Before we get all teary-eyed about what’s going on with the police handling (which even on tape looks rather mild compared to the abuse they’re receiving) to the anarchist demonstrations in Pittsburgh with cries of “does this look like America?” — let’s take a look at the footage first:
Oh, not what you expected?
Thank God for leaders like Benjamin Netanyahu for standing up to Iran — and yes, this is worth 1:40 of your time:
Been a long, long time since we’ve heard such moral clarity from a position of power.
First off, a little background on the Democratic PR machine in Washington, courtesy of former NBC journalist and current Fox News contributor Chris Wallace:
“Working the umpire” is an old phrase from when the traditional media writ large was seen as a professional media — objective, tough, investigative, and impartial. This media was all about sunlight, and while opinions and subjectivity sometimes played their roles, everyone took the hits like a champ. Newspapers factchecked themselves, for fear of factchecking one another.
What’s more, the readers cared about being informed, and detested misinformation. Not so in today’s media marketplace.
The first media outlet — blogosphere, MSM, a hybrid between citizen and professional journalism, or otherwise — to resolve this wins. Right now, I don’t believe there’s too many bloggers or MSM outfits that politicians or pressure groups respect… for the right reasons anyhow. Unfortunately, it’s selling papers or getting “hits” (but never visits and time spent on the site; bad metrics are easier sells than good ones) that governs, and rarely a focus on demographics or quality.
When you sell yourself for a dollar figure, there’s a name for that… and it’s not journalism. In fact, it’s the business model spun on its head. One would think that a quality product would outpace junk cheaply bought, and I’m certain there are people who would peddle such wares. Just don’t expect to walk out with a reputation intact or the respect of peers.
It’s easier to sell out and play ball (or turn tabloid) than it is to be responsible, sure enough. But with the MSM facing down dwindling revenues and being doubly impacted by a reputation of subjectivity, I can’t help but think there’s a sizable portion of the public begging for quality reporting and willing to pay for the larger view. Weeklies are doing well for a reason, local papers as well.
We’re close to finding the long-term strategy for the survival of newsprint, but a good part of that will be determined not only by technology. Reliability and credibility will count.
It would seem that by virtually every account — blog, attendees, reporters, etc. — that today was not Creigh Deeds’ best day. Most alarming (for self-styled “progressives” anyhow) from a policy perspective was Deeds flip-flopping on “cap and trade” which places him in extreme opposition not only to members of the Virginia Democratic congressional delegation (U.S. Senator Warner of note), but with DNC Chairman, part-time Governor Tim Kaine, and Vice President Joe Biden who has vowed that — were Biden to have it his way — there would be “no coal plants in America.”
This sadly was one of many backpedaling maneuvers for Deeds, who struggled all afternoon to find his footing. Not only did McDonnell absolutely clobber Deeds (supposedly Deeds ended the debate quite agitated), it is the post debate “scrum” with reporters raising eyebrows tonight.
Though Deeds tried his best to deflect quesitons as to whether he would raise taxes, reporters continued to pressure him. Deeds was clearly uncomfortable during the Q & A session. As Deeds finally started to lose his cool after a few minutes, it was Free Lance-Star reporter Chelyen Davis who very nearly drew Deeds anger out. You can draw your own conclusions.
No transcript is going to do this justice. But after weeks of pounding McDonnell on his position on women, was it this really appropriate?
Just in case you haven’t seen this yet:
It’s not as if this is the first time the Washington Post has it’s hands caught in the cookie jar. First the “pay to play” scheme based on the reputation of the newspaper earlier this year, now even the Free Lance-Star takes the Washington Post to task on the McDonnell thesis:
The Washington Post’s effort to create a “Macaca moment” in Republican Bob McDonnell’s gubernatorial campaign continues to have little effect. But you can’t say the paper isn’t trying.
On Wednesday, the WaPo’s front-page story lead posited that Mr. McDonnell’s actions in a 2003 judicial hearing “led to questions about whether [he] thought gays were fit to serve on the bench.”
