Salter: ‘He is the Old McCain. He Just Doesn’t Know What Happened to the Old Press Corps’

I think the press needs to stop snuggling up to Obama.
No one but Obama, with has strange friends, empty resume, and smooth talking could become the nominee of any party.

McCain is delusional. Maybe he really is losing it; I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and suggest that he’s losing capacity.

Yes, it is easy to attack the media and not face the reality that McSame’s acampaign has failed and so are WBush’s policies. McSame has run awya from stem cell research from immigration bill and other bills he had at certain point in time sponsored and supported. God save America from McCain and Palin.

I think McCain is running a more negative campaign because I live in Colorado and all I see is negative ads from McCain. No one in the media told me he was running a more negative campaign, he just ran more negative advertising, at least on my television, which leads me to the conclusion that he’s running a more negative campaign. I think the McCain camp needs to learn how to take responsibility for their actions.

He’s the old, the very old, the way too old McCain.

As a reader from across the pond, I would say that this merely seems like the whinge of a loser.
McCain’s campaign has all been about trying to paint anyone who is not a Republican as a friend of terrorists, un-American, a socialist or any other insult that they can muster. This is blatantly insane, and despite being given airtime, it seems many in America are tired of this kind of politics.
The simple fact is that Obama’s campaign has been a classicly controlled pushme-pullyou message – i.e. why he is bad and why I am good. This is what wins.
Campaigns do need negatives, but they also need positives. It would be wrong to think that Obama would be leading if his campaign was entirely positive – but also, if McCain had been more positive he would be doing better. This is not the fault of the media.

He actually reminds me a lot of McCain – he’s yelling a lot but I can’t figure out what he’s so angry about. Take this:
“Obama is blaming the ‘deregulators,’ George Bush and John McCain, for creating this whole mess,” Salter says, “when everyone knows how this mess got started: people pushing sub-prime loans on people who can’t afford to pay them back.”
…because they were allowed to do that through deregulation. Also, he’s upset that Obama has been critical of John McCain? They’re running against each other.
Sorry, but I couldn’t find a coherent point in there: it’s all just words like “full-throated attacks” and aren’t backed up by anything.
Also, please show me who called McCain a racist.

Well proportionally McCain ran far more negative ads and they were pretty much all on character or misleading on Obama’s policy. Lack of money because you don’t have the mandate from the people is not an excuse. It’s like saying the US is worse off than Ethiopia because the US has more poor people than Ethiopia has people. Ridiculous. I supported McCain in 2000 but he is a mere shell of the candidate I supported in 2000.

“I think the McCain camp needs to learn how to take responsibility for their actions.”
THANK YOU!!!

What do I think? I think John McCain sold his soul to win this election, and is now trying to welch on the debt. Salter’s comments are nonsense.

John Mccain IS NOT THE OLD Mccain! He has sold his soul!

“”Obama is blaming the ‘deregulators,’ George Bush and John McCain, for creating this whole mess,” Salter says”
Yes, and so is Paul Krugman, this year’s Economics Nobel Laureate.
What does Salter know? Who cares about his views? Is he’s anything else than a McCain parasite, who earned a living by turning McCain’s chaotic and often erraticlife into the continuing story of an American hero?
McCain’s success is Salter’s income. He’ll defend any of McCain’s actions. So please Jake, give me a break.

Someone call a WAAAAAAAmbulance.

Salter is a moron
GOP was called racist for saying “doesnt see america like we (whites) do”
Thats the race card, not Ayers!

MCCAIN IS UP 3 POINTS AND LEADING IN FL AND OHIO, FUNNY ABC, CNN NSNBC WONT AIR THIS, HUMMMM

Reading the article, it is clear that Salter is out of touch. Take off the blinders and political bias and look at the candidates from the view of the voter. Like in business, it is called customer service. We hear 75% negativity and 25% solutions. Nothing is more important to the majority of us than the economy. We know the childish negatives are often lies and distortion of true facts. All we want to hear is about solving ALL the problems in this country. John McCain lost the real person he was in 2000 when I supported him.

