Obama Ditches Press Corps

I know, freedom of information, transparancy, blah blah blah. Do you blame him? Via Taegan-

President Obama "quietly breached years of protocol on Saturday morning by leaving the White House without the press with him," the AP reports.

"About two hours before reporters were supposed to be in position to leave with the president, Obama left the grounds of the White House. Members of the press were told he was attending one of his daughter's soccer games in northwest Washington, D.C."

"The White House press corps traditionally travels with the president anywhere he goes, inside and outside the country, to report on the president's activities for the benefit of informing the public and for historical record."

According to Politico, the president later mocked the resulting brouhaha: "They were very upset about it. It was big news today."

"It’s going to be really embarrassing for [Palin] to walk into a half-empty room"

By GottaLaff

In a previous post, I put up a screen shot that revealed that Barbie McCan'tFillARoom can't fill a room.

Why, here it is now!


So now it's today and today I felt like toddling over to The Mudflats. Oh my! I stumbled upon confirmation of the red highlighted text in the screen grab (click it to enlarge)!

Tea Party Nation founder Judson Phillips likely assumed that scoring a dinner speech by the former Alaska governor and GOP vice presidential candidate would guarantee a huge turnout for his National Tea Party Convention, scheduled to start Feb. 4 at Nashville’s Gaylord Opryland Hotel. But according to Tea Party insiders, the tickets for the Palin banquet aren’t selling—and some conservative activists who have already paid to attend are now demanding refunds. With the controversial event shaping up to be a potential flop, some Tea Partiers are urging Palin to cancel her speech to avoid a humiliating public relations disaster.

Palin is reportedly receiving $115,000 to speak at the affair. That’s only $10,000 less than her annual salary as governor of Alaska.

But wait! There's more!

One of the organizers of the event also confesses that most of the tickets to Palin’s speech remain unsold. “I really hope that Sarah Palin doesn’t come to this event because it’s going to be really embarrassing for her to walk into a half-empty room,” he said.

Given all the negative publicity, [Anthony] Shreeve is surprised Palin hasn’t pulled out already. “In her contract she is allowed to send a representative if she can’t make it if she’s sick or something. Maybe she’ll come down with the flu,” he says with a laugh. He adds that Tea Partiers have written her letters pleading with her not to come because they believe that reports of a glitzy, high-priced dinner would hurt the real Tea Party movement, which prides itself on its thrifty, grassroots image.

The Mudflats has more here.

Guess who gets to cover the Tea Party convention? And who doesn't!

By GottaLaff

Sarah Palin is the keynote speaker at the Big TeaBagger Event. At least this time the press won't be entirely barred. In fact, in an odd "coincidence", she insisted that she be covered this time:

The five approved outlets are: Fox News, Breitbart.com, Townhall.com, World Net Daily and The Wall Street Journal. All five are widely considered to be Right-leaning organizations.

That's funny. I don't see The Nation, MSNBC, the New York Times, Talking Points Memo, HuffingtonPost, Daily Kos, The Political Carnival... (I just threw that last one in there for fun).

The National Tea Party Convention will be held Feb. 4-6 at the Opryland Hotel. In addition to Palin, scheduled speakers include Rep. Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Michelle Bachmann.

Maybe their exlusion is a good thing. Exposure to both Palin and Bachmann at one event could very well result in Exploding Head Syndrome. And everyone knows that would very likely hinder the reporting.

Special twist ending to post: Click on the image above to enlarge and read the red text.

H/t: Think Progress

AUDIO: "For the past 8 years, this White House has mainly given the 4th estate and the 1st amendment the finger"

By GottaLaff

A must-listen:

President Bush bid his final farewell to the White House press corps on Tuesday. “Through it all,” he told reporters gathered in the briefing room, “I have respected you.” Really? Let’s look at the record.

A snarky recap by NPR of Georgie's relationship with the press. Thank you, Georgie, thank you (that will make sense after you listen to the audio).

Inauguration watch: Due to record number of requests, press being turned away

By GottaLaff

Who's the popularest prez-elect ever? Why, Barack Hussein Obama, that's who!

