[big campaign] Media Monitoring Report - Evening 06/04/08

From:grosalsky@progressivemediausa.org To: bigcampaign@googlegroups.com Date: 2008-06-05 00:00 Subject: [big campaign] Media Monitoring Report - Evening 06/04/08

*Main Topics:* McCain Ties Obama to Bush, Challenges Obama to 10 Town Halls, Seeks Clinton Supporters *Summary of Shift:* For a majority of the evening pundits speculated on the reasons for Hillary Clinton's continued presence within the Democratic primary race. It was then reported that Clinton is likely to drop out Friday and that she will endorse Obama. The question about whether Obama will select Clinton as his VP continues. Obama created a three-person VP selection committee that includes Caroline Kennedy. Both Obama and Clinton spoke to AIPAC today. Clinton vouched for Obama's dedication to Israel. Obama was interviewed on CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News. Tony Rezko, one of Obama's former fundraisers, was convicted of fraud and money laundering. Highlights: 1) McCain attacks Obama as being closer to Bush on energy policy 2) McCain seeks Clinton supporters a. McCain "went out of his way" to praise Clinton today, CBS Evening News reports b. CNN analyst says McCain will seek to woo Clinton voters with issues both agree: gas tax holiday and unwillingness to meet with Iran and North Korea unconditionally 3) McCain challenges Obama to ten joint town hall meetings, Obama campaign receptive a. NBC Nightly news covers McCain's proposal to Obama, calls town halls McCain's "most comfortable turf" b. On "Countdown", Maddow argues McCain seeks venue because Obama delivers better speeches and it will bolster audience numbers, says McCain's perceived strength in town hall setting misleading because he made major flubs of "100 years" and "Bomb Iran" there 4) The electoral implications of McCain and Obama's age disparity examined on CNN 5) Jay Carney: Watching McCain's speech last night was a "painful experience" 6) MSNBC panel discusses McCain's image: Smerconish says McCain's attempt to say he's an agent of change is a "stone cold loser", Harwood says McCain's little crowds look "anemic" 7) Lou Dobbs offers economic advice to McCain and the 'fools' that advise him Clips: Highlight #1 *McCain Attacks Obama as Closer to Bush on Energy Policy *(CNN 06/04/08 6:28pm) WOLF BLITZER: John McCain has a message for you, don't believe something that Barak Obama is saying. Obama insists that McCain is running for President Bush's third term. But the Republican nominee in waiting has an answer for that. CNN's Joe Johns is in Baton Rouge, Louisianna. Joe. JOE JOHNS: Well Barak Obama is linking John McCain to President Bush every chance he gets, and McCain is saying enough already. McCain's argument is that he is a well known quantity among the American public, and one of his defining issues is independence. Will the real John McCain please stand up? Is he the man that walks in locked step with the President as the Obama campaign would have you believe? Or, is he the independent minded maverick, unafraid to break with the White House over and over again? MCCAIN: We've disagreed over the conduct of the war in Iraq, the treatment of detainees, over out of control government spending and budget gimmicks, over energy policy and climate change, over defense spending that favored defense contractors over the public good. JOHNS: All that is true. McCain takes it a step further, asserting that Barak Obama is closer to Bush on Bush's energy policies than he is. JOHN MCCAIN: In fact he voted for the energy bill promoted by the President and Vice President Cheney which gave even more breaks to the oil industry. JOHNS: That's a remarkable line. *A Republican attacking a Democrat by tying him to a Republican president.* While the Arizona senator might argue that he has asserted his independence from the White House, on the big defining issues of Campaign 08, the war, the economy, and on healthcare, Obama will try to make the case that the President and John McCain are joined at the hip. BARACK OBAMA: While John McCain can legitimately tout moments of independence from his party in the past, such independence has not been the hallmark of his presidential campaign. It's not change when John McCain decided to stand with George Bush 95% of the time as he did in the senate last year. JOHNS: And that will be one of the Obama campaign's signature lines just as long as President Bush remains so unpopular in the public opinion polls. Highlight #2 *McCain "Went Out of His Way" to Praise Clinton Today, CBS Evening News Reports He is Seeking Her Supporters* (CBS 06/04/08 6:30pm) KATIE COURIC: It's not just Senator Obama by the way hoping to win the votes of Hillary Clinton voters. Chip Reed reports now that John McCain wants them as well. CHIP REID: In Baton Rouge today went out of his way to heap praise on Hillary Clinton. JOHN MCCAIN: I know that as a father of three daughters that Senator Clinton has inspired women all over America. REID: And it wasn't just a courtesy, it was a strategy. The new CBS News poll shows 22% of Clinton supporters prefer McCain over Obama. And McCain is leaving no doubt he wants those voters. MCCAIN: I think there are a lot of Senator Clinton supporters who will support because their belief that Senator Obama does not have the experience or the knowledge or the judgment. REID: That theme, Obama's alleged inexperience is already a centerpiece of the McCain campaign. He repeats it like a mantra. While citing his own age and experience as a plus [...] Today McCain said he wants to hash out his differences with Obama at a series of ten town hall meetings. MCCAIN: I don't think we need any big media productions. REID: Just two candidates taking questions from regular people he said. It's an offer that plays to his strength while he can sometimes appear a bit tense