To see what a person is like, you need to see who he allows in his circle. McLame is exactly what we thought – a rude, arrogant, obnoxious, racist old man. His senior aide, Salter, refers to “tarring” – how unbelievable is that? Would they say that if Obama was white? I think not! I am an older (58) white female who happens to think we can’t afford to takes risks with McLame (with Botox Barbie Cindy at his side constantly) and Pain. WAKE UP VOTERS!

Jake, what sort of source is Mark Salter?
He’s McCain’s ghost and speech writer, for Christ’s sake. He’s his alter ego, earning his whole living on the succes of the McCain brand…!
McCain and Salter are BOTH done. Obama’s win will be the end of Salter’s very lucrative career as McCain’s public voice. That explains everything you quoted, and only for THAT reason these quotes are interesting. The song of a dying swan.

Oh please, McCain and his disgusting campaign started attacking Obama’s character first! Which is why Obama responded in kind. They threw the first punch. This is what gets me, it’s ok for McCain and his running mate to run around and criticize Obama but when someone does it back to them, they cry foul.
I am so sick of people saying the media is in the tank for Obama. Obama has been scrutinized about his associations, his record, his wife, etc….every since he decided to run for president. Can’t help it because McCain and his running mate decided to ditch the media for about a month or so because they started to ask them “real” questions or because they challenge them on what they say on the campaign trail….

absolute bs. mccain changed on the bush tax cuts, immigration policy, and reversed himself on the use of torture. it’s mccain who changed, not the press corp.

I recall weeks of wall-to-wall coverage of the Rev. Wright issue. It was serendipitous good fortune for Obama that it happened early enough so that he could innoculate himself against such attacks later.
There is plenty of media bias on both sides of this election. McCain has used the POW card to get himself a pass on many unrelated issues. (# of houses for example.) Obama subtly and indirectly uses his race to blunt attacks.
When your surrogates are whining about the press, you know your ass is grass.

Today Obama is opening an 8 point lead in Zogby’s national poll as well.
That’s the same Zogby that Drudge clung to in the past rough weeks for McCain.
Zogby reports:
Democrat Barack Obama has opened an 8-point lead over Republican John McCain two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Tuesday.
Obama leads McCain 50 percent to 42 percent among likely U.S. voters in the latest three-day tracking poll, up from a 6-point advantage for Obama on Monday. The telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
“It was another very big day for Obama,” said pollster John Zogby. “Things clearly are moving in Obama’s direction.”
It was the second consecutive day that Obama gained ground on McCain as the two head into the final sprint to the November 4 election.

Even the candidates do not understand their own tactics – perhaps they are too close to the battle. ……………
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/20/justifying-political-tactics/

Mark Salter is too close to the situation to see how much John McCain has changed. I liked John McCain until this campaign. He has been almost void of ideas and has run a campaign that borders on dishonest and unethical. When Salter looks back on this race with a critical eye, he will see what most Americans see which is that we know longer recognize the McCain that is running in this campaign.

I was leaning Obama before the convention and his choice of Palin. “Suspending his campaign” made any vote for him unthinkable.

Salter, get over it!
As FDR was fond of quoting “If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen”.
McCain entered this campaign thinking he had the media in his pocket. The moment I saw them really start to take him on was after the Palin choice. Of course it attracted a barrage of questions, but in return we had Rick Davis demanding “respect and deference”. Deference! What sort of campaign was he running exactly.

Ok Ed, maybe I should apologize to you, the reason you probably don’t know that “kill him” was never shouted and that the Secret Service had debunked the whole story…The MSM chose to run the story that it did happen, but never printed a story that said it didn’t, they just quit running the story. So they give you half truths in favor of Obama and leave the whole truth out. Favoritism????

