Campaign Watch

WaPo's Al Kamen Runs with MSNBC-Style Swipe at Romney
By Matt Vespa | October 31, 2012 | 2:45 PM EDT

As the liberal media generally but MSNBC most intensely has attacked for an October 30 Ohio event in which Governor Romney spurred on rally attendees to help pack relief supplies for folks displaced by Hurricane Sandy, the Washington Post's Al Kamen (formerly a legal reporter at the paper) groused that Gov. Romney is trying hard not to look like he’s still in campaign mode, while praising President Obama for "trading his role as a candidate for that of commander in chief."

Kamen cracked that Romney is “finding that, unlike franks and beans, charity and politics can be a tricky mix.” As we at NewsBusters have noted, this is hardly the Post columnist's first foray into Obama puffery and gratuitous swipes at Gov. Romney.

NBC's Todd Touts Polls That 'Back Up the Obama Spin' of Romney Throwing Electoral 'Hail Marys'
By Kyle Drennen | October 31, 2012 | 12:42 PM EDT

On Wednesday's NBC Today, political director Chuck Todd seized on the latest CBS News/New York Times poll showing narrow leads for President Obama in Ohio, Virginia, and Florida as "evidence, potentially, to back up the Obama spin" that "Romney has run out of routes to 270 electoral votes...so they are throwing Hail Marys in new states." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

However, the poll Todd so eagerly cited, used voter samples significantly slanted in favor of Democrats, using turnout models resembling Obama's win in 2008, a highly unlikely scenario in 2012.

MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Slams Mitt Romney for Collecting Storm Supplies
By Matt Vespa | October 30, 2012 | 11:17 PM EDT

In Tuesday afternoon’s broadcast of Andrea Mitchell Reports, Mitchell accused Romney of surreptitious campaigning, and asked what are the true intentions of Governor Romney collecting storm supplies after a hurricane.  Along with Chris Cillizza, who writes The Washington Post’s The Fix blog, Andrea Mitchell nonsensically noted how donations are the most effective forms of assistance in situations like this because there is no packaging involved.  

Mitchell revealed herself, yet again, as a liberal hack, and someone who is absent minded when it comes to common sense.  There are 7.5 million people without power, and how dare Mitt Romney try to help those in need.

Morning Joe Duo: Hurricane Will Halt Romney’s Momentum, Make Obama Look Presidential
By Kyle Drennen | October 29, 2012 | 5:54 PM EDT

Appearing on Monday's NBC Today, MSNBC Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski asserted that impending Hurricane Sandy would help Barack Obama in the election, with Scarborough proclaiming: "Mitt Romney had momentum….This was Mitt Romney's best weekend, and it stops. The momentum stops."

Brzezinski eagerly predicted how the President would be perceived during the storm: "…expect command centers up and down the east coast and the President to be very visible at all of them, telling people about the federal dollars that are on the way, and that will be advantage Obama." Meanwhile, she claimed Romney would be “in an awkward situation," and that "anything he does might look so blatantly political and almost needy, because he’s just not in the equation when the country’s under siege from a massive storm."

Obama Said 'Trust Matters'? He Never Flip-Flops?
By Matt Vespa | October 26, 2012 | 6:05 PM EDT

The president’s rally in Cleveland, Ohio yesterday had a few interesting lines during his speech.  From saying how Romney is mentally defective with "Romnesia" to showing how “trust” is a key issue in this race, one must ask – has the president forgotten about Benghazi?  A foreign policy disaster that ended with the assassination of a U.S. Ambassador, the first time in thirty-three years, which some in the media has been reluctant to talk about.

And yet, CNN ran the soundbite several times of Obama saying "trust matters" -- at the same time it's become clear that the administration abused the public trust by insisting there was "no evidence" of a pre-planned attack. 

NBC's Todd Hypes 'Speed Bumps' for Romney: Mourdock and 'Eyebrow-Raising' Sununu Comments
By Kyle Drennen | October 26, 2012 | 3:40 PM EDT

On Friday's NBC Today, political director Chuck Todd described how "both sides are dealing with some unexpected political speed bumps on the trail" and began by detailing the supposed obstacles for the Romney campaign:

...it's Indiana's Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock, who made controversial comments about abortion and rape on Tuesday...another unforced error for Team Romney and Republicans, national campaign co-chair John Sununu made these eyebrow-raising comments in response to Colin Powell's endorsement of President Obama.