delivering speeches, he's comfortable with the informal give and take of town hall meetings. Today the Obama campaign said they like the idea of Town Hall meetings and if they can agree on a format McCain would like to see them begin as early as next week. *CNN Analyst Says McCain Will Seek to Woo Clinton Supporters with Issues Both Agree: Gas Tax Holiday and Unwillingness to Meet With Iran and North Korea Unconditionally* (CNN 06/04/08 5:33pm) CAROL COSTELLO: It's official, the fight for Hillary Clinton's loyal white women supporters has begun. Suddenly Republican John McCain is reaching out speaking right to them, and flattering his old friend, Democrat Clinton. JOHN MCCAIN: She has inspired generations of American women to believe that they can reach the highest office in this nation, and I respect her campaign and I respect her. COSTELLO: Analysts say his campaign will reach out to women using issues that both McCain and Clinton agree on, like the gas tax holiday, and their unwillingness to meet with leaders of Iran and North Korea unconditionally. Even some ardent Clinton supporters are saying that McCain has struck a cord with them. ALLIDA BLACK: Many of the women have relatives that have been in the military, or have served in the National Guard, or have member's of their guard's troops deployed to Iraq. And they see McCain as dealing with their service and the service of those they love with great respect. COSTELLO: Analysts say Barak Obama may have a tougher time winning over women in the short term. Black says the sometimes nasty exchanges between the Democratic candidates are still resonating. Especially this one: Hillary Clinton: I don't think I'm that bad. Barak Obama: You're likeable enough Hillary, no doubt about it. BLACK: American women aren't stupid. They know what it means. COSTELLO: Those wounds won't be healed until Clinton endorses Obama. And analysts say that won't happen until Clinton fully wields the power of white women voters. Highlight #3 *McCain Challenges Obama to Ten Joint Town Hall Meetings, Obama Campaign Receptive* (NBC 06/04/08 7:30pm) BRIAN WILLIAMS: As for the GOP, John McCain wasted no time in kicking off the general election campaign with a proposal to Senator Obama to talk about the issues in front of the people with no moderator and do it often [...] KELLY O'DONNELL: That Town Hall challenge started in Louisiana today where John McCain made his first chess move of the general election. MCCAIN: I hope that Senator Obama will accept my invitation. O'DONNELL: An invitation to get Barack Obama on McCain's most comfortable turf. In a letter McCain proposed that together he and Obama participate in at least ten town halls once a week with questions from voters only. MCCAIN: I don't think we need any big media run productions, no process questions. *Maddow Argues McCain Seeks Venue Because Obama Delivers Better Speeches and It Will Bolster Audience Numbers, Says McCain's Perceived Strength in Town Hall Setting Misleading Because He Made Major Flubs of "100 years" and "Bomb Iran" There* (MSNBC 06/04/08 8:50pm) KEITH OLBERMANN: Why Senator McCain would Senator John McCain would immediately challenge Senator Obama to a series of ten debates characterized as town halls in the wake of the reviews of his own on stage performance last night. "McCain's speech was creaky, ungracious, and unnecessary", "John McCain sounded old, Obama sounded fresh and new and exciting and visionary." Liberal tump-thumpers in action? No, the first quote was from the National Review Online and the second was from Morten Condracki of Fox News. Senator Obama told Brian Williams tonight he thinks starting Town Halls next week, as McCain suggests, might be a little soon, given the state of the race. McCain proposing ten joint appearances with both candidates flying to the first one together [...]You're John McCain, you make the impression you made in New Orleans last night, they got a winner with that green screen he's standing in front of right? Obama makes the impression that he made in St. Paul last night, why do you ever voluntarily appear in the same place at the same time with Obama unless you have to? RACHEL MADDOW: Because you want to speak in front of a big crowd? John McCain is the kind of old news perpetual candidate guy, and Barack Obama is the new guy. And they realize that. And so they think that maybe they can get some of the Obama magic to rub off on McCain by putting him in front of the same audience. They will appear before large enthusiastic audiences who are interested in what they have to say if they appear together. And McCain isn't doing that in front of audiences that are summoned to see him on his own. But you know there are also thinking, between them on speeches, Obama wins. And when you appear alone that's what you do, you give a speech. And there is this presumption that McCain thrives in a sort of Town Hall environment. At least he does better there then he does in speeches. But keep in mind that all of McCain's great flubs from this campaign so far have happened in the Town Hall meeting environment. The 100 years in Iraq, that was at a town hall meeting. The bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran, that was at a town hall meeting. When he sort of smiled at and called Hillary Clinton a word that I won't say right now. OLBERMANN: That was after a Town Hall meeting [...] Highlight #4 *McCain and Obama Age Disparity and Election Implications Examined* (CNN 06/04/08 2:36pm) WILLIAM SCHNEIDER: The Democratic primaries revealed an unexpected division among the voters. It wasn't race and it wasn't gender. Barack Obama wants his candidacy to define a generation, as John F. Kennedy's once did. BARACK OBAMA: You know in your hearts, that at this moment, a moment that will define a generation, we can not afford to keep doing what we've been doing. SCHNEIDER: Obama's call for change has rallied younger voters. In South Dakota on Tuesday, Obama got 2/3rd of the vote among Democrats under 30. Seniors were not so enthusiastic. 