AP baselessly suggested that -- contrary to her own words -- Michelle Obama's "cute" comment was directed at Palin
SUMMARY: The AP put out an article advancing the baseless assumption that Michelle Obama was referring to Gov. Sarah Palin when Obama "asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because ... 'she's cute' " -- even though the article specifically noted that Obama followed her statement by saying, "I'm talking about me," and that Obama "did not talk about Palin directly in her remarks."
Associated Press writer Mike Baker authored a September 18 article based on the groundless assumption that Michelle Obama was referring to Gov. Sarah Palin when Obama "asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because ... 'she's cute.' " Baker offered no evidence supporting his question, "Might she be talking about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin?" Indeed, Baker specifically noted in the next sentence that Obama followed her statement by saying, "I'm talking about me," and in the article's final sentence that Obama "did not talk about Palin directly in her remarks." Nonetheless, Baker devoted a 183-word article to making a link between Obama's comment and Palin, despite the absence of any mention of Palin in her comments.
The original version of the article, distributed by the AP's State and Local Wire and published on the USA Today website as part of a roundup package, simply asserted as fact that Obama's comment was "a clear jab at Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin," adding that "Obama tried to clarify her remark with a smile, saying she was talking about herself."
The AP article, headlined "Michelle Obama: Don't vote because 'she's cute' "
Michelle Obama asked voters Thursday to make their choice on the issues, not because, "I like that guy" or, "she's cute."
Might she be talking about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin?
"I'm talking about me," she said with a smile.
Barack Obama's wife, however, is not on the ticket in the presidential election. Palin is.
Her remarks came at a women's round-table on the economy as Democrats work to neutralize the appeal that Palin has brought to John McCain's ticket for some female voters. They are doing so gingerly, so as to not appear sexist or invite another lipstick-on-a-pig tempest.
Michelle Obama told the audience her husband is only candidate focused on equal pay, health care, affordable college, teacher recruitment and other issues of concern to women. She said that's what the election should be about.
"People shouldn't make a decision this time based on, 'I like that guy' or 'she's cute,'" she said.
The line won a big round of applause. Before it subsided, she interjected: "And I'm talking about me."
She did not talk about Palin directly in her remarks.
The AP State and Local Wire article:
Michelle Obama says voters need to decide this election by examining the issues, not because they like a candidate or think "she's cute.''
Obama spoke in Charlotte on Thursday morning at a women's round-table on economic issues. The crowd roared at her remark disparaging voters who might cast a ballot because of a woman's looks, a clear jab at Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin.
Obama tried to clarify her remark with a smile, saying she was talking about herself.
Obama said her husband, Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, is the only candidate to deal with women's issues. She particularly focused on equal pay, health care, affordable college and recruiting new teachers.
Where's the "misinformation"?
Michelle Obama said not to make your choice because "I like that guy" or "she's cute." Yet "she", Michelle Obama, is not running for president. Sarah Palin is.
The statement obviously needed clarification, and the AP clarified it, as Michelle herself did.
A slow day at MM, perhaps? A pretty weak post by MM, IMHO.
I didn't see anything on the news about John McCain dropping out of the race.
But then I don't listen to All Wingnut Radio WNUT. Radio for wingnuts by wingnuts about wingnuts.
Michelle Obama, is not running for president. Sarah Palin is.
Oh boy, Shoes. Well, Congrats anyway on the first post.
OFF TOPIC
You made me think. If McCain dropped dead today does anyone here think the party would put Palin at the top of the ticket for the election? I can't imagine they'd be that stupid.
That reply was meant to follow WorrierKing's post.
Oops, sorry about that. When it first appeared, Governor's post was after WorrerKing's and my post was a reply to that. Unless I'm seeing things.
I need a drink.
No, you're right. Governor's comment keeps popping in and out.
And you're also right that I'm a smartass. So I didn't take it as an insult.
But don't let that stop you from drinking. I'm about due for a couple myself.
"I can't imagine they'd be that stupid"
I can. Did you forget who is currently president?
shoes: Yet "she", Michelle Obama, is not running for president. Sarah Palin is...
Uh, Sarah's not running for president either, flip flop.
This the funniest MMFA headline in some time. Of course it was baseless for the AP to suggest she was talking about Palin. I mean, after all, with only ONE woman on the two tickets, she could have been talking about any cute female. What a joke. Of course she was talking about herself…..but wait a second, she is not running and not cute. Other than that, sure, I guess anything is possible.
She was talking about the cuteness of the spouse of someone running for President.