I am by no means a fan of John McCain and I do hope that Obama wins the election. We need a real change of direction in Washington. Having said that, I agree with Salter’s comments about the media. They are blatantly supporting Obama and have been since just before the Iowa caucuses. If he wasn’t the candidate I’m voting for, I would be furious. Even so, it’s pretty demoralizing to think that with money and media support “anyone” (remember W.) can win an election whether or not they are the best choice for the job.

‘EVERYONE KNOWS’ same as ‘I AM ABOUT TO LIE TO YOU’ ???
We hear a lot about the ‘sub-prime loan crisis’. But that is just short-hand for several problems in the mortgage market.
Some troubled loans fall into the category of ‘sub-prime’ loans, which is to say loans made to people with low credit scores. But mortgage brokers didn’t lower their standards because of the community reinvestment, they DID IT OUT OF GREED.
More troubled loans were made to people with good credit ratings, the so called alt-A loans where the size of the loan (for one of those huge McMansions) was simply out of scale to the income of the borrower.
And a lot of troubled loans fall into the category of no-doc or liar’s loans, so called because people WITH GOOD CREDIT RATINGS were permitted to take out mortgages without documenting thier income.
THE QUESTION IS WHY did loan brokers put thier money at risk to give loans to these 3 categories of troubled loans?
THE SHORT ANSWER is that the people offering the loans were not risking their own money! Most of these loans, whether offered by banks or independent loan brokers were quickly flipped, or sold, to someone else who assumed the risk.
BUT WHY would someone buy these troubled mortgages without even seeing the original documentation?
THREE REASONS.
First, there was this cockamamie perception that housing prices would keep going up forever. So long as that were true, the borrower would have home equity to draw on, even if their income didn’t quite match the mortgage. After all, such borrowers were told, you can always sell that oversized house at a profit!
Secondly, good and troubled loans were mixed together and converted into mortgage backed securities, that were sold to institutions across the globe. Selling securities is of course impossible unless you have someone willing to buy.
Buyers looked at phoney AAA ratings and thought these securities were safe. Also they were blinded by huge returns. What else is new?
And that is the THIRD reason. Buyers were blinded by greed. Greed is the motivating force in our economic system so I won’t knock it here. But it is also the reason that regulators need to be awake and motivated to protect the economy.
Which the bankrupt Republican philosophy was not.

First off I think it does no good to argue these points since the media changes based on where you live. All I have seen up here is negative ads from the McCain campaign. Not one single negative add from the Obama campaign. I’m sure that in a republican state, you’re going to see many more negative ads from the Obama campaign.
“47% of McCain ads have been pure attack ads” and “As for Obama, 35% of his ads have been pure attack ads”
These are the numbers (give or take a few percentage) from all the fact checking sites I’ve looked at.
The ads you see all depends on where you live.
But now back to my first point. It is SO pointless to argue about these things. Are you seriously going to vote for someone based off of this versus their policies? I sure hope not.
centerline

McCain brought all the crazy media attention on himself and has no one to blame but McCain. He picked Palin, an unknown on the national scene, to be his running mate…of course the media is going to go on a feeding frenzy; He made the wild move of “suspending” his campaign during the economic crisis, a move that was transparently political…of course the media is going to probe it; then he leveled attacks at Obama that had nothing to do with the issues and incited rage and hatred not just among the fringe at his rallies, but a large faction of them. All of this was specifically designed to get the press’ attention because in August he was whining that the press never paid him any attention. Well, you got what you wanted McCain and now you are still whining.

McCain and his crew need to stop blaming the press for all their troubles. He got years of golden coverage. The press (like most of us) respond well to open and honest candidates. Instead of asking themselves why they’re getting some bad press (despite some very gentle coverage of some of the McCain’s problems) they’ve chosen to see every positive Obama story as some kind of personal slight while overlooking every negative Obama story.

The old Senator McCain wrote after the
The old Senator McCain despised the campaign tactics used against him in South Carolina in 2000. This year, Senator McCain hired the same advertising firm that he spent 8 years comparing to Satan.
In 2000, McCain said any candidate who runs nearly 100% negative ads has nothing to offer the country. Now, it’s Senator McCain running nearly 100% negative ads and attacking at every opportunity.

