Scene and Heard: Campaign Edition

The lure of three-dot journalism is so strong, I can no longer fight its siren song. Besides, the pickings are rich indeed - so it's not laziness, really. Call it canny curatorial expertise, if you must but just enjoy the posts.

Lance Mannion takes on the loose tongue of Bob Kerrey, who the foaming lips of Chris Matthews and the like would have you believe is a simple agent of the evil Clinton campaign, doing the bidding of the anti-Obama forces. Lance thinks Kerrey erred, but not out of spite. Still, he notes: "Listen, folks, if saying Obama's middle name out loud is dirty pool, we've got a real problem if he gets the nomination.Because, guess what, the Republicans aren't about to keep quiet about it. Or about his skin color. Or about his father's religion.Or about the madrassa."

Mark Green defended Kerrey tonight on MSNBC's Softball for Obama, but the spewing Matthews and poor radio host Ed Schultz, apparently miffed that Hillary Clinton hasn't appeared on his show, tag-teamed the grand Clintonion conspiracy theory. Who else but Taylor Marsh to pick up on the hijinks, which could have passed for a spoof: "Matthews' desperation for relevancy, especially in the face of Keith Olbermann's brilliance and ratings power, seems all the more pathetic given the stakes. If Mr. Matthews understood the urgency of vetting the Democratic candidate, especially his legislative record, or really cared what candidate Democrats serve up against the Republicans he would do his homework before spouting off. But he doesn't care about Democrats, or that he's trying to destroy the first viable female candidate in U.S. history." Exactly right.

The creampuffery laid before the annointed candidate of hope has been in stark contrast to the Beltway media's open hostility toward Senator Clinton, according to Washington Post media critic Howie Kurtz. Quite so. As Kurtz writes: "Journalists repeatedly described Obama as a "rock star" when he jumped into the race in January. His missteps -- such as when his staff mocked Clinton's position on the outsourcing of jobs overseas by referring to the Democrat not as representing a state but as "D-Punjab" -- generated modest coverage, but rarely at the level surrounding Clinton's mistakes." Bill Moyers agrees.

And Josh Marshall laughs aloud at the Obama campaign's hilarious suggestion that he's received tougher scrutiny than Senator Clinton: "I really hope the Obama camp is kidding when they say Barack is the most scrutinized candidate in the race. If they're not, they're living in a fantasy world that makes me question whether they're up to the rigors of a national campaign. ... .. Then there's the collective assault that constitutes modern press 'scrutiny', especially for a Democrat who generally has to deal with the tag team of the national political press and the regrettably much more able and ruthless GOP oppo research cadre, which has an established feeding operation mainlined to most national political reporters. ... .. It ain't fair; it ain't right; but it's the reality. And if he thinks he's already gotten that, well ... what's he been smoking?"

Then there's Digby's priceless reaction to Rush Limbaugh, who wondered if America could stand looking at a 60-ish female age before their eyes as President - this after Drudge's massive play to a photo of Clinton that showed (gasp!) some campaign trail fatigue and (omigosh!) a few wrinkles. Said the Digster: "I don't think aging women should even be allowed out in public, personally, much less should anyone have to look at their revolting faces on television. There is no reason that handsome, virile chick magnets like Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain should have their aesthetic environment polluted with such hideousness." Ah, the joys of this sexism-free campaign.

Comments

[Lance Mannion]

Well, I guess we know now for sure that Rush Limbaugh does not own a mirror.

About Bob Kerrey's remarks: I think he was trying to zing Obama, but not with racial dog whistling. I think he was saying that Obama's best suited for a career as a motivational speaker.

[tina oiticica harris]

Thank you, Tom, your posts are so inspiring. Maybe Obama should join Oprah in an inspirational TV show called "He's the One."

[Tom K]

Acting as unofficial spokesman for the Obama campaign, I woujld like to say two things.

1. Chris Matthews in harder on our candidate than you appreciate -- it's always tempting to think the other guy has it easy, but we're taking hits too. Let's stop the unseemly backbiting, which only helps the Republicans, and draw together.

2. In the foregoing spirit, and because of our candidate's basic decency, we deplore the Drudge HRC photo, and have no intention of getting dragged into the discussion, so interesting to some, about the exact nature of the cosmetic surgical proceedures certain other candidates have obviously had.

[Drudge Report]

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