Washington Post 'Lacked Obama Probes'

The Washington Post's own watchdog has taken the unusual step of apologising to readers over its lack of probing investigations into now president-elect Obama and pro-Obama coverage.

The watchdog is particularly critical over its lack of scrutiny of Obama's background and early years.

The apology follows an investigation by the newspaper's own ombudsman, Debrah Howell, into the Post's coverage over the last year. The Orange Party has consistently criticised the US media for not doing its job properly and holding a candle up equally to both candidates.

The Washington Post is the leading political newspaper in the US. The Orange Party has tremendous respect for the Post, its journalists and distinguished record for political reporting. Around October 17, the newspaper endorsed Obama as a candidate and the media frenzy really began.

Howell and her team's lengthy and detailed examination of the Post's coverage ranges from issues, voters, fund-raising, the candidates' backgrounds and horse-race stories on tactics, strategy and consultants, photos and page one leads.

There's much to be commended in the Post's coverage and praise for much of the Post's reporting but as Howell points out:

"Obama deserved tougher scrutiny than he got, especially of his undergraduate years, his start in Chicago and his relationship with Antoin "Tony" Rezko, who was convicted this year of influence-peddling in Chicago. The Post did nothing on Obama's acknowledged drug use as a teenager."

Those views chime with those of the Orange Party and respected former Sunday Times editor, Harold Evans, who made a similar and more scathing attack on these glaring omissions.

Howell dissects the 'count' in meticulous detail and concludes it was "lopsided, with 1,295 horse-race stories and 594 issues stories."

The op-ed page ran far more laudatory opinion pieces on Obama, 32, than on McCain, 13. There were far more negative pieces (58) about McCain than there were about Obama (32).

Stories and photos about Obama in the news pages outnumbered those devoted to McCain. Post reporters, photographers and editors, like most of the media, just found Obama more newsworthy, more interesting. Journalists love superlatives and anything new.

Concerns were raised yesterday, by Matthew Parris of the London Times:

"And this whole thing could go very sour. A politician who has subtly insinuated himself into the imaginations of millions as a secret friend and the personal champion of all their hopes for the world may find their disappointment the more bitter in the end."

The Orange Party expressed similar, though more forceful concerns, the day after that night before.

Newspaper coverage is often poll-driven and the Post was no exception but that's never going to change. It had its fair share of focus on poll-driven issues.

The Orange Party would add its voice to the special praise given to the penetrating reporting of Dan Balz, one of the "best, most level-headed, incisive political reporters and analysts in newspapers".

And to the reality checks given by media critic, Howard Kurtz, often used as a steer by the Orange Party during those turbulent election times.

One gaping hole was in coverage of Obama's running mate and now vice-president elect, Joe Biden. The media went over the top with Palin and neglected Biden. Howell says: "They are right; it was a serious omission."

In general, Howell concludes: "Readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts."

In many ways what Howell says isn't new and has been backed up by other research such as studies from the Project for Excellence in Journalism but here is a newspaper which has the guts to shine a light on itself.

The Washington Post has its finger on the pulse of the US political scene and was one of the first newspapers in the US to establish its own ombudsman, looking at reader complaints about news coverage and monitoring standards. That in itself is reassuring and refreshing.

It was the Post's dogged reporting which helped break the Watergate Scandal leading to Nixon's resignation.

Years later the newspaper's then owner, Katherine Graham, gave a warning which holds as true today as it did then:

"We live in a dirty and dangerous world... I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows."

No politician is above scrutiny. Newspapers can make and break presidents. As Nixon found to his cost.

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Hold On Tight, McCain Could Just Win

Hold onto your seats. This could be a roller coaster of a ride. The fat lady hasn't even cleared her throat ready to sing, yet the media and opinion polls have all called it for Obama. But they don't count for zit. The media isn't electing a president nor are the opinion polls, American voters are. And the race is tightening by the day.  

Take away the media bias and opinion polls and the odds suddenly start to stack more in McCain's favour. 

Opinion polls, even the RCP average, are a snapshot of opinion of a very small sample. They are not voter intentions set in stone. 

There are just too many balls up in the air. Race, religion, the Bradley factor, the Florida factor, Obama's lack of experience and background. How can a snapsho opinion poll mean anything? If you want a prediction, a horoscope is far more entertaining.

Even taking opinion polls on face value, Obama needs a consistent double digit lead throughout the RCP average in order to win. The predicted landslide doesn't stack up.

Today, the Republican favoured and in the past accurate IBD/TIPP daily tracking poll shows McCain on 44.6%, Obama 46.7% with 8.7% undecided. Independents are shifting from Obama to McCain, who's making inroads in the midwest.

Obama hasn't shifted much in the polls since the summer. McCain's numbers have gone up and down like a yo-yo. 