Yes, I agree that the media is in general more friendly to Obama. However, not to the extent that Jeffery Goldberg believes. Many things McCain has done/said have gotten a pass from the media also. I think the key is that the Republican campaign jumps on the negative parts of Obama’s past and statements and tries to blow them up and the media does not cooperate. The Democratic campaign does not do this as often…they seem to only do it when it can be used to make a point about the message of the Obama campaign, thus keeping the campaign on message and since it’s oriented around a larger point that they can use to write a story, it gets printed. When the press doesn’t get behind the Republican attacks, the Republican’s wonder why. The reason is that the attacks are out there without a point to them, they are unfocused to everyone but the republican party and therefore we ignore them because we don’t understand why they are so upset.
Take Ayers and the racism charge for example. The Republicans are trying to make some point about Obama’s character based on the fact that he’s had a relationship with Ayers (sat on the same board of charity organization, encountered each other socially, hosted a dinner to help Obama get started in his political career). The problem with the original attacks is that most people didn’t care and didn’t understand why the republicans were so upset. ALL of our politicians are corrupt and have ties to people and organizations that are suspect. McCain is also friends with unrepentant terrorist G. Gordon Liddy and has other negative associations. All the members of the Senate sit on the Senate with a former member of a terrorist organization — Senator Byrd was a member of the KKK. According to the McCain campaign the rest of the Senate should have walked out and refused to serve with him.
When people didn’t get why the Republicans thought Bill Ayers was a bigger deal, the tone and message of the attacks changed to one which implies that Barack Obama himself is a terrorist. The advertismets (and the most recent robocall) purposely and intentionally try to key into people’s fears and stir up hate. That is the reason the racist charge is being leveled. Not the fact that the Republicans brought up the Ayers relationship. But rather, that when it didn’t work they purposely turned the message to an exclusionary “he’s not like us”, “pals around with terrorists” message that speaks to the darkest parts of people’s souls and leverages their fear into hate of Obama…not support for McCain.
The Democratic campaign briefly fought back with the Keating Five bit. I don’t know how many people watched the long vid, but I suspect none but the most devoted party members because again, most of us DON’T CARE. The Obama campaign seems to have realized this and quickly got back on track with their campaign message.
But the republican campaign is still trying to stir up fear and hate. The tone of the McCain rallies was getting very scary. All that anger and hate, all these people looking for a target, for an outlet. That is how terrorism starts. It made me scared for my country and determined to disavow all members of the Republican party. I have never voted a party ticket before in my life. I will this year.

When I hear ads that obviously distort a position, use sentence fragments as “quotes”, or especially when I know what was said and it is repeated out of context to manipulate the intended meaning….I turn away from the candidate sponsoring the ad. It insults me they are trying to mislead me. (The use of the erie, sinister music and dark backgrounds are a dead give away that there is BS ahead.)
Perhaps some folks are still easily manipulated lemmings, but I truly believe we have gotten smarter with regards to campaign advertising.
McCain’s campaign thought they could use the same old swift boat smear tactics and win. That’s exactly why McCain hired all of Bush’s old campaign staff that smeared him in 2000.
But guess what? It’s not working. In fact, polls show people are resentful of the meaningless personal attacks.
The “Maverick” is out of touch with the people of this nation and his campaign is just another example.

Sounds like Salter is getting the sour grapes ready for November 5th. instead of taking the responsibility for running a pitiful campaign. Obama has run the most organized, focused campaign perhaps in American history and has simply out maneuvered the McCain camp at almost every turn. The last refuge of a loser is to blame the media.

I think the “media” is wondering what Salter did with the old John McCain. This guy is everything the old McCain hated: a sellout to the right wing, a massive deficit spender, a pandering wimp. The campaign is working on a serious case of revisionism now that this has become apparent.
A candidate who doesn’t believe what he is saying is a hard product to sell Mark.

