The Smear Test - And Some Rare Bright Spots in Campaign 08
The game is Smear or No Smear! It is an old game with some new twists. If you would like to contribute to “Smear Or No Smear”, by all means send your thoughts. Here’s my version.
What price victory? Good question. John McCain says that Hamas wants Barack Obama to win. Smear. This is surprising to me, considering McCain’s obsession with ethics. C’mon Senator, you can do better than that. Your record says that you can. And the crocodile tears over the anti-Obama ad in North Carolina? They didn’t work. Consult your good friend Tom Ridge for a lesson in ethical public behavior.
Rush Limbaugh keeps pounding out Obama;s middle name - Hussein. No Smear. But close to one. In the old days the FCC used to suspend broadcast licenses for this kind of innuendo. But, sadly, Limbaugh has every right to promote bigotry. Too bad. He’s a great and entertaining talent.
Pastor Wright attacks America, Pastor Wright questions the reasons for 9/11. The Pastor (from Germantown by the way), is an outstanding orator who proved that his ego was more important than spirituality and his alleged friendship with Obama when he erupted again on the way to the North Carolina and Indiana Primaries. No Smear. Gets bad grades in “loving mankind” department.
Hillary Clinton insinuates that whites are abandoning Barack Obama - says she can get white votes. No Smear. But she won’t be getting a brotherhood award from the NAACP. That’s for sure.
President Clinton says about his wife (earlier in the campaign) “”We can’t be a new story, I’m sorry. I can’t make her younger, taller, male.” The remark was obviously taken out of context, but for that and the comment that Obama played the race card against him, the 42nd President gets a smear by word association. Wow. These campaigns really take their toll.
THE GOOD NEWS -
A nod to Chelsea Clinton. Classy, determined and a super advocate for her Mom.
Kudos to John Kerry. 04 runnerup becomes powerful addition to Obama team.
A grade “A” to Terry McCauliffe, Clinton’s national campaign manager, for a sense of humor and a bright personality that takes some of the negatives out of the contest. We need more laughter these days.
Best broadcast analysts ( this reporter excluded) are: Bob Schieffer - a true great and always to the point. Tim Russert. Donna Brazile at CNN -attitude with a sense of humor. John King at CNN. This guy knows more about local political trends than the locals do. Chris Matthews. The fact that Chris invited me to appear on Hardball with him, twice, does not impact my opinion.
Thanks for reading, and please avoid smears on the blog. We will, without hesitation, delete them.
Washed-out TV newsreader repeatedly calls President Carter an anti-Semite and a bigot. Smear. President Carter has a distinguished record of public service, especially since leaving office. The mere fact that he met with Hamas leadership in his individual capacity to learn more about their requests does not mean he hates Israel or Jewish people. It takes a coarse and bigoted mind to take such a dim view of a man who has given so much of himself to try to help others.
p.s. Try getting the Hillary Clinton quotation right. She claimed that the “hardworking” people in America are white and supporting her. She stated, by direct implication, that people who support Obama (i.e., African-Americans and well-educated whites) are not hardworking Americans. Racist smear.
ThatmMel Gibson is an anti semite- SMEAR
The skid marks in my underpants-SMEAR
larry, I am disappointed in your opinion,Chris Matthews and Tim Russert were.are biased against clinton from the beginning.Neither had a good word for her
and were for obama,remember chris matthews chill down his leg.Give me a break.
I’m with Pat, the Russert/Matthews duo have done everything but wear Obama t-shirts on their respective shows. Can’t even watch them anymore. And John Kerry…has influence with who exactly? I do agree about Schieffer and King, both have been even and unbiased.
By the way, your blog needs to get on Daylight savings time, it’s 8:37 as I type this.
I agree with Pat and Jim,
1)Matthews and Russert also Andrea Mitchell and female talking heads were more Obama cheerleaders then newscasters, nbc and msnbc was a free campaign office for Obama,except for Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanon.
2)John King and that board was the star of the primary season he broke the states down and painted a picture that the viewers could keep up with.
3)John Kerry is a powerful addition to what?
4)Chelsea Clinton showed great class.
5)Fox News hard to believe, was much more far and balance then nbc msbc covering the primary race.
I don’t understand what Larry’s post means, what with these nonsensical random “smears,” “no smears,” and tips of the hat.