They are doing so gingerly, so as to not appear sexist or invite another lipstick-on-a-pig tempest.
Did he just compare Michelle Obama to Ginger from Gilligan's Island? How sexist!!
For her 5th grade science project, Sarah Palin actually constructed a working radio using only sea water, bobby pins, and a klondike coconut. Her project received second place in the Alaska Public Elementary School Science Fair.
(http://www.herobuilders.com/08.htm)
Sweet fancy moses...somebody light the bat signal for Jamison Foser...maybe he can get control of the staff.
Do any of the staffers read his on-target articles about the eroded skills of the media? It appears not.
This is a huge WITH.
Wesley, I saw your other post (your theory that I spend all day monitoring wingnut tv and radio), so this is for your benefit.
I just returned from a visit to a jobsite, and flipping over to El Rushbo during a commercial break on Tom Hartmann's show ( yeah, riiightt, eh, Wesley), I accidentally hit one of my preset buttons that had been tuned to the GOP station, probably by one of my right wing servants while taking in the pinto for varnishing.
Rush's interpretation was as ass-backwards as you'd expect.
Michelle Obama advised voters to focus on the issues, and not to make their decision on a superficial reasons.
This came out the other end of Rush's system as: The Dems are really focused on looks.
I heard this as I lunged for the radio to change the station, Wesley. ;0)
I have very low standards, why do you think..........? (never mind)
:)
tommy,
Before the staffers or whoever is assigning such drivel even look at a keyboard they should be forced to read this from Jamison Foser:
-- But assessments like these have absolutely no merit, no value. They serve no purpose; they do not educate viewers and readers about anything that matters. --
Or maybe it should be taped to each staffer's forehead.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop on your little party"
Oh, and just another delectable different rule, and this one just has me in absolute stitches; when two rightwingers answer each other or agree, it's nothing but disrupting the steady flow of leftwing mindset parroting; but when two leftwingers carry on for hours, it's called keeping the thread on track and away from derailing interrupters. I love that one more than my luggage.
:)
You'll have to forgive us for that one, Tommy. It's just that we're still a little edgy when righties get together. Considering the wars, domestic wiretaps, the economy... well, the last time we allowed the righties to exercise their freedom of assembly, things turned out...um..."challenging".
We'll try to be more considerate in the future.
Even though this has been explained to you and Tommy countless times, you still can't get it through your thick skulls for some reason, can you?
Conservative information is info in the media that is not reliable or accurate and that furthers the conservative agenda.
I know that Tommy gets pissed off when I prove him wrong, and he then goes off the deep end and accuses me of being a banned poster who really got his goat years ago (talk about holding a grudge!), but that doesn't change the fact that Tommy's wrong, and so is Wesley, about saying WITH.
Let's say that Michele Obama was suggesting that people shouldn't vote for Sarah Palin simply because she's cute. That would be a personal attack by Michele Obama - an attack on voters who would be shallow enough to vote for someone based upon their looks, and a smear of Palin that she might only deserve and receive the support of some people because of her looks.
So, when the media promotes that Michele Obama actually did that, they make her look worse than she actually deserves to look, because she wasn't saying anything about Sarah Palin.
If the media information makes a liberal look worse than they deserve to look, or makes a conservative look better than they deserve to look, that forwards the conservative agenda. It's pretty darn simple.
I don't think you're any better, Conger. Shoes has been posting here for a long time, and as far as I know, has yet to understand even the simplest, most straightforward MMFA items, hiding her confusion by dismissing every item as "weak" or "not cool", or suggesting a "slow day".
Does it make you feel big to pick on somebody that dum?
BECUASE THOSE CHILDREN ARE WEARING FRENCH CUFFS!!!!
VERY SIMPLE, EXCEPT TO LIBRULS.
WHO MOVED THE FURNITURE AROUND HERE???
Oops, did I say that out loud?
Don't forget how angry she is, though. Why is she so angry? Is it because she hates America?
yeah, that 'angry' commentary pisses me off too.
The looks of a spouse of a candidate have nothing to do with anything.
Whether or not she looks angry, the judgement should be made on whether or not she is angry a lot of the time. It's the way her face is made - I've often thought that she 'looks' angry. If I'm not smiling, some people who don't know me think I look 'sad', because my lips sort of hang lower on the sides, more in a frown than a smile. It's the way my face looks, and it is not representative of how I feel and how I behave.
Well a, get back stare, can be considered sexy.
We maybe having an outbreak of outside voices today, and its all Snoopy's fault.