I can’t cry for salter and mccain. First, mccain has always benefited from good publicity, wooing the Press with his legendary, free-wheeling Q&A sessions at the back of his campaign bus. But this summer, he picked the untested and unready Sarah Palin for his VP and did not allow his chummy press friends to have access to her (so they could do their job, as the Fourth Estate, in vetting the candidate). Then he compounded his error by choosing to run against the news media at the Republican convention (where he whipped up anger against them) and stopped granting access to the press on the campaign.
So John McCain can blame others for his actions. Or he can accept responsibility for making a bad VP choice. He can continue to be upset about the press or accept his role in alienating a group of people who have always been overly effusive and kind in their coverage of him. He can continue to act erratic and petty or see that he put his campaign first, not his country. Karma is a bitch, John.

Let’s be real here. “IF” the press is giving anyone or any campaign a free ride is the McCain campaign. Can you imagine the field day the media and republicans would have if Sen. Obamas wife was a card carrying member of a party that “The Alaskan Independence Party’s goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives:
1) Remain a Territory.
2) Become a separate and Independent Nation.
3) Accept Commonwealth status.
4) Become a State”
Well Gov Palin should be held to that same standard. So let’s see her explain how her husband belonging to such a blatantly anti-american organization isn’t treason. And since she spoke at the groups convention and supported her efforts how she can possibly not be the true anti-american on the 2008 ballot. Everytime I hear that bimbo (word used intentionally) call for an investigation into Sen. Obama’s associations, my first thought is you don’t really want to go there do you??

It’s funny how there’s not one mention of Joe Biden’s gaffe yesterday on this website! You know the one where he say’s we are going to be attacked within six months of an Obama presidency. hummmmmmm

Poor Mark Salter…the little McCain household retainer and scribe has spent years puffing up his “co-author” and dreaming about the day that he would follow Mac into the White House as Chief of Staff, and now that’s never going to happen. Bitter? I’m surprised if he’s not actually stumbling around in a drunken haze already, and Nov. 4 is still two weeks away.
The old, old refuge of a loser…claim to have been “stabbed in the back.”

You cannot hire the Bush smear team and pretend there will be no consequences.
You cannot select a sequestered from the press running mate and pretend there will be no consquences.

From Jake’s blog of August 1, 2008, titled, “McCain Campaign Mocks Obama as Messianic in Web Video”
“The John McCain of 2000 would not have run this campaign.
Then again, the John McCain of 2000 lost.”

The MSM never covered many of McCain’s gaffes. They were talked about on the Internet and on this blog but not covered on the major news networks. Things such as the Iraq/Afghanistan border, Czechoslovakia, etc.
The media is trying their best to keep this a horse race, even though Obama was ahead by 12 points yesterday in the Gallup poll among registered voters.
McCain called the media his base. But it is the media that are now saying McCain changed, that he is not the candidate from 2000. Who’s fault is that?

When you tell half truths and lie to on your ads..it is a negative campaign..all I have heard from Obama is McCain wants to tax this, McCain wants to tax that, McCain is Bush, these are negative ads…
The nature of ones immediate friends says a lot about a person..now obama has disowned those friends..1.Why chose them to begin with? and has he really quit believing what he has believed for 20 years. 2.Where is the loyalty to those who supported him for years??? He has none..and you think he cares about you…he doesn’t even know you..it is all about political gain…
as to the current crisis
John McCain signed on to co-sponsor a bill called the Federal Housing Enterprises Reform Act of 2005..he signed on in May of 2006 with a speech which is recorded in the congressional record…this bill would have placed more regulations on Fannie/Freddie and prevented the crisis….
The Bill made it out of committee and but never made it to a vote in the senate…Why?
Freddie paid lobbiest to “target” republicans to keep them from supporting this bill they convinced 26 of them…AND NONE OF THE DEMOCRATS SUPPORTED THIS BILL including Pelosi/Reid/Franks/Dodd/Randell and Obama to name a few
Now they blame Bush and the republicans,
this is a flat out lie to your face,
AND they want to fix this problem they allowed to happen

Chuck Todd on the McCain campaign (First Read, 4/21/2008:
“The McCain campaign is known for its love of the media, but there may be no more vicious campaign to deal with when it thinks its media lovers have scorned them. Just check out McCain adviser Mark Salter’s reaction to yesterday’s Washington Post piece looking at McCain’s temper.”