I’d give all the broadcast “analysts” failing grades. Their commentary is banal and insipid and attempts to force every little development into narratives that the media has created, which have little to do with the substantive positions of the candidates. It’s a soap opera as it unfolds on television and the twenty-four hour news cycle. It should not be applauded. Those shows are dumbing down civic discourse. Why not finds some true analysts who are worthy of praise. You know, the ones who write cogently about the issues and the candidates’ positions on them, not the blathering ninnies on television.
Larry, you’re reminding me more and more of Kent Brockman.
Also, I’ll give a tip of the hat to Mark Penn, the Clinton campaign’s former strategist, to whom it owes millions of dollars. He gets kudos because he apparently didn’t understand from the outset that Democrats use proportional allocation in primaries, not a “winner take all” system like the Republicans generally do. He reportedly thought that a Hillary win in CA would get her all of CA’s delegates and that she’d be impossible to beat after winning CA and NY. Yeah, that was money well spent, Hillary. If she’s elected, she’d probably appoint Dubya to be Secretary of State given his fine grasp on international diplomacy.
As I expected before I even read the post, only Republicans “smear”… Democrats are pure as the driven snow.
Actually, Democrat candidates don’t have to get down and dirty all that much - they have the news media to do it for them - it’s called the Democrat-Media Complex, a symbiotic relationship between the Democrat party and the mainstream media.
Leo, easy, you’re getting a bit full of the sound of your own clicks on the keyboard today.
Now, I have to go wipe myself better.
Larry, we give you a hard time, but I think most of us like you, or at least respect you. If you died suddenly I’d be sad and regret some of the harsh things I’ve said. Could you imagine how much nicer everyone would be if each thing one said or wrote was the last thing that other person heard? Okay, that sounds a little fruity coming from me, but it is true.
It’s so sad watching the policman’s funeral today. It’s nice they closed 95, in part for respect and also to have the inconvenience remind people of his sacrifice. Too often we just blather on and don’t really think about what if it was the last thing I said to that person.
The police officer’s children are probably thinking about the last thing that they said to their daddy today.
Kent Brockman. I LOLed.
Look in the dictionary next to the word “smear” and you’ll see Bill and Hill’s pictures.
Watch Anderson Cooper 360 for a fairly balance and objective view of the primary. David Gergen, Donna Brazille and Paul Begala are a bit jaded but there are some young, fresh faces like Ann Holmes, Roland Martin and another younger guy who are actually very good.
Tim Russert and Chris Matthews share the opinion of 50% of Americans. They can’t stand HRC.
If Chelsea Clinton somehow turns out to be a well-adjusted, productive adult it will be a miracle. Growing up with the First Felons is not an idealenvironment for a young lady.
Bobby, short and to the point.
EDW, same to you bro.
If HRC gets dismissed, does that mean I miscalculated in backing her? Another 4 years in PA I guess.
Fast Eddie, you can’t run again, you genius.
Bob Herbert has an excellent piece in the NY Times today about what classless fools the Clintons are.
LB, I’ll be running to take Larry’s buddy Arlen Spector’s Senate seat. Arlen has bigger problems to solve like cleaning up the NFL. He is on a crusade like Larry’s crusade for free air and riding SEPTA. Is “crusade” politically correct? Can I retract my statement?
OOJ, Larry is conserving energy. By not changing to Daylight Savings Time in the Spring he eliminates the need to change back to Standard Time in the Fall. Brilliant!
Fast Eddie, then make it six years. ;)
LB, you are a stickler for facts. There is no room for you here in the Clinton campaign.
SMEAR, is also something I like to have on a bagel. As in a smear of salmon dip or smear of white fish, or even gavilda fish (and i’m not even Jewish). Smear can be many things besides what is in our underpants, or on Larry’s blog.
George, I think that’s called a schmear. Watch out or Larry will call you an anti-Semite.
I think you’re right Chicletooth, its schmear. I hope to God this doesn’t cause me to be put in Larry’s anti-semite box. No insult intended Larry,I’m just a Christian guy trying to relate to another culture and religion. It’s my lame attempt to embrace diversity and multiculuralism, please don’t Smear me!
Did you see me on Comcast last night with the tribute? I was awesome!
Smear-schmear… time to change blog