Charles Babington

AP Critique of GOP Candidates' Economic Proposals Cites 'Mainstream' Theory, Won't Name It
By Tom Blumer | November 3, 2011 | 11:55 PM EDT

It's truly delicious when the outfit which calls itself the Essential Global News Network essentially admits that a certain economic theory which begins with a "K" has become such an undesirable word -- almost an epithet -- that it avoids its mention.

That was the case with a pathetic critique of GOP candidates' economic plans written up by the wire service's Charles Babington on Sunday. When I saw its headline ("Studies challenge wisdom of GOP candidates' plans"), I blew past the story because I expected the same-old, same-old. Then an emailer with a journalistic background informed me that it was even worse than usual. He's so right that I can't possibly pick it apart without writing a book; so I'll just concentrate on the paragraph containing the theory with no name and the one which immediately follows it:

'Romney Inevitable?' AP Sure Seems to Hope So
By Tom Blumer | October 13, 2011 | 12:31 AM EDT

Based on a report filed earlier today and time-stamped 8:16 p.m. as of when this post was prepared, it would appear that the last thing Associated Press writers Charles Babington and Kasie Hunt want is a competitive Republican primary season, and that they'll twist reality and the numbers to fit their meme. Oh, and in case you haven't gotten the establishment press memo, Rick Perry is still Mitt Romney's only real competitor.

Funny, I don't remember the AP or anyone else in the establishment press calling Hillary Clinton's nomination "inevitable" in October 2007, when, according to Real Clear Politics (RCP), Ms. Clinton was outpolling Barack Obama by an average of 24 points in 18 polls (and by probably more over John Edwards, though that info wasn't available at RCP).

AP's Babington Rolls Out Obama and Dems' Talking Points on Extending Payroll Tax Cut
By Tom Blumer | August 22, 2011 | 2:57 PM EDT

The opening sentence of Charles Babington's "objective report" about the possible extension of what was billed late last year as a "temporary payroll tax cut" reads like a Democratic National Committee press release: "News flash: Congressional Republicans want to raise your taxes."

It doesn't get any better until the final paragraph. Babington's babble is otherwise a long-winded, chidish taunt about the supposed hypocrisy of anyone who would like to see a program which, for all its very considerable faults, at least ran a cash surplus for several decades get into the neighborhood of where taxes collected almost equal disbursements.

AP Headline Claims 'GOP Wants Small' Campaign Map; Story Has No Evidence
By Tom Blumer | June 20, 2011 | 10:54 PM EDT

To be fair to the Associated Press's Charles Babington, he may not have written the headline applied to his early analysis ("Obama wants big 2012 campaign map, GOP wants small") of how the presidential electoral map looks. But what he wrote essentially fits the headline, but didn't provide any evidence that the Republican Party is only focusing on winning back the states lost by John McCain in 2008 which George W. Bush won in 2004 to get past the 270 electoral votes needed to retake the presidency.

Here are several paragraphs from Babington's coverage (numbered tags are mine):

AP’s Babington Warns of Damage ‘Hard-Right’ Positions Cause GOP White House Hopefuls
By Brent Baker | June 1, 2011 | 1:43 AM EDT

“GOP presidential contenders drift to the right,” reads the headline over a Monday night dispatch by the AP’s Charles Babington who devoted an entire story to fears “Republican candidates are drifting rightward on a range of issues, even though more centrist stands might play well in the 2012 general election.” (I caught a shortened version in Tuesday’s Washington Examiner.)

“Independents,” the Associated Press White House correspondent warned, “may be far less enamored of hard-right positions than are the GOP activists.” He soon repeated the “hard-right” pejorative as he relayed how “some in Obama's camp,” as if they are genuinely concerned for Republicans or offer any kind of reliable political insight, “say the presidential contenders risk locking themselves into hard-right positions that won't play well.”

Specter Loss Reminds AP Writer That Scott Brown Win Was 'Excruciating'
By Tim Graham | May 19, 2010 | 6:27 AM EDT

With the loss of party-switching Sen. Arlen Specter Tuesday night, AP political writer Charles Babington was assigned the obligatory story "Obama endorsements don't seem to help Democrats." It's a fairly routine analysis until Babington had an Andrea Mitchell moment when he called Scott Brown's Senate win "excruciating." (In 1990, Mitchell told NBC viewers after a Jesse Helms victory that "This has been a really heartbreaking race.")

In previous months, Obama's endorsements and campaign appearances weren't enough to save then-Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election bid in New Jersey, Creigh Deeds' run for governor in Virginia or Martha Coakley's campaign in Massachusetts to keep the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat in Democratic hands.

In fairness, Deeds was an underdog from the start, and Corzine brought many problems on himself. But the Coakley loss to Republican Scott Brown was excruciating. She once was considered a shoo-in, and her defeat restored the Republicans' ability to block Democratic bills with Senate filibusters.