I think if McCain stayed with John Weaver and Mike Murphy he would be in a lot better shape than with Steve Schmidt and company
Mark Salter straddles both “camps” of McCain and sounds like he is mad at himself for not guiding McCain to be the original McCain
They have run a shameful campaign not matter how they spin in
After all – McCain used to call the press his “base” -
Let McCain be McCain??
How did McCain steer so far off course of the man he was — he should have stayed with his own instincts —including his shameful VP pick
The willingness of McCain to bow to others in the hope of winning is the main reason McCain is going to lose -
and likely by a resounding margin
Sad for McCain
His last campaign is destroying his “brand”

I read yesterday that McCain actually went into Russia looking for donations and they turned him down.
I would like to see his list of donors.

In the story above, Salter complains that Obama has walked around the country calling McCain “a liar, dishonorable, and erratic”. Let’s look quickly at that:
DISHONORABLE: Is there a specific case that he can point to where Obama called McCain “dishonorable”? I feel that McCain’s team is battling against the opponent they *wish* they had, instead of the one that they got. So despite the absence of many of the McCain team’s claims, they have just chosen to weave a fantasy tale of how Obama’s campaign has been run. One thing I’ve noted specifically is how Obama has stayed above making personal attacks as to the other candidate’s honor.
ERRATIC: Yes. Obama called McCain’s responses to recent situations “erratic”. The McCain campaign would have us believe this was an attempt to define McCain as senile. Perhaps they should look up the definition of erratic. Though McCain might not be prone to reach for the Internet to find a definition, surely a staffer could have done that for him. The Internet, as it turns out, is a pretty handy tool. A couple of online definitions for erratic: “liable to sudden, unpredictable change”, “having no fixed course”. Not surprisingly, I found no references to senility in the definitions.
If McCain’s policies appear to have no fixed course, or are liable to sudden, unpredicatable change, then what word would McCain’s camp find acceptable in describing those policies? I don’t find a better one, and frankly, I don’t think the McCain folks would like some other one any more than they like “erratic”.
LIAR: Has Obama called McCain a liar? I haven’t found a reference to those specific words coming from Obama’s lips, but let’s assume that in fact, any time he says that McCain isn’t telling the truth, that’s equivalent to calling McCain a liar. Hmmm…
Well then, any time that McCain says Obama isn’t telling the truth, McCain is calling Obama a “what”? Of course: LIAR. If either candidate tells a story of something that has previously happened, and the other candidate disputes that story, then (by default) they’re saying that their opponent is either misinformed or intentionally not telling the truth (which makes them a liar). I don’t know any way around that. If you don’t want to be called a liar in a political contest, then be sure you don’t say anything that your opponent will disagree with.
To sum up, someone told Mondale (when it became clear that he was going to lose) that he should finish with the kind of campaign that his grandkids would be proud of. The time is coming soon when that should become McCain’s focus.

Once again, it’s the big lie approach. The McCain campaign has fully embraced the Rovian idea that repetition of even the most absurd untruths can have an effect.
To whit, calling Obama’s campaign ‘negative’. The fact is that McCain’s surrogates, robocalls and running mate have been among the nastiest, most fear-mongering campaigning in decades. It is not at all unreasonable to compare them to George Wallace’s, e.g.
Rather than calmly assert their right to such a strategy, they deny it on the one hand and then have the temerity to denounce their opposition for negative campaigning!
Marketing works, alas. But it is the media’s ‘watchdog’ role to point out untruths whenever possible.
The nifty trick here is to make reporters self conscious so that they might be less apt to point out the perfidy of the campaign. Here’s hoping that most won’t be cowed.
In the immortal words of Dan Rather
“Courage”

The McCain campaigns approach to the press is the same as the Bush/McCain approach to dealing with our long time allies.
Belittle them, then demand cooperation. When you don’t get it cry FOUL.

