Watch the press try to destroy our candidate...again

[Ramsey]

We need to be aware that the press, and not just Faux, is going to try their best to skewer our candidate even if they have to obscure the facts or even outright make things up, just like they did to Al Gore. We at DU should not fall for this tactic just because the victim is not our preferred candidate. I am using an example from Dean, because as a Dean supporter I obviously pay more attention to his press covergae. But I am sure there are examples from other candidate's coverage. Please post any similar stories you might be aware of.

The blogworld has quite a few commentaries recently about the hack job being done on Dean by the mainstream press. Remember the "Gore Lies" perpetrators? Well, they're back.

In reference to this week's Dean-bashing article by Howard Fineman, apparently one of the people Fineman quoted as criticizing Dean on his blog, WVMicko, is not a troll, but a longtime avid Dean supporter and he is ticked off. He sounds off at the Dean blog. I'd like anyone here at DU who has never ever uttered a critical word about a Democrat that they normally support to raise their hand. This person's critical blog comments were intentionally filtered out of a mountain of positive commentary this same supporter has made.

Blogger Needlenose comments on a supposed news article on the Iowa debate by AP writer Calvin Woodward, which opens with this quote: "For a brief time in their debate Sunday, Democrats seemed to be hewing to a New Year's resolution to stick more carefully to the facts on taxes, the budget and more. But old habits die hard."

As the blog points out: "To repeat, that's the lead paragraph of a news article. From the Associated Press, the most mainstream source of news in the United States -- where, apparently, it's now accepted newsroom policy to "objectively" label all Democrats as liars.

And what constitutes a lie, in the view of the AP? Why, even true statements, if they're uttered by a Democratic presidential candidate like Howard Dean:

'He said 60% of Americans got a tax cut of $304 from Bush -- revising a statement in an earlier debate that 60% saved $325. Those cuts appear to be in the ballpark when it comes to the poorest 60% of Americans -- many of whom pay little federal income tax to begin with.' "

The author then goes on to claim that the middle class actually did get substantially higher tax cuts, but only if you pick specific groups of middle class folks, obviously not including the bottom 60%, begging the question of exactly who qualifies as middle class, or what the definition of "is" is.


And dKos takes on AP writer Nedra Pickler, who also wrote about the Iowa debate, but decided to make a few edits in her candidate quotes:

Writes Pickler: "In a feisty, first debate of the election year, Howard Dean drew fire from fellow Democrats on Sunday over trade, terror, taxes and more, then calmly dismissed his rivals as "co-opted by the agenda of George Bush."
"I opposed the Iraq war when everyone else up here was for it," said the former Vermont governor, invoking the issue that helped fuel his 2003 transformation from asterisk in the polls to front-runner."

But in the transcript of the actual debate, Dean didn't misrepresent the positions of his fellow anti-Iraq war candidates. In fact, he specifically credited them: "DEAN: The proper role of the federal government in education is not to pass bills like No Child Left Behind. I have two big policy differences with almost everybody up here. I opposed the Iraq war; with the exception of Dennis and Carol, everybody else supported it."


We have to be ever vigilant DUers. Just because we are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get us. The press has and will continue to distort the words and ideas of our candidates because they by and large all whore for the Republicans. Let us not also become their mouthpieces in some misguided sense of loyalty to a specific candidate. Let us be very circumspect and cautious about what the press says, especially the likes of Howard Fineman and others who relentlessly bashed Gore last time around!!

[papau]

1. excellent points

:-)

[Raya]

5. BS. Big Media Made Dean. Question is Now Which Dean?

Once upon a time there was the Vermont Gov. Dean Moderate-Conservative pragmatist who decide to run for Pres as "Health Care" candidate

Then there was the campaign innovation of the anti-war activist, "angry howard syndrome," spouting liberal and "take back our country" themes.

Now we are witnessing the manufacture of the calm and lovable, committed Christian, let's all get along Dean, being invented for role of front-runner campaigning in the Bible-Belt and the South.

Its no wonder that Dean himself sometimes slips into a little confusion and says the wrong thing at the wrong time. And of course each role has its challenges. It is easier to learn to say “I need to talk about my faith more” and “I am a committed Christian,” than to learn the books of the Bible.

Imagine the reporters confusion. Under orders to cover this guy only to find there are several different Deans to report on.