And then there's Hillary, with her huge PUMA support base. A large number of Hillary's gals and guys may tactically vote McCain. Clinton's shot at the presidency in 2012 needs a McCain win. These Democrats, who have never forgiven Obama, are strung across the States and statistically their votes could swing it.

There's a huge mass of undecided voters too. They will decide only on the day they actually vote. 

They have been targeted by the hornet's nest of Obama's background and associations, summed up today by Stanley Kurtz of NRO. 

No matter who or what you believe, mud sticks. And there's an awful lot of mud flying around. All part of the McCain strategy to drip-feed Obama's experience, background and credibility to sway those undecided.

Former Sunday Times editor, Harold Evans, delivered a damning indictment of the blatant media bias towards Obama. American folk are no fools either. The media may think and hope they have the result in the bag. They are not the same as the regular American voter. 

Then there are the battleground States, where the election is actually decided. Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. All in Obama's bag. Now all tightening. 

Even tracking polls are putting McCain and Obama tied among independent voters. A week ago, Obama was leading.

Much has been said of the youth vote who have turned out in their thousands as Obama cheerleaders. In Florida, where 3.4 million people have already voted, only 15 per cent of them were under age 35.

The media has rightly focussed on the huge and highly successful Obama effort to actually get voters to turn out to vote. But they have ignored the almost legendary Republican effort. 

While it would be naïve to discount race, this is much more a cause for the media than voters. Regular Americans don't give a stuff about the race of their president. It is only a serious issue among a few voters in a very few States.

Many naively compare the US election to a UK general election. They are two quite different beasts. 

In the US, voters vote for a president-elect. There could easily be a Al Gore moment. Even if Obama 'wins' the popular vote, he could still lose the state by state electoral vote, the magic 270, and with it the presidency. The president isn't sworn into office until January. That's a long time in politics. And that's why Hillary is playing it cool. 

Voters vote for a president and vice-president on the same ticket. The VP's sole job is to be on standby and fill a dead man's shoes. 

Voters have to decide, whoever is president, do they want Biden or Palin as president-in-waiting. And that makes for a whole different ball game.

Each US voter jealously guards their citizenship and is intensely patriotic. Voting for McCain or Obama boils down to a straight choice. Who will make the strongest commander-in chief and who will have the most trusty hand on the economic tiller. 

And that could boil down to an equally straight choice between an experienced politician, not tarred with the Bush brush, over a smooth talking guy with hopes and dreams and a slick Chicago marketing machine behind him.

The media has completely underestimated McCain and got totally carried away with Obama. That maybe their downfall. But then journalists, like opinion polls can always get it wrong.

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Is Obama Set To Dump Biden For Clinton?

Obama's running-mate, Joe Biden, branded a campaign ad mocking McCain's ignorance of computers as "terrible", during a CBS interview. Another gaff, fuelling further speculation that Obama could be laying the groundwork ready to dump his running-mate for Hillary Clinton.

The ad attracted widespread criticism for not mentioning that MCain's Vietnam war injuries actually prevent him from using computers for an extended period.

The speculation of a switch is swirling around the internet and is not going away. Like all rumours, it was probably first placed to test the waters. 

Biden's criticism of the McCain ad is the latest to question the judgement of the Obama campaign strategy. Biden has done little to help the Obama machine since he was picked four weeks ago, even admitting on one occasion that Clinton might have been a better choice, "and quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me."  

With the formidable McCain-Palin ticket looking increasingly strong, despite the MSM attempts to discredit them, many Democrats now believe that Obama-Clinton is the only way to beat them.

Syndicated columnist, Jack Kelly in the Washington Times, reports that "my friend Steve Maloney says his sources in the Democratic Party tell him Barack Obama is being pressured to dump Sen. Joseph Biden from the ticket and replace him with Hillary Clinton, the switch to come just after the vice presidential debate Oct. 2." 

Kelly asks: "What might prompt such an act of desperation? The answer is clear - the polls". 

Obama's poll results, which indicate the race is a statistical dead heat, should always be taken with a pinch of salt and are reckoned by pundits to be four to six points lower than they appear. And, taken with the more significant trends from the State Electoral Colleges, where 270 votes are needed to win, Obama’s chances suddenly don't look that good.

The Obama campaign has only one objective and that is to put their man in the White House. If that means ditching Biden, swallowing their pride and sucking up to Clinton, then that is the price they are prepared to pay. 

Speculation about such a switch has emerged on several US blogs, including Andy Ostroy on the Obama supporting Huffington Post, who believes replacing Biden with Clinton makes perfect sense for Obama. 

"It's time to dump Biden and replace him with Sen. Hillary Clinton," said Ostroy. "I'm starting to think that if Team Obama doesn't do something dramatic fast, it's gonna lose this election."