Does Mark Salter and the McCain/Palin campaign need some Cheese with that Whine?

Ya know what this sounds like? LOSER!

Oh, please. Since when did the big ol Republican bad boys become such whiners and cry babies?
These guys have run one of the most terrible campaigns in history. How many staffers have they had to fire or have resign because of incompentence or sleazy lobbyist connections?
This campaign team is McCain Version 3.0 for this election cycle and there are people like Bill Kristol are calling for them to be fired and roll out Version 4.0 because they have no message, no vision, and no sensible policies.
The biggest problem is that John McCain is not a good candidate or a good leader. The guy changes his mind more often than a 3 year old at 31 Flavors. And the campaign changes tactics more often than an ugly frat boy at a sorority party.
The fact is that the Press wentsoft on McCain the whole year until his campaign got so disgusting and whacky that the press got too tired of being embarrased ignoring all of McCain’s bloopers.
Jake, I enjoy all the Biden stories, but I’m really suprised that you haven’t collected all the McCain bloopers on foreign policy, which is supposed to be his area of expertise.
So, the only ones who deserve credit for the bad press is the McCain campaign. Nearly all their mistakes and candidate McCain’s mistakes were self-inflicted.
Take Sarah Palin. Would Ken Adelman (who goes back to the Goldwater era for his GOP roots) be supporting Barack Obama if McCain chose a respectable and credible choice for a running mate?
I don’t think so.
Game, set, match.
McCain’s campaign aides can do all ths spinning they want to. But the facts are the facts, and they aren’t on their side.
But, I do understand that since they are mostly all lobbyists in that campaign they will have to throw up some excuses for their complete failure if they want to be employable in the future.

Also, the Obama campaign is VERY good at manipulating the press – what gets released, the timing of the release, etc.
Its a good campaign tactic for Obama, but it does distort reporting. (Most obvious examples – Obama campaign announcing important endorsements the day after Clinton won large important primary states and Clinton’s news was completely buried).

Look, McCain’s need to stop crying about media bias! McCain is simply a terrible candidate. And Palin is a loose canon. In fact, I think the media has bent over backwards to be fair giving far more credit to McCain and Palin than they deserve. As for being Obama being negative on McCain…the main theme has been to associate McCain with Bush. Perhaps, Republicans are a bit sensitive to this association but it is based in fact. Republicans on the other hand have attacked Obama as “palling around with terrorists”. It is no comparison. One is politics, one is personal. The fact that Republicans do not see it says a lot about them. By the way, how is a strategy to attack the media (which they’ve done since Palin was nominated) suppose to enhance their public image anyway? Another stupid strategic move by McCain’s campaign. I’ve got to say that in my lifetime I’ve never seen a worse campaign (strategically, tacticly, morally) than McCain’s. The sad thing is many Republicans blame the economy for McCain’s. The real problem with McCain’s campaign is McCain and Palin.

This idea that the media has been easy on Obama is incredible! Obama has had to answer some of the toughest personal questions on race, religion and politics. He has offered intelligent responses to insinuations over his faith, his race and even his own name and he has always come forward to intelligently explain to the American people his rather considered perspective. People appreciate that he speaks in terms of context because context is important when you are rudely accused, in your community service work, of “palling around with terrorists” or when your preacher goes off on some *God aweful* fire and brimstone speech.
The Republicans have done everything in their power to make Obama the issue over offering anything different in their approach to governance short of a Maverick-like chaotic approach which seems to imply that *acting before thinking* is some kind of laudible quality in a leader. NOT! Been there done that.
The mainstream media coveres a wide spectrum of opinion (e.g. FOX/CCN) and have done an admirable job 24/7. If the Republicans like Palin refuse to come forward to be interviewed except by such noteworthy windbags like Rush Limbaugh, then what can we surmise about their judgement and openness if elected? McCain/Palin would be a disaster, not based on news coverage, but rather the very empty, simplistic and attack-dog words they speak themselves!

