January 17, 2008
WH '08: The MSNBC Pile-On (Updated)
First, the disclosure: MSNBC is a content partner of National Journal.
Thanks to a swirl of big economic news and the Republican National Committee's Winter Meeting (our post on that goes up tomorrow), we're a little late with the reaction to Tuesday night's Democratic candidates debate that we promised. If you watched it, you'll recall that moderators Brian Williams and Tim Russert started off the forum in Vegas with questions about the race tiff between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama -- which both sides had by then declared over. (If you missed it, see our liveblog coverage.)
More to some viewers' chagrin, Williams brought up the dirty-politicking, false Internet rumors about Obama's secret Islamofascist plot to take over the country.
Let's just first state that Williams and Russert are both highly respected in their profession, and there's reason for that. But, the Muslim question in particular rubbed us the wrong way. We weren't alone.
"Now they're asking Obama about the rumors that he's Muslim. This is unbelieveable!" The Plank's Josh Patashnik moaned in a post titled "Worst Debate Ever (So Far)."
"I have not found the clip of Williams asking the candidates to respond to Internet rumors that Mikey from the LIFE cereal commercials died after eating Pop Rocks and drinking a six-pack of Pepsi," deadpanned David Postman of the Seattle Times. The San Francisco Chronicle's Joe Garofoli also poked fun at the question.
Williams may have just been thinking it'd be a good idea to allow Obama to put to rest those rumors once and for all. But at the risk of repeating ourselves, anyone who knows anything about Barack Obama knows there's no truth in allegations he was educated at a madrassah and secretly harbors radical Islamic beliefs. More to the point, the rumors themselves play on still-persistent fears of Muslims. What, exactly, is wrong with being a Muslim, as opposed to being a Catholic or Jew or Lutheran or Mormon? The allegations on their face are an insult to Muslims everywhere.
And for every one of these silly questions that gets asked (remember Diamonds vs. Pearls?), a substantive question that might actually help serious voters make up their minds does not get asked. Sure, the Democratic candidates are aligned on the issues in a way that their would-be Republican rivals will never be. But there are differences, and ones that extend beyond personality. Can you name three things that are in Clinton's economic stimulus proposal that are not in Obama's? No? Well, judging by the coverage of the past couple weeks, no one could blame you.
Moving on. Another MSNBC anchor is under fire today.
The stream of bizarro comments that have spilled from Chris Matthews' lips is just about endless. The National Women's Political Caucus, a pro-Hillary outfit, apparently got so fed up with comments perceived to be sexist that it led an anti-Matthews protest outside of NBC's studios in Washington.
Matthews' most recent offense against Clinton came in the form of this statement following her surprising victory in the New Hampshire primary: "The reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner, is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win it on the merits."
Clearly, Clinton's name recognition has been an asset her entire post-White House political career. But declaring that voters favor her for the presidency because they simply feel sorry for her is demeaning all around and probably not true. If there is one emotion Hillary Clinton inspires, it ain't pity.
Matthews used the opening minutes of "Hardball" this evening to back away from those comments -- without directly apologizing. "Was it fair to imply that Hillary's whole career depended on being a victim of an unfaithful husband? No. And that's what it sounded like I was saying. And it hurt people," Matthews said. (Lefty watchdog Media Matters has the video.)
We can't read minds and have no idea if Chris Matthews was being sincere or is actually sexist. But it does seem hypocritical for talking heads to wax poetically on the history-making potential of the Democratic contest and then bring up old stereotypes about powerful women or black men every chance they get. AP and Media Matters have a rundown of Matthews' alleged offenses; judge for yourselves.
Posted at 9:54 PM
Posted to:
Barack Obama, Campaigns, Democrats, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Media, WH 2008
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