Friday, October 10, 2008
Working the Refs
Updated
If it's not already obvious, it soon will be apparent that the Bill Ayers attacks were never intended to be much more than a sideshow. A few of us were right that old ways of firing up the base aren't new signs of desperation. I couldn't foresee the ACORN story, but I should have seen that GOP complaints about lack of attention to the Ayers story were intended to pressure the networks to pay more attention to other stories. If you watched CNN last night, you know what I'm talking about. It's going to be a long three weeks.
Update: Atrios commented yesterday,
Well, they're not that stupid. Shortly before the Anderson Cooper report on voter registration fraud, which CNN obligingly labelled voter fraud, there was a report on Republican anger over the imagined lack of attention to the Bill Ayers' story:
I don't think anybody could argue that the pundits favor McCain this year, certainly not like they hated Gore in 2000, but the GOP still knows how to influence which stories get covered. The fact is, Obama has little to fear from more in-depth reporting on the Ayers' connection. Not more reporting, like the GOP base seems to want, but more in-depth reporting. It wouldn't be entirely flattering, but the Democrats would love to see more coverage of Ayers, Rezko and Wright, if it were coupled with coverage of Diamond, Liddy and Keating. We don't hear much about them on CNN either.
If it's not already obvious, it soon will be apparent that the Bill Ayers attacks were never intended to be much more than a sideshow. A few of us were right that old ways of firing up the base aren't new signs of desperation. I couldn't foresee the ACORN story, but I should have seen that GOP complaints about lack of attention to the Ayers story were intended to pressure the networks to pay more attention to other stories. If you watched CNN last night, you know what I'm talking about. It's going to be a long three weeks.
Update: Atrios commented yesterday,
Sometimes the press covers stories in such a way that it's impossible to believe they're really this stupid.
Well, they're not that stupid. Shortly before the Anderson Cooper report on voter registration fraud, which CNN obligingly labelled voter fraud, there was a report on Republican anger over the imagined lack of attention to the Bill Ayers' story:
HENRY: ... and enraged the media is allegedly giving Obama a pass to his ties to former 1960s radical William Ayers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are all a product of our association. Is there not a way to get around this media and line?
...
COOPER: All right, Ed Henry, thanks.
And, also, for viewers who are saying we should be doing stuff on Bill Ayers, we have. Drew Griffin did a very tough piece looking at the connections. You can look it up on the Web.
I don't think anybody could argue that the pundits favor McCain this year, certainly not like they hated Gore in 2000, but the GOP still knows how to influence which stories get covered. The fact is, Obama has little to fear from more in-depth reporting on the Ayers' connection. Not more reporting, like the GOP base seems to want, but more in-depth reporting. It wouldn't be entirely flattering, but the Democrats would love to see more coverage of Ayers, Rezko and Wright, if it were coupled with coverage of Diamond, Liddy and Keating. We don't hear much about them on CNN either.