For more of the same McCain all they know is to try and take whatever Obama and Biden say and try to use it against them,Biden is much more truthful than McCain and to tell the truth the candidates were already tested to some degree on the issue of economics and McCain failed that test and still has not proven himself able to handle that issue yet,he says what he feels to take the focus off the main issue which right now is the economy.He and his cohorts just keep reminding people that they have no clue that Americans are suffering greatly because his economics last month were fundalmentally sound.But he was being the maverick after the wall street crash and rushing off to Washington to do nothing I think he actually might need to read up on Bret and Bart Maverick and he might do a little better with his campaign. He is no maverick they take charge of situations right away not wait to see what their opponent is going to do first and then react,they don’t sit around complaining about who is getting the most press get something done then you have not time to complain.Maybe if you had been more positive than negative you would not feel like you are being dissed.People have always been taught that the elder is the wiser but that is not always true and this not againstbeing older because I am older and I still learn something from the younger generation, real change is something new for for this country and the time is now.

I think Salter’s a crybaby. Boo freaking hoo.

Agreed…the media has been for Obama and against anyone running against Obama since the beginning, including Clinton…
She brought up many points that McCain did about Ayers, Rezko, etc., and they were all dismissed…
Ayers is a legitimate complaint because Obama is lying about the extent of his connections.
Just one example. He absolutely DID launch his little “new party” campaign at Ayers’s house. He shared a small office building with him, same floor, for years. Ayers got him the sweet Exec position with Annenberg. There is also hint that they actually knew eachother in the eighties through Michell’s firm. Yet Obama just says “that’s not true, John” and that’s good enough for our dogged reporters.
Meanwhile, every aspect of Joe W.’s life is dissected and criticized only because he dared question Obama’s grand plan to his face. Sets the bar for the press corps under Obama.
If Obama wins, enjoy an even more secretive and hypocritical administration than Bush’s. Let the miracles begin!

Wade,
The media has not been biased. I see little mention of McCain’s past indescretions and just about zero on Palin’s abuse of power. Palin’s poor performances on ABC and CBS have also been glossed over with her “exceeded expectations” debate. Republicans should face the fact that Obama has run a formidable campaign and McCain has not. McCain has re-inforced stereotypes of being erratic and undiscipline while Obama has shed his inexperience label with thoughtful debate and steady hands.
This is what showed in the debate. So, quit whining about the media and the bias…If McCain\Palin’s message were coherent and their approach more sensible (i.e, attack the problems not the opponent) perhaps their image would appear better to American people. That is the media passing judgement. It is the viewers…..Republicans simply have lousy candidates…

Indy, I notice you ignored Rather’s comment. I could go on…I guess you have true believer syndrome. The political atmosphere of devotion to Obama is just bizarre to me.
I mean, can you even imagine a situation in which an entire art gallery was set over for McCain portraits with some theme like “honor” or something? See the “Manifest Hope” gallery, one of the most laughable examples of a cult of personality I have ever seen in the US. I just don’t think of my leaders that well, sorry…
There has been a lot of focus on Palin’s Couric interview, her biggest blunder, wouldn’t you agree?
“McCain’s past indiscretions…” they tried with the NYT, but it was false…that is very a very limited angle…you could talk about his divorce, but that was 30 years ago, and he considers it a mistake…that’s weak, Indy.
Your response doesn’t show a lot of failure to follow up on attacking McCain.
Biden doesn’t have press conferences, Palin doesn’t either. And the criticism is of…..who? But that’s okay with you, and that’s my point.

The party of freaking Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly and Michael Savage and Ann Coulter and Laura Ingraham is suddenly CALLING FOUL?!?!
What is this…the Twilight Zone?!