[SeattleRob]

6. Not quite

It was the internet and voter anger that made Dean. The mainstream corporate media for the most part has been clueless.

[CWebster]

7. went right past you, did it?

Amazing how you use all the cynical tones of the sneering corporate press in the same way that Kerry uses Republican talking points...The proof of what the author of the thread fears.

[SeattleRob]

8. yeah it did...

It fit right in with the tone of some of the debate here.

[Rose Siding]

9. Remember Bush?

I can't wait to see you cut loose on him

[Cheswick2.0]

2. I thought WVM's comments were troll poop too

These places are all public forums.

[Ramsey]

3. That's still possible

But look at his comments on the blog. He claims to be a legitimate supporter, and appears to have been around for some time. Not that that guarantees anything.

[Cheswick2.0]

17. I went there and commented to him

I told him that if he were a Dean supporter he might want to be more careful in the future. It is easy for the media to twist what you are saying for their own purpose.

[Dr.Phool]

4. The antidote

The greatest media watchdog is back starting today.

Welcome back Media Whores Online. The intro is a vote for Media Whore of the Year. Tight tace between Russert and Krauthammer.

Google bomb- Herpes
brings up Neil Bushes divorce hearing. So does Venereal Disease.

www.mediawhoresonline.com:toast:
:kick:

[TexasSissy]

10. Waaaah, Waaaah! Mommy, they're pickin' on me!

And see how poorly I'm doing in the polls and in the media because of it! Waaaaaaahhhhhh. There were eight political talk shows on last night, and I was mentioned in only 7 of 'em. Waaaaaahhhhh.

(If only Dean could get his name in the news! It's remarkable how they just ignore him, isn't it?)

Hey....being in the news, for whatever reason, is good news. And Dean knows it.

[w4rma]

13. Bush will be the primary winner's opponent and Bush is in the news all the

time. IMHO, the press does not treat Bush disrepectfully as they do his potential Democratic opponents, including Dean.

Keep your eye on the ball, please.

[janx]

15. I think you have misunderstood the purpose of this thread.

This isn't, ultimately, just about any one candidate.

[Ramsey]

18. That's exactly right

Dean is getting a lot of iffy coverage lately (and I didn't say 100% of it was bad, or that the Dean campaign was whining about it) because he is the front runner. I remember a big hoopla earlier in the year about John Kerry's haircuts when he was on top.

Look, I specifically stated why I was using Dean examples. But it isn't specific to Dean. The media is going to do to our nominee what they did to Gore, with talking points from the White House. I see an awful lot of people here at DU falling for their lines and accepting their bullshit just because the reporter is talking about a candidate other than their chosen favorite.

I am hopeful for two reasons. First of all, I think if the nominee is Dean or Clark, they aren't going to take that crap. Gore did not do a good job of refuting the lies told about him, or making his voice heard forcefully. Which leads me to the second point, which is that I am cautiously optimistic that with the proliferation of 527s like America Coming Together and MoveOn gearing up to raise loads of money run ads for the Democrats, we have chance of countering some of the mainstream GOP-owned and operated media bias.

[TexasSissy]

22. Yes, the thread is about how the media is picking on Dean.

Like the other candidates were picking on him.

It's the joke of the country, how he and/or his supporters seem to think he's being picked on when he's being fairly criticized and his record questioned and his contradictory remarks pointed out.

This is happening to all the candidates who are getting any news coverage.

Why, Chris Mathews on Hardball just seemingly hates Clark. But you would be hard pressed to find even ONE post here complaining that Clark is being picked on by Mathews. Geez. It's politics.

[janx]

11. Excellent topic--watch the MEDIA.

This is the beginning of the down-and-dirtiest media campaign ever. Every American voter should read critically and carefully. There will be more purposeful misinformation in what is already a dysfunctional and corrupt American media than we have yet dreamed of.

I've seen a lot of right-wing propoganda on this board already, posted in the hopes of bringing down rival Democrats in this torpid and chaotic primary race.

[mouse7]

12. Every time they do, Dean gets more $$ and poll %s

May the media keep the assault on.

At this rate, the media attacks will cause Dean to raise $300 million, beat Dumbya 60% - 40%, and sweep Dems into control of both houses of Congress.