The candidate’s answer, “Homosexuality is not an issue with regards to the qualifications of a judge,” appears on page A16, in the story’s 15th paragraph.
38 stories in six days, and still the Washington Post could not generate a scandal. Virginia has moved on, and the WaPo looks a bit silly.
I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on Waldo Jaquith’s call to arms on the problems of a part time legislature as it relates to Delegate Phil Hamilton. For those who are still cloudy on the issue, Hamilton is a House Budget Conferee and a fairly high-ranking member of the House GOP who folded into the state budget a $40,000 consulting gig.
Though the House of Delegates has assembled an Ethics Committee to investigate the charges, Hamilton has dug in his heels, does not believe he did anything improper, and will continue to run for re-election.
Of course, this is an endemic problem in the House of Delegates today. Delegate Jennifer McClellan continues to hold her seat despite her professional employment as a lobbyist for Verizon. State Senator Creigh Deeds narrowly missed a bullet when Deeds proposed a bill in 2007 allowing GA members to join firms that participate in lobbying practices.
McDonnell writes a thesis; and Creigh Deeds is the one who gets schooled:
For Governor, Republican Bob McDonnell appears undamaged and today defeats Democrat Creigh Deeds. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll released five weeks ago, the race has tightened slightly, not dramatically. There is movement to Deeds in the Washington DC suburbs, where a 15-point McDonnell lead has evaporated, but there is no GOP erosion in the rest of the state. There is softening in McDonnell’s support among voters age 50+, but that is offset by gains for McDonnell among voters age 35 to 49. Of those who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and who are judged by SurveyUSA to be likely to vote in November 2009, 13% cross-over for McDonnell, twice the number of McCain voters who cross-over for Deeds.
McDonnell leads by 7 among women, seniors by 9, independents by 11, gets 1 in 3 pro-aborts, and polls even in Northern Virginia, the youth vote, college graduates and those making under $50K a year.
Deeds is getting cracked.
Bolling? Up by 10 points. Cuccinelli, that radical social conservative who embodied McDonnell’s thesis? Up by 13 points.
This has got to be embarassing for the Washington Post. Just when you think something might come around to sell some newsprint, the numbers simply don’t bear it out. As for the social media buzz within the Democratic blogosphere, the Republican social media network simply closed ranks and shrugged.
Mainstream Virginia did the same.
So maybe — just maybe — the reporters at the WaPo are starting to feel just a teeny tiny bit silly. Silly enough so that maybe they need to throw Bob McDonnell a bone after running with the ridiculous thesis story?
Bob McDonnell’s campaign received a call this morning from a woman who called herself “Jennifer” and claimed to be a freelance reporter from the Connection newspapers in Northern Virginia. She asked for information about McDonnell’s schedule.
The problem? She isn’t a reporter. She actually works for Creigh Deeds’s campaign.
Ouch ouch ouch. So just when the Creigh “Cooter” Deeds campaign is pulling the spin about how the phones are ringing off the hook, somehow this overcharged reset staffer manages to break through this newfound zealotry and make a phone call to… the opposition?
Bonehead move.
UPDATE: Jody Wilcox and Doug Mataconis are picking up on the Jenny Call. “Amateurish” is about right, Doug.
Jim Geraghty over at NRO’s Campaign Spot sums up the Deeds metastrategy nicely:
After the Washington Post wrote about Bob McDonnell’s thesis on page A1 on Sunday, Deeds senior advisor Mo Elleithee in a blast e-mail Sunday, wrote “Please take a few minutes to read the article and then forward it to every person you know: friends, family, neighbors, you name it,” according to the state’s GOP.
The answer for the sudden focus on Bob McDonnell can be found in five numbers: 15, 14, 8, 8, 15. That’s the margin of McDonnell’s lead in the last five polls in the state.
This is so ridiculously lame, I can’t believe we’re honestly wasting time on this.
