Media Matters: Classic Friedman

Liberals have waited and waited in vain for New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman to issue a sincere apology for his vocal support of the Iraq war in its lead-up and aftermath. No voice of left was more responsible for creating the atmosphere which provided cover for spineless Democrats to endorse a misguided and illegal war, despite the fact that they held the majority in the Senate. Instead he grapples and rationalizes his support and tries to find rays of hope in the disaster that is the reality of current U.S. Foreign relations.

In today's column, Friedman reveals that he has learned nothing from years of writing that has had devastating consequences. Today, Friedman revealed his dream ticket for the 2008 Presidential elction: Obama/Cheney. The columnist suggests that Cheney's craziness would serve as a robust counter to Obama's negotiation-centric foreign policy approach, especially with regards to Iran. Nevermind that Cheney's craziness is the x-factor that gave birth to the implementation of the Neoconservative agenda, generated this country's Iraq War "strategy," and facilitated an unprecedented demise of support for US leadership worldwide.

This latest irresponsible idea from Thomas Friedman is further evidence that this man, though brilliant, should not be taken seriously in liberal arenas. Until Friedman takes responsibility for his past war cheerleading and any number of perplexing foreign policy suggestions, liberals should look elsewhere for enlightened punditry.

Media Matters: Expectations Game Edition

Over the past two fundraising quarters, the Obama campaign has far outpaced the Clinton campaign in fudraising, despite its lower stature in national polls. The Obama campaign has been using this fact as a means to downplay Clinton's frontrunner status, arguing that the campaign's fiscal health would allow it to compete on Tsunami Tuesday (when most primary races will occur) on a level unattainable for Clinton.

Last week, it seemed like the Obama campaign would get to keep making this argument. That's before the Clinton campaign successfully managed a textbook execution of the expectations game. For over a week now, the Clinton campaign has been insisting that it would raise between $17-$20 billion during this fundraising quarter. When the Obama campaign announced that it raised $20 billion this quarter, Clinton's spokespeople claimed the best they could hope for would be that the two campaigns would draw even for the quarter.

Then, SURPRISE! Clinton raised $27 billion ($22 billion for the primary). Now the campaign has achieved something even better than a cash advantage for this quarter: process stories. Instead of talking about the intricacies of policy, the press will write stories all week about how Clinton exceeded expectations, outraised Obama for the first time, and has solidified her lead as the frontrunner. Obama will have significant difficulties stealing the spotlight during this week.

These are two very media savvy campaigns, but Clinton 's campaign won this match. Keep your eyes pealed for more expectation game follies. If you notice this or other media strategies employed by campaigns that you think are effective, post it on the blog, and let's discuss it.

~Jonathan

Media Matters Roundup: CHIP Edition

On September 18, 2007, the Columbia University College Democrats conducted a phone banking drive to put pressure on Representatives Peter King and Jim Walsh, both NY Republicans to rethink their votes on the Children's Health Insurance Program reauthorization. Over the course of the day, activists made over 150 phone calls to the two Congressional offices. The effort paid off, both Congressmen voted "yea" on the conferenced version of bill . In total, the roll call vote garnered 265 yeas to 159 nays, just 25 votes shy of a veto-proof majority.

Borrowing a page from the CU College Dems' playbook, the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) is funding automated (ROBO) calls in seven competitive Congressional districts, hoping to change a couple of Republicans' minds.

Via TPM, D-Trip is also running radio ads against eight vulnerable Republicans for their votes on CHIP reauthorization. Reps. Steve Chabot (OH-01), Thelma Drake (VA-02), Tom Feeney (FL-24), Sam Graves (MO-06), Joe Knollenberg (MI-09), Randy Kuhl (NY-29), Jim Saxton (NJ-03), and Tim Walberg (MI-07).

Looks like the pressure's on. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino was really on the defensive today when asked questions about CHIP.

Keep tabs on the CHIP veto showdown. If you see anything, comment to this post and we'll keep a running media update going.

~ Jonathan