The Last Election Thread

[Boris Godunov]

Just a reality check on the state polls for BK. The polls released yesterday:

[Naked Gents Rut]

I was apparently too kind to Obama. His latest example of bipartisan change is positively Nixonesque.

Longtime Washington Post correspondent Lou Cannon covered the Nixon, Ford and Reagan White Houses as well as presidential campaigns starting in 1968. He says this move is reminiscent of Richard Nixon.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/11012008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/a_nixonesque_move_from_team_obama_136286.htm

[KrazyHorse]

Kicking reporters off because you don't like how they report:

Washington Times and New York Post:

Dallas Morning News: ?

good friends with Bill Ayers, like Obama

Deity Dude pulling a Drudge and cherrypicking polling data

Ben Kenobi living in an alternate Universe: expected

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
Kicking reporters off because you don't like how they report:

Actually, that wasn't the reason. The plane is too crowded--they removed 3 reporters from areas that do not constitute electoral battlegrounds to make room for reporters from tighter states.

Note that reporters from other news outlets that endorsed McCain weren't removed, and the 3 reporters were invited to travel with Biden instead.

Just another lame smear attempt.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
Actually, that wasn't the reason. The plane is too crowded--they removed 3 reporters from areas that do not constitute electoral battlegrounds to make room for reporters from tighter states.

Which tight battleground states do Ebony and Essence represent?

[KrazyHorse]

North Carolina?

[Darius871]

How so? Considering that Ebony and Essence cater solely to the African-American community, which is already in the high 90's for Obama no matter what, I fail to see how they affect electoral outcomes in any way whatsoever. In fact they have far less net effect than NY and DC papers with national circulation could have.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by KrazyHorse
North Carolina?

And Georgia!

[KrazyHorse]

It was a joke, dude.

And black turnout is hugely important to Obama.

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Darius871
How so? Considering that Ebony and Essence cater solely to the African-American community, which is already in the high 90's for Obama no matter what, I fail to see how they affect electoral outcomes in any way whatsoever. In fact they have far less net effect than NY and DC papers with national circulation could have.

My guess is that Obama is getting a jump on the post-election media coverage. Such mags will no doubt want to feature him after he wins.

But the bottom line here is... so what? Reporters aren't entitled to spots on campaign planes, and if a candidate wants to make room for someone else, even someone with more favorable views, I don't see it as a big deal. It's not as if those reporters can't still follow Obama around and report. It won't be any difference in cost, since the news outlets pay for their reporters to fly with the candidates anyway.

And it's certainly not like he's desperately preventing reporters from having access to his VP pick.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov
My guess is that Obama is getting a jump on the post-election media coverage. Such mags will no doubt want to feature him after he wins.

But the bottom line here is... so what?

Oh I don't even give a **** about the controversy, I just couldn't help but call BS on your totally made-up explanation earlier. I'll leave it to DD to argue whether the booting was a "bad" thing.

[Velociryx]

Obama is the anti-christ!

He's an alien from the planet Jihad V who eats babies and drinks bat blood!

(and he's a Muslim!)

-=Vel=-

(and the current financial crisis is all the Dems' fault!)

/Republican rant off

We now return you to your regularly scheduled election coverage...

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by Darius871
Oh I don't even give a **** about the controversy, I just couldn't help but call BS on your totally made-up explanation earlier. I'll leave it to DD to argue whether the booting was a "bad" thing.

When I read about the situation yesterday, there was no mention of the Essence and Ebony reporters, just the statement that the campaign's decision was to make room for other reporters. So sue me.

Dallas Morning News taken off Barack Obama's plane

12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, November 1, 2008
Ryan J. Rusak

The buzz in political-media circles Friday was that reporters from The Dallas Morning News and two other newspapers had been kicked off Barack Obama's campaign plane because the papers endorsed John McCain.

Not exactly. Our reporter, Todd J. Gillman, was told a few days ago that there's no space for him after today. We have protested, arguing that a paper of The News' size and stature should be on-board for the final stretch of a historic campaign.

But we don't have evidence that the paper's recommendation had any bearing on the campaign's decision. No one from the campaign ever mentioned it to Todd. (And neither he, nor I, nor any other political reporter or editor had any input or knowledge of the editorial board's recommendation.) The campaign says it had tough decisions to make and insists no weight was given to the endorsement.

We think the decision is to some degree more a function of limited seats, and while we're a large regional newspaper, we're not national and we're not in a swing state.

We've had similar trouble with the McCain campaign. One of our reporters left the campaign plane this week after being told there would be no room for him, and we're only getting back on this weekend because that campaign is adding a second plane for journalists. (We pay our own way, but the campaign makes arrangements and bills us.)

Over the years, The News has shown a strong commitment to campaign coverage. We let both campaigns know in early October that we wanted to travel with them until Nov. 4. We still hope Obama aides change their minds.

Plus, we're the only Southern or Southwestern paper that's been on board regularly in recent weeks, and without us, there won't be any from outlets outside of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and Boston. The campaign seems to be allowing for friendlier media. That should come as no surprise – Mr. Obama hasn't had a news conference in more than a month, but he's given interviews to Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow and Mario Lopez, host of an entertainment news show. Mr. Obama is sitting on a lead and doesn't want to risk aggressive questions by a gaggle of unbiased political reporters.

Ultimately, here's what our readers need to know: Whether we're traveling with the candidates or following on our own, we'll bring you robust news and analysis of the final stretch of this historic campaign.

Ryan J. Rusak is government editor of The Dallas Morning News.

See? No mention of Ebony or Essence. And that was how I read about it yesterday, except that the Obama spokesperson had said something about allowing coverage that would reach wider audiences than the ones that were asked to go.

So you can go and do whatever it is you like to do with yourself in private.

[Naked Gents Rut]

Washington Times and New York Post:

The Post is awesome, if only for the headlines.

And it's certainly not like he's desperately preventing reporters from having access to his VP pick.

Biden hadn't held a press conference in almost 8 weeks before Friday. Palin has been much more accessible, as has McCain.

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Boris Godunov


When I read about the situation yesterday, there was no mention of the Essence and Ebony reporters, just the statement that the campaign's decision was to make room for other reporters. So sue me.



See? No mention of Ebony or Essence. And that was how I read about it yesterday, except that the Obama spokesperson had said something about allowing coverage that would reach wider audiences than the ones that were asked to go.

So you can go and do whatever it is you like to do with yourself in private.

Touchy, touchy!