[PATRICK]

14. A plus for Dean

The very vulnerability goes hand in hand with the kind of approach that creates Teflon against he media. Worrying, image shape-shifting, debating the media not Bush, reacting to the press not the people, that ironically influences those most worried about Dean- not Dean himself who bulldozes over this carping chatter. The media has very very often been wrong, been defeated by candidates who at turns coddle and ignore their often naive and parochial critiques and judgments. Otherwise Powell, McCain or Bradley would be President. Or Clinton would have been easily destroyed after a week into the primaries. Dean is demonstrating(with a style that made the nervous GOP giddy about "likable" Bush)an ability to surf over the media with impunity and not surrender to the memes or tags or give them any emotional satisfaction whatsoever. Nor has he been an aloof punching bag, the easy butt of attacks with followers easily falling away.

Dean has also changed the hapless though professionally admirable Democratic obsession with issues and policy formulation that have nothing to do with obtaining the Possibility of their enactment. Yet his governor credentials are solid there and on the party platform and centrism as well. To worry about the media is to share their point of view and high judgment of themselves. Dean seems to be carving right through them as if they didn't exist(a happy thought for much of them). He is bringing the other candidates out of the predictable doldrums with him. Should he not be the choice let not the media think it was they who did the deed. Somethings that absolutely had to be done Dean has done. If there are legitimate worries they have to do with what the people really react to, not what the press tells them. A precarious distinction, but all the winners know what I mean.

Now Dean is not my first choice in case this involves me in some infamous intramural scrap, just the pluses I see developing in him under fire- where others worry that attacks in and of themselves mean disaster.

[Ramsey]

19. Good points

I hope you are right! I think the right kind of candidate can rise above the media bias and shine. Sadly, Gore didn't manage to do so. Too many lies were indelibly embedded in the public consciousness. So far, that hasn't happened to Dean.

On a related note, while I don't like the tactics of some of the other Dems candidates, I am not terribly upset about the intra-party Dean bashing. Let's face, Rove will dish out 1000 worse, and the current squabbling gives Dean a chance to hone his battlefield skills at a time when not too many folks are paying attention.

[michaelwb]

16. How about this from the Boston Herald?

I love this one from the Boston Herald - follow the meme:

Nuke Flap Dogs Dean

The article says that Dean & the State of Vermont released documents that are security related and by law cannot be released to the public and that the NRC commission may be investigating Dean & the State of Vermont.

So the first meme is Dean released secret documents and so is bad!

Even though it was the VT Secretary of State's Office that released it and had final approval and responsibility - from same article statement by Vermont Secretary of State Deborah Markowitz:

``Because of the very quick and intense interest in Gov. Dean's records, we simply missed this batch,'' Markowitz said. ``It was ultimately a result of the pressure our office had, we weren't ready for it.''


In the article Markowitz takes responsibility since it is her office that holds Dean's records as Governor and released them. Later in the article...

The front-running Democrat has said he doesn't want his gubernatorial records released for political reasons but said he also worries that security data and things like constituent medical information could accidentally be released if all his documents were made public.

The NRC review follows a Herald report last month that documents containing security and personal medical information were tucked in Dean's public files.

The documents undercut Dean's argument that files should remain private and have been used by his competitors, most recently by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman during a debate in Iowa Sunday.

Note the contradiction. Dean says the records contain security data (which earlier in the article can't be released by law!) Then the next paragraph acknowledges that this is true. But the final paragraph says that it contradicts the Dean statement!

Head spinning....

[Nadienne]

20. Thank you, thank you, thank you

Vigilance is very important. And now is the time to curb media spin as much as we can.

Can you find the efforts of undermining Dean in this article:

http://www.iowapulse.com/2003/story81.html

It was printed in the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal. Probably printed many other places.





(I'll give a hint: the article cleverly, seemingly innocently portrays Dean as a smearer. Notice his own ideas on agriculture are not mentioned. Which does two things: makes Kerry appear as the victim, weak, defenseless; sets Dean up to look like the idiot going around calling people stupid.)

[revcarol]

21. We can make them be accountable....sometimes.

AP had to "correct" Nedra's blurb. Big black mark against her with her editors.

She be more careful next time, maybe even take notes or record things, rather than write them out ahead of the event?

See, activism works...sometimes.