"Shake things up. Be unconventional. Roll the dice. Out-McCain McCain. Who cares how it looks. Who cares what the media thinks. One thing's certain: there's an 18-million deep pot of gold out there waiting to be mined. An Obama/Clinton ticket would slam the door shut on this election."

There is a deeper reason for suspecting this may be more than just speculation. 

A lawsuit, brought by Philip Berg over Obama's eligibility to stand for president, first reported in the UK here, comes to a head in the next few weeks. 

Berg, a Philadelphia attorney, has filed a lawsuit in the Pennsylvania District Court against Obama, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Federal Election Commission (FEC), claiming Obama is constitutionally ineligible to run for and hold the office of President.


If anything should happen to scupper Obama's chances, that would leave Biden to automatically assume the mantle of presidential nominee. 

That would spell disaster for the Democrats in the election. Far better to have Clinton take the heat out of the situation and give the media a new focus away from McCain-Palin and the court case. 

And if Obama was forced out, now or later - Clinton would be more than happy to step into his shoes.

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Obama-Chicago's Mr Cellophane

Despite the blatant media bias, Obama is looking increasingly transparent as voters start to see through Chicago's Mr Cellophane.

It's Palin now, selling papers, in Murdoch's Sunday Times. The polls are not looking good. Democrats and Obama supporters look to the polls to gauge success but the expected big bounces are just not happening. Not for them anyway. Even the Obama-skewed CBS News poll now shows a tie.

It was all going so well. The slick marketing machine had done the groundwork. The media was on side and on message. Murdoch had issued the order to his troops. 

The cash was flowing in. The power of the internet was harnessed for viral support. The Chosen One was riding high in the polls. Up against an old timer, tainted by Bush. 

Lawsuits over eligibility, funding probes, links with very dodgy Chicago characters? Forgetaboutit. Next stop the White House.

Crafty footwork at the convention side-lined Clinton. Running-mate Biden, a funny old choice, grabbed some headlines. 

The Hollywood-style stadium speech, planned during the Berlin extravaganza, attracted TV's millions. 

Then along came Wonder Woman, in the shape of Sarah Palin. Internet lies and smears, so gleefully picked up by the media, didn't dent her appeal. 

Gustav came to the rescue - McCain and Palin were in the right place at the right time. 

Many were dragged screaming and kicking to force to admit the hockey-mom's convention speech was "electrifying".

And that old-timer? Murdoch's Foxy TV ran an Obama interview during McCain's speech. It made no difference. 

McCain has a powerful story to tell, a hell of a fight left in him and a pitbull with lipstick for a running-mate, who won't be on Oprah's sofa.

So where does that leave Obama?

Cellophane


Mister Cellophane

Shoulda been my name

Mister Cellophane

'Cause you can look right through me

Walk right by me

And never know I'm there...


Lyrics and picture from the musical, Chicago: Mr Cellophane

In the closing weeks of the race for the White House, it will be out on the stump, the set-piece TV debates, the media positioning, the viral internet campaigning and TV ads that will decide whether voters will see right through Him. 

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McCain, It's All In The Timing

Put aside party politics, bury bias, study strategy and more importantly timing. That's the key to understanding how the US presidential election is being played out. 

Until late Friday afternoon it was mostly all about Obama, the One. Up against the maverick old-timer, McCain. 

Obama has a slick marketing machine, but the McCain camp was letting it roll - biding their time, looking for the weaknesses and opportunities. 

McCain gave the game away, by congratulating Obama on his convention speech and "letting him have his day." But just one day.

Obama had played all his cards - he'd shown the race card, the American card, the MLK Dream card, the running-mate card, the family card, the adoration card.

Robert Tracinski, writing in Real Clear Politics (RCP), showed the way to defeating Obama:

"Keep hammering on the difference between illusion and reality. Because the more grandiose the illusion, the more thoroughly it will be rejected when it is revealed as a lie."

Exposing that myth has been underpinning the McCain campaign for a while and will continue.

The timing of Palin hit Obama's Achilles' heel, Hillary Clinton. McCain's running mate, Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin, is the first woman to appear on a presidential ticket in 24 years.

She will pick up some of Clinton's 18 million strong support base, who feel let down after Obama snatched the nomination from her.

Howard Wolfson, Clinton's strategist, said: "It won't help with most Hillary voters, but it could help with some." 

Next up experience and trust, both at the heart of the McCain strategy. 

One of the biggest criticisms of Palin, was she has 'no experience'. But Palin, is governor of the State of Alaska. The more the Democrats attack her lack of Washington experience, the more they expose the lack of experience of Illinois senator, Obama.

Only towards the end of the Democrat convention was Obama talked up as a commander-in-chief. The Republicans spotted that weakness too. 

Americans are intensely patriotic, but after Bush, they want a leader who can be trusted. Iraq troop withdrawal, one of Obama's early strengths, is no longer an issue, as the timetable for withdrawal becomes clear. And both Obama and McCain can talk tough on Afghanistan and global Islamic terrorism.

