More about the "double standard" in the Hillary-hating MSM

Editorial today from Geoff Garin, strategist for the Clinton campaign:

Fair Is Fair

By Geoff Garin
Friday, April 25, 2008; Page A23

What's wrong with this picture? Our campaign runs a TV ad Monday saying that the presidency is the toughest job in the world and giving examples of challenges presidents have faced and challenges the next president will face -- including terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mounting economic dislocation, and soaring gas prices. The ad makes no reference -- verbal, visual or otherwise -- to our opponent; it simply asks voters to think about who they believe is best able to stand the heat. And we are accused, by some in the media, of running a fear-mongering, negative ad.

The day before this ad went on the air, David Axelrod, Barack Obama's chief strategist, appeared with me on "Meet the Press." He was asked whether Hillary Clinton would bring "the changes necessary" to Washington, and his answer was "no." This was in keeping with the direct, personal character attacks that the Obama campaign has leveled against Clinton from the beginning of this race -- including mailings in Pennsylvania that describe her as "the master of a broken system."

So let me get this straight.

On the one hand, it's perfectly decent for Obama to argue that only he has the virtue to bring change to Washington and that Clinton lacks the character and the commitment to do so. On the other hand, we are somehow hitting below the belt when we say that Clinton is the candidate best able to withstand the pressures of the presidency and do what's right for the American people, while leaving the decisions about Obama's preparedness to the voters.

I keep saying that at some point we are going to make sense of the hostility the Hillary Clinton receives from the media and theorize as to its root cause. In the meantime, voters are going to have to come to terms that Barack Obama is a politician, just like Hillary. That's not a bad thing, folks. The 'game' being played (and it is a 'game' with serious real world consequences) is POLITICS. It is best conducted by those who understand how it works. And, so, the 'game' continues.

The PA Primary is finally here

To all my friends who are Obama supporters, and one obvious piece of advice to the Obama campaign:

Want Hillary out of the race? Beat her today in the Pennsylvania primary. Not a 'moral' victory, not "we closed the gap to only 5 points". Win.


All those who have been calling for Hillary to get out of the way of Obama's nomination continue to ignore the obvious. If Barack would just win PA (of if he had won OH) then it's over. Hillary would be out of the race in 48 hours.

If HIllary does win PA today, as is likely, then I think we need to acknowledge that there is a flaw in the Obama movement. I will embrace the nominee of the party when all is said and done. For now, I will continue to point out the shortcomings of the Obama campaign. Winning important states like Ohio, PA, Florida, NJ is critical for the nominee of the Democratic Party, we all know that. Utah and South Carolina will not be in the Democratic column in November.

The MSM beats the drum of Clinton's 'improbability'

Great column on the RealClearPolitics site written by Fromma Harrop about how the Media have embraced the idea that Hillary has virtually 'no chance' of winning the nomination:

The latest collapse started some days ago on what is normally a four-star destination for good journalism, PBS's "NewsHour." The news summary started off with this: "Clinton's fellow Democrat in the Senate, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, today urged her to leave the race for the good of the party."

The "fellow Democrat" also happened to be one of Barack Obama's most ardent supporters, but whoops, they forget to mention that. For days even mainstream media were portraying Leahy, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd and other members of the Obama team as "elders" thinking only of the party.