2/3rds of seniors voted for Hillary Clinton. That age gap is likely to become even bigger in the general election. John McCain is 25 years older than Barack Obama, that's the biggest age difference ever between two presidential candidates. JOHN MCCAIN: I have a few years on my opponent. So I'm surprised that a young man has bought into so many failed ideas. SCHNEIDER: Obama's message of change is likely to intensify the age divide. OBAMA: This is our time. Our time to turn the page on the policies of the past. SCHNEIDER: Change resonates with young voters. In South Dakota on Tuesday, two thirds of young voters said the top quality they were looking for in a candidate was the ability to bring about change. Among seniors the figure was 40 percent. MCCAIN: The American people didn't get to know me yesterday, as they are just getting to know Senator Obama. SCHNEIDER: Still the idea of change is so appealing to so many voters this year that McCain is also trying to run as a candidate of change. Obama's response: OBAMA: There are many words to describe John McCain's attempt to pass off his embrace of George Bush's policies as bipartisan and new. But change is not one of them. Highlight #5 *Jay Carney: Watching McCain's Speech Last Night was a "Painful Experience"*(MSNBC 06/04/08 6:05pm) JAY CARNEY: Well David, my headline is that McCain has the right message but I'm not sure he can deliver it. If you saw the speech last night it was a painful experience, but if you read it it was pretty good. On paper McCain's argument was strong, his problem is he cannot deliver a speech very well, especially in comparison with Barack Obama [...]But his argument basically that I'm not George Bush, I have a history of bucking my own party and Barack Obama is somebody you don't know and doesn't particularly have a history of bucking his party or forging bipartisan consensus. I think that's the message John McCain has to take to independent voters. GREGORY: Alright Jay, what was different about, this change vs. experience argument which is something that Hillary Clinton tried, it didn't work. What did he do last night that was a little bit of a turn on that? CARNEY: Well this wasn't change vs. experience. They decided that experience and leadership won't work because it's obvious in terms of his age and what his life biography is about. They took change, you know, old change vs. new change. Old change vs. real change. That's what they're pitching [...] Highlight #6 *MSNBC Panel Discusses McCain's Image: Smerconish Says McCain's Attempt to Say He's An Agent of Change is a "Stone Cold Loser", Harwood says McCain's Little Crowds Look "Anemic"* (MSNBC 06/04/08 6:45pm) DAVID GREGORY: If you are John McCain's image-maker, what do you do against Barack Obama [...]? MICHAEL SMERCONISH: I would take change out of the stump speech. I just think that's a stone cold loser. And I got to tell you [...] if you look at that McCain speech last night it was like a wake compared to either of the Democratic events. And I don't know how you put umgh back in that equation. I think the best argument that he has is to say one presidential cycle ago this is a guy who was in the Illinois State Senate. Inexperience is the ticket for John McCain. HARWOOD: [...] I think one thing that [the McCain camp] may need to do is build a crowd for this guy. You've got Barack Obama filling these huge arenas and John McCain has these small little crowds that look pretty anemic by comparison. Highlight #7 *Lou Dobbs offers economic advice to McCain and the 'fools' that advise him *(CNN 06/04/08 07:30pm) LOU DOBBS: The Bush administration has done, by the way, absolutely next to nothing to help this country's struggling middle class deal with rising food and energy cost. [...] KITTY PILGRIM: Senator John McCain, wh early in the campaign admitted "the issue of economics is not soemthing I have understood as well as I should." now describes himself as a free trader as supports trade agreements like NAFTA [...] DOBBS: But I do want to do one thing. I want to help out Senator McCain because obviously he is being tutored by abject retrograde free traders who don't care about the millions of jobs that have been lost to these stupid policies. Perhaps he hasn't noticed and Senator McCain and all of you working for Senator McCain I'd like to help you here there is a reason that the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is out in the middle east touring amongst other places the United Arab Emirates looking for quote unquote Foreign Capitol [...] because in part of the stupid policies in which this administration has refused to regulate financial institutions, financial markets, and trade policies that are basically bankrupting this great nation so if I may Senator McCain, you said you had a little issue with economic we would be glad to help you here. Because I have to tell you, you are listing to abject fools who are not learning from history or from the evidence that is mounting against the very policies that President Bush and President Clinton have followed for the past almost twenty years [...] -- Gregory E. Rosalsky Progressive Media USA 202-609-7691 (office) 707-484-3796 (cell) GRosalsky@progressivemediausa.org --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the "big campaign" group. To post to this group, send to bigcampaign@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe, send email to bigcampaign-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com E-mail ryan@campaigntodefendamerica.org with questions or concerns This is a list of individuals. It is not affiliated with any group or organization. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---