Libya Takes Backseat to Fluff in NBC Obama Infomercial
By Kyle Drennen | October 26, 2012 | 10:31 AM EDT

During a 20-minute interview with President Obama aired on Thursday's NBC Rock Center, host Brian Williams devoted a total of 1 minute 36 seconds to the subject of the terrorist attack in Libya. At the same time, four segments of soft coverage of the President's re-election campaign received a combined total of 2 minutes 19 seconds.

The promotional fluff included the President stopping by a pizza shop in Iowa (1 min 3 sec), appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (30 sec), having singer Katy Perry perform at a rally in Las Vegas (31 sec), and him picking up some donuts at a Krispy Kreme in Tampa (15 sec). 

Broadcast Media Outlets Continue to Ignore Obama's Campaign Financing Scandal
By Ryan Robertson | October 25, 2012 | 10:50 PM EDT

While President Obama's record-breaking pace to raising a total of $1 billion earlier this month received significant media attention, there was little if any curiosity among the traditional press about how he was on track to achieve such an unprecedented milestone in presidential fundraising. The broadcast networks in particular have not bothered to mention the growing scandal that is being scrupulously pieced together by alternative media outlets.

An independently-owned website Obama.com (redirects to official site here) has been suspected of accepting millions of dollars worth of illegal foreign donations for months now. Despite all the speculation and accusations coming from a nonprofit organization known as the Government Accountability Institute (GAI), no action had been taken until recently.

On PBS, Roll Call Reporter Ties Mourdock to Romney, Remembers Akin Gaffe as 'Horrific'
By Matt Vespa | October 25, 2012 | 5:46 PM EDT

During the October 24 broadcast of the PBS Newshour, Gwen Ifill explored the state of current U.S. Senate races with Rothenberg Political Report’s Nathan Gonzales and Roll Call’s Shira Toeplitz.

The first on the list was Indiana race between Richard Mourdock and Rep. Joe Donnelly.  Here, liberal media creep leeched into Toeplitz’s analysis as she found Mourdock’s comments about life and conception frivolously similar to what she called Todd Akin's “horrific gaffe” on the matter several weeks ago.

NBC: Romney 'Dealing With a New Controversy' After Mourdock Abortion Comments
By Kyle Drennen | October 25, 2012 | 3:25 PM EDT

Continuing to hype Indiana Senate candidate Richard Mourdock's opposition to abortion as some kind of scandal for Mitt Romney, on Wednesday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Peter Alexander proclaimed: "...the Romney campaign is also dealing with a new controversy, trying to distance itself from this comment..."

After playing a sound bite of Mourdock explaining in a Tuesday senatorial debate that he believed an unborn child conceived by rape was still a life "intended by God," Alexander touted an ad of Romney endorsing the Indiana Republican. He then observed how, "Mr. Romney, who's been carefully courting women voters, ignored the controversy" and declared that the Governor's campaign has "been trying to steer away from it's party's right-wing since the contentious primaries..."

NBC's Williams Can't Understand Why Obama Isn't Winning by a Landslide
By Kyle Drennen | October 25, 2012 | 10:41 AM EDT

In an interview with President Obama on Wednesday, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams lobbed this softball: "How is it that with – what, 13 days to go, you're fighting for your life in a 47/47 race?... So after the excitement of '08, given the power of incumbency, you got Bin Laden, you did not expect to be sitting on a more substantial race than we are as we sit here today?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Obama argued he was exceeding media expectations: "...we always knew this was gonna be a close race from the start....you guys have some short memories. Folks in your business were writing me off a year ago, saying there's no way I would win."

Romney Won the Last Debate? On MSNBC, They Can't Believe Anyone Could Be 'That Stupid'
By Ryan Robertson | October 24, 2012 | 5:41 PM EDT

On Tuesday's edition of MSNBC's The Ed Show, all but official Obama campaign surrogates Ed Schultz and Richard Wolffe discussed the third and final presidential debate. Both declared the president a clear winner and insulted the intelligence of anyone who would disagree. Failing to recognize the irony of what they were doing for Obama, Schultz criticized the Romney campaign for declaring victory -- as if it defied all logic.

"Romney's camp is spinning last night as a victory for him," he said. "What about that? I mean, do they really think the American people are that stupid?" [ video below, MP3 audio available here ]