be a different story."
"On Hillary, the cake is already baked in the voter's mind. The guy who isn't baked in the voter's mind is Barack Obama...."
..and the Repulicons are going to bake a cake of bovine excrement and feed it to their minions as though it was strawberry.
Damn right they will. There's a limit to how much slime the GOP can throw at Hillary; she's already disproved or deflected much of it. There is NO such limit to the crap they can invent about Obama, of whom the vast majority of Americans know very little.
Just listen to Washington Journal on CSPAN. Hardly a day goes by when someone doesn't call and offhandedly remark that Obama is a Muslim- and, when corrected, they say "oh well I read he was, maybe he isn't, but anyway...." The GOP will MAKE Obama a bomb-throwing Islamofascist Manchurian Candidate long before the first frosts of autumn. Bank on it.
Also, if he gets the nomination, look for Obama to be referred to exclusively as Barack HUSSEIN Obama on all Troglodyte Media outlets.
The GOP will MAKE Obama a bomb-throwing Islamofascist Manchurian Candidate long before the first frosts of autumn.
....who won't wear a flag pin on his lapel and doesn't put his hand over his heart during the national anthem, and will insist on taking the oath of office on the Koran.
The nitwits on the right (Limbaugh, Hannity. Levin, et al) are mad at the "drive-by media" for "making McCain the front-runner". Their anger is misdirected - they should really be mad at all those people who voted in Republican primaries and caucuses and did not vote for a candidate that was "acceptable" to them. Either that, or there was never that many "dittoheads" out there.
We're witnessing the end of the Limbaugh/Hannity/Levin era, folks. People have stopped listening to what they have to say, and they can't stand it....
"I was showing interest in Sen. Obama's candidacy for President, and maybe I even voted for him in my State's Democratic Primary (but I'm not telling, because my vote's a secret)... and I was seriously considering the man in the General Election, this fall, but that was before I heard the voice of my master, telling me how 'liberal' the guy is... I'm sorry, but that's just the way it goes. If the National Journal ranks a candidate as 'most liberal', or 'very liberal', or 'accused of being liberal' or even just 'suspected of being liberal', then that's it, I'm not voting for the guy... and it saddens me to hear this news too late, because it means I foolishly wasted my State Primary ballot on that 'liberal' U.S. Senator... Oops! I didn't mean to let that cat out of that bag... disregard that inadvertant admission please... just remember what I said though, that since the National Journal has officially characterized Mr. Obama as being some great degree of 'liberal', then that's it, he's done, I'm not voting for the guy, period!"
--A non-existent American Voter, imagined only in the self-important minds of those who write and edit the National Journal.
Its kind of a question I've had and some others. When the noise machine revs up on Obama, how will he respond? Hillary's been exposed to this for a couple decades almost. She gives back. If she is the candidate, I feel the media's actions (full mad dog mode) will increasingly expose the corporate media's lack of credibility. More people will be aware of this.
Several times in this primary season, the voting public has looked at the media's message and thought,"what the aitch cee double hocky strix are they talking about!
I'd feel better if I could see Obama's response to the machine. I'd like to see it before he becomes the candidate, which he could well be.
In which case he has my support. I'm just not going to be real happy if some of the eventual slime seems to be sticking and not being dwelt with agressivily.
Ms. Maddow today thought that the GOP (probably with Karl R onboard) will work to make terrorism, torture, and fear the major campaign issues. Everything else will make cameo appearences at best. If this suceeds, then Karl may have things in hand, again.
Not a happy thought, he has beeen proved wrong a few times recently and there seems to be incredible enthusiasm and participation on the democtratic side. I truly hope it lasts to November.
Wouldn't "Worlds most Liberal Senator" be a badge of honor for ANYONE running for the Dems?
I mean, that should just about wrap it up till the convention I would think.
Are the Dems now RUNNING away from that badge of honor?
by any other name would smell as sweet
McCain is the media candidate, this is just the start.
This corporate conservative Republican Party controlled news media will show even MORE favoritism to Liar John McCain in this election than they showed Liar Bush in BOTH the 2000 election and the 2004 election, as well as the pro-Bush/pro-GOP favoritism that thic conservative media showed, and CONTINUES to show Bush, in BOTH of his terms as the p-residential masquerader. A friend of mine also calls Bush "The governor who occupies the White House."
The nitwits on the right (Limbaugh, Hannity. Levin, et al) are mad at the "drive-by media" for "making McCain the front-runner". Their anger is misdirected - they should really be mad at all those people who voted in Republican primaries and caucuses and did not vote for a candidate that was "acceptable" to them. Either that, or there was never that many "dittoheads" out there.
We're witnessing the end of the Limbaugh/Hannity/Levin era, folks. People have stopped listening to what they have to say, and they can't stand it....
When you see this corporatist conservative Republican Party news media showing Liar McCain monumental favoritism at even LARGER levels that the media showed favoritism to Bush, these lying right wing talk radio maggots and their audience of evil hate-mongering lying lemmings all have zero credibility and dropping!
Paraphrasing the words of "The Black Eagle" Joe Madison of black talk radio's XM 169/THE POWER, Drugbaugh, Hannity, Ingraham, Levin, and their despicable disgraceful hateful lying audience, are all just talking loud lies and saying nothing.