Only candidate to focus on equal pay, health care, affordable college,etc. When did that happen? I couldnt make heads or tails of his speeches because he seemed to be too busy criticizing every word McCain was saying, or constantly investigating Palin. Obama spoke of issues? We are so sick of Obamas unprofessional and ruthless demeanor. And guess what, Michelle did direct that comment to Palin. Maybe she should have said, dont pick someone because they are cute, and dont pick someone just because of the color of his skin. Poll shows 93% of blacks are voting for obama ............. surprise, surprise lol.... Im sure they are voting for him because of his principles which they know nothing about. right? yeah
Obama now is talking about womens issues to try and accomodate every sector. We are not stupid and not buying it. Obama is a scary person, at the very least.
PALEOJ6274, did you trade the "con" suffix for a string of digits?
Paleo –
Are you suggesting that Blacks are so dumb that they couldn’t possibly understand the issues involved in a presidential race and are just voting based on race? Okay, I’m just yanking your chain; I doubt that’s what you were implying, though you should be more careful with your sarcasm.
As to your point about more than 90% of black voters voting for Obama, it’s a point I’ve heard over and over again and on the surface, seems to be a valid argument. Isn’t voting for Obama just because he’s black a bad thing, maybe even racist? Certainly not voting for Obama because he’s black would be racist; why wouldn’t the inverse be true?
For starters, you can’t assume that just because something is true, the inverse of that statement is true. You have to examine the statement on its own merits. So let’s look at a few of the things we know about Obama just because he’s black and see if those are worthy reasons to vote for someone.
1) Challenges stereotypes – as Americans, we have a lot of negative stereotypes about the intelligence and leadership of blacks and having a highly intelligent black man leading this country would challenge those stereotypes.
2) Has dealt with racism – if you are black in this country, you have almost assuredly dealt with some form of racism, whether it’s being harassed by the cops or being questioned by a bank teller. And even if Obama had never dealt with racism before entering the election (incredibly unlikely), he’s dealing with it now.
3) Works Hard – probably the most controversial point, but I’d argue that it harder to be successful in the US if you’re black, given the implicit racism and double standards. To overcome those challenges and be a viable candidate for president demonstrates a great degree of hard work.
So I’d say those are three things you can tell about Obama ‘just because he’s black’ and I think they make him at least worthy of your time, if not your vote. Certainly for a lot of black Americans, those three reasons are enough to vote for Obama. Plus, when you consider his policy positions, it’s hard to see why any black person wouldn’t vote for Obama. I also think that the same thing applies to women and Hilary/Palin; to imply that women aren’t that bright because they are voting for Palin ‘just for being a woman’ shows a lack of understanding of minority issues (it also assumes that only Hilary’s views were women’s views, although I’m sure that there are women out there who are more comfortable with Palin’s viewpoint). You could make a case that while Palin would have a more intuitive understanding of women’s issues, Obama will fight harder for them, but to write Palin off immediately ignores the very justified desire of millions of women who want someone who gets what they go through.
As to this specific article, not only is it clear that Michelle is not talking about Palin, the article also implies that the campaign needs to pander to women without mentioning that the Obama campaign has received endorsements from several major women’s groups over the past few days. And Michelle is very attractive, she’s just not white.
Translation = Palefacedcon.
Lately I have noticed that many stories coming out of AP have had a negative demeanor towards Barack Obama overall, I watch the Yahoo News and it seems as if almost everyday they have noted that Obama has been mocking McCain.
I have already seen several instances of this language for example today:
McCain say he would fire SEC Chairman, Obama Mocks Call, Glen Johnson today AP
Obama Mocks McCain promise to bring change, Terence Hunt Sept 15th AP
Obama Mocks McCain as being computer illiterate, Nedra Pickler Sept 12th AP
AP has made this strong association of Obama mocking as if he is the child and taking cheap shots.
The word Mocks is not buried in the story but appears as the headline on Yahoo news and comes from AP
Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers -- a quintessential American story.
If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track -- you're a maverick.
Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
Attend five different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
If you spend three years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a constitutional law professor, spend eight years as a state senator representing a district with more than 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
If your total resume is: local weather girl, four years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with fewer than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising two beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society
If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible.
If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner-city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
If your husband is nicknamed "First Dude," with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
You need to save this and re-post it occasionally. Thanks.
EXACTLY!
Michelle used this same line in a speech in Charlotte yesterday...
At least she's getting some mileage out of it!
Even more evidence that there was no slip - it was a planned comment describing herself.