If Babington had said it was "excruciating for Democrats," it would have been unremarkable. Instead it sounded like "it was excruciating for me."

AP Writer Worries Scott Brown Election Imperils Obama's 'Audacious Plan' for Socialized Medicine
By Tim Graham | January 24, 2010 | 9:05 AM EST

Associated Press writers haven’t overcome their tendency to describe President Obama’s plans as "audacious" – like they'd just finished leafing through their well-worn copy of Obama’s campaign book The Audacity of Hope. On Friday, a Charles Babington political analysis began:

President Barack Obama's bid to overhaul the U.S. health care system was in doubt Thursday as lawmakers rejected the quickest route for achieving it in the aftermath of a major Republican political victory.

Defeat for Obama's audacious plan would be a major setback for the president one year into his four-year term. He made health care his most important domestic priority but has seen support for it among the populace dwindling in recent polls, apparently overtaken by public worry over the state of the economy.

AP's Babington Plays Obama/Dem Party Mouthpiece, Ignores CBO 'Double-Counting' Advisory
By Tom Blumer | December 26, 2009 | 8:22 AM EST
APabsolutelyPathetic0109The Associated Press should seriously consider renaming itself "Associated Dems" or "Associated Leftists."

This morning, the AP's Charles Babington uncritically relays the latest Democratic Party talking point about its statist health care plan that has been passed in two very different forms in the House and Senate. The supposed point is that anyone who voted to create Medicare Part D in 2003 and voted against ObamaCare is "obviously" a flaming hypocrite.

Along the way, Babington ignores a Congressional Budget Office report response issued just before Christmas asserting that characterizations of the Senate's bill as reducing future government deficits are wrong. Beyond that, the litany of other distortions and errors in Babington's report is perversely impressive in its no-fib-or-spin-left-behind comprehensiveness.

Here are the first several paragraphs of Babington's babble, followed by its final sentence:

GOP lawmakers change tune on costly health plans

Democrats are troubled by the inconsistency of Republican lawmakers who approved a major Medicare expansion six years ago that has added tens of billions of dollars to federal deficits, but oppose current health overhaul plans.

LifeNews.com Busts AP Over Presence of Abortion Funding in Dems' Health Care Plan
By Tom Blumer | August 6, 2009 | 3:44 PM EDT
APmediaBiasLifeNewsKudos to Steve Ertelt at LifeNews.com (the source of the graphic at the right) and to others in the pro-life community for getting the notoriously stubborn Associated Press to effectively back down on a false claim it made about the availability of abortion services in the version of the health care bill passed by a House Committee last week.

On August 3, Ertelt wrote the following (link to AP story added by me for fair use, discussion, and refutation purposes):

The Associated Press is coming under criticism from pro-life advocates who say its recent wrap-up article on the health care debate is misleading.

AP writer Charles Babington wrote a "fact check" story attempting to make the case that abortion is not included in the health care bills and that President Barack Obama doesn't want it to be included.

But Douglas Johnson, the legislative director for the National Right to Life Committee, says that's not the case.

APs Babington Misleads That Gates Arrested Because He's Black
By Warner Todd Huston | July 25, 2009 | 8:47 PM EDT

In an "analysis" on how President Obama is dealing with the race issue, AP writer Charles Babington seems to have based his take on what happened to Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on the assumption that Gates was arrested for being black in his home, not that he was arrested for disorderly conduct and for his outrageous disrespect for a police officer -- something to which other police officers involved attest, officers that are themselves minorities.

Babington so soft-pedals Obama's gaffe against the police officers, leaving out so many details that, after reading the story, one finds it difficult to understand why Obama's words were so controversial. And it's all in a seeming effort to cover for the president and try to help him reclaim the high ground on race in America. The whole Babington piece appears to be far more of an effort to smooth the waters for Obama instead of provide any actual analysis of the incident.

Calling Obama's reaction to the Gates arrest "understated" and "perhaps obvious," Babington goes on to say that Gates was arrested in his home -- without giving any context at all -- and assumes that even with Obama in the White House race is still a major problem in America.

AP's Labeling: Obama the 'Populist Crusader' vs. 'Hardline Conservatives'
By Tim Graham | March 19, 2009 | 9:09 AM EDT

AP political writer Charles Babington underlined how President Obama hoped to "divide and conquer" Republicans as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will "embrace" Obama's alleged stimulus on Thursday. Obama's opponents are hardliners, but his GOP friends have no label:

Bozell Column: Breathtakingly Bold Barack
By Brent Bozell | March 3, 2009 | 10:51 PM EST

As Gov. Bobby Jindal began to offer a Republican response, it became apparent that he would be no match with Barack Obama in the soaring-oratory department. The Republicans really should have tried a gimmick instead.