And both Palin and McCain can talk 'economy', another Obama weakness. Energy policy, is one of the big issues facing the US and Alaska is at the centre of that debate, both will figure in the weeks ahead.

Back in the 'Saddleback' debate, Obama famously passed over on the abortion issue, saying it was "above my pay grade." That was noted down by the Republican strategists - the US anti-abortion lobby is not to be underestimated. 

And it's calculated that even the pro-life views of both McCain and Palin would not put off some voters. It's the Senate, not the President that decides that issue. 

And so to the final card and time-line. McCain's life story has yet to be fully told and placed in the media. And Palin has something else going for her, which will come out more and appeal to voters - she's a working mum with five children. 

That brought a strange response from the Obama-loving camp - how can she stand? She's - a woman and a mother!

And that brought a swift and acidic put down from Fox News Analyst, Kirsten Powers, writing in the New York Post, who also just happens to be - Alaskan.

"On CNN, during a discussion about whether it was appropriate for Palin to accept this job when she has a baby, Dana Bash pointed out it's unlikely anyone would ask this of a male candidate."

Announcing his running-mate, McCain looked just as surprised on stage as the media. And that shows the strategists at work behind the scenes, making what they believe are the right choices at the right time. 

Sure, the Obama campaign will have a few tricks up its sleeve and a carefully worked out campaign grid. But with just two months to go, it's the last six weeks, not the last few months, which will be critical. 

Obama needs a big 'convention bounce' in the opinion polls. Anything less than a double figure lead will confirm Republican strategy that he's peaked too early.

This week, hurricane permitting, it's the Republican (GOP) convention and a TV debate between Palin and Obama's running-mate, Joe Biden. Perfect Republican timing as the US comes out of its summer holidays.

Obama's hope now, perhaps, lies not with the voters - it lies where it always did, with the Main stream media. Keeping the big media and in particular the Murdoch-owned newspapers and TV stations on side, has always been at the heart of the Obama strategy. But the political comments evidence from RCP shows that is changing.

Today's cobbled together and planted McCain-Palin knocking-piece on the front page of the Sunday 'Obama' Times  and News Review overkill are blatant examples.

The McCain campaign team do have their sights on the media. During a live US link-up on Channel 4 News on Friday evening, a senior Republican strategist directly and repeatedly accused the studio presenter of Obama bias. Ouch.

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Palin Reality Or Obama Illusion?

Today, it was all McCain, and his new running mate, Alaskan governor, Sarah Palin, the first woman to appear on a presidential ticket in 24 years. McCain's pick of the 44 year-old, is a direct challenge to Obama and his old-timer, Joe Biden, to face down Obama's grand illusions. 

As noted by the Orange Party here yesterday, part of the McCain strategy is to attack the myth of Obama.

Robert Tracinski, of TIADaily, writing in Real Clear Politics, believes Obama offers a "beautiful packaged lie":

"But there is a way to defeat Obama. His whole campaign is a beautifully presented illusion, and the way to defeat it is to keep hammering on the difference between illusion and reality. Because the more grandiose the illusion, the more thoroughly it will be rejected when it is revealed as a lie."

With Palin, McCain has injected a large does of reality into the race for the White House.

Republicans, quoted on the US political web-site, Politico, describe Palin variously as:

"She's down to earth, a hunter and a fisherman, really connects with the people of Alaska. She's really the new face of the Party." ... "She's a strong, pro-life, supply side, drill-drill-drill ethics reformer."

Palin, a self-styled "hockey mom", has been the governor of the State of Alaska for less than two years but her lack of Washington experience more than matches that of Illinois senator, Obama.

She's also got something else going for her, which will appeal to voters - she's a working mum with five children. A point not lost on Fox News analyst, Kirsten Powers, writing in the New York Post, who reckons McCain has set a "brilliant trap" for the Democrats.

Three years younger than Obama, Palin was an unexpected choice. But the reality is, she could attract Clinton supporters and cross-over delegates who feel let down and bitter after Obama snatched the nomination from her.

Regarded as a social conservative and reformer, Palin is the first woman to appear on a presidential ticket since Walter Mondale picked Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate 24 years ago. 

And, her strong pro-life stance will chime with the reality of a huge US anti-abortion lobby. 

While the Democrat convention was running, polls didn't show the expected 'Biden bounce', that should have given Obama quite a few points lead. Instead it was McCain who edged ahead. 

The tracking poll jury is still out on Obama's convention performance and the McCain veep choice.

Obama's anointment at the 'Temple of Obama' is yesterday's news. As the Washington Post put it - more pageantry than politics.

Events move fast in US presidential elections. McCain now has a woman, youth and reality on his side.

Weather permitting, next week should see the start of the Republican GOP convention (the Grand Old Party). The Obama-Biden ticket has some catching up to do.

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