While every day seems to bring another report of media layoffs and buyouts, the Senate press galleries say they’ve received an unprecedented number of requests from journalists seeking to cover Barack Obama’s inauguration.

The galleries plan to start saying no this week to those who don’t qualify for credentials.

“We’re going to have to be very stingy this year,” said Mark Abraham, the deputy director of the Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery.

Although the Senate Radio-Television Gallery did not respond to requests for information, the Senate Daily Press Gallery said it has had three times the usual number of applications; the Senate Press Photographers’ Gallery has had about four times the usual number; and the Senate Periodical Press Gallery reports receiving approximately 10 times the usual number of requests.

“Papers that have never come before are coming in droves,” said Joe Keenan, director of the Senate Daily Press Gallery.

“We’ve never seen anything like it,” said Abraham. “It’s amazing.”

It is amazing. It's more than amazing, it's amoozing, ameezing, and amowowowowzing.

The demand is particularly remarkable in that it comes as many media companies are laying off reporters, downsizing their newspapers and cutting back on their Washington coverage. [...]

But even companies with shrinking Washington staffs want to be players on inauguration day – particularly when the president-elect has the star power of this one. [...]

The credential requests have come from all around the world — Italy, Ethiopia and every continent but Antarctica.

Now, that's amazing.

Take 2: Arson at Wasilla Bible Church means more media for the Governor?

By GottaLaff

Celtic Diva, an Alaskan blogger, has an interesting analysis of the media coverage, including Also (formerly IWRC*) Palin's statement, of that church fire in Wasilla:

It was a terrible crime and I'm grateful that no one was hurt. However, I have to question not only some of the reporting, but the Governor's leading statement on the sad event.

In both yesterday's version of the story and today's, Wesley Loy (the reporter) identifies Wasilla Bible Church as "Gov. Palin's home church" in the first line of the first paragraph--the headline even states it as such.

In Journalism 101, I learned that in any newspaper story, the most important facts should be in the beginning, with the less important information following after. Yet, the fact that there were people in the church when the fire was set only made it to paragraph three.

[...] Does he know something the authorities don't know--that the Governor is definitely linked to this? Or is he just contributing to her media hype?

Despite that there is absolutely no evidence yet that there was any connection, the Governor seemed to jump on the opportunity to link herself to this tragedy:

Gov. Palin stopped by the church this morning, and she told an assistant pastor that she apologizes if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29. Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good.

The "facts" here are that they have no idea who did this or why. There are hundreds of people besides Palin who go to that church, thus hundreds of other potential possibilities for this arson...not to mention the possibilities that may have nothing to do with the congregation. Also, as Phil mentioned on Progressive Alaska, there are a number of motives for arson. In the article I referenced, it breaks them down into 10 categories...listing "Vandalism" first.

This brings me to a rather important "fact"; according to national FBI statistics on arson from 2007, the vast majority of arsons of community/public buildings (the categories where churches fit) are committed by suspects under 18 [...]

Percent of cases solved where perpetrators are under 18: 70.4

That's 70.4% of all solved arsons on community/public buildings in the country. Alaska, especially Anchorage and Mat Su, is well known for vandalism, especially when the vandals are underage.

I can also imagine vastly different motives for an arson than some kind of statement against Sarah Palin if the arsonist is under 18. [...]

[T]he truly negative attention went to her previous church...the one that she still occasionally attended despite her claim that she had switched churches...the Wasilla Assembly of God. [...]

Supposedly, she was no longer a member of this church and had switched to Wasilla Bible Church in 2002.

The other negative story on her that she discussed in the second video was regarding her "blessing" by the "witch hunter."

So the "negative attention" on Wasilla Bible Church was slim, while the "negative attention" on Wasilla Assembly of God was extensive. [...]

The point: no one knows anything yet about this crime, accept that the perpetrator(s) must be brought to justice. Assumptions can only make that job harder.

*In What Respect, Charlie?

McCain Campaign Won't Let Joe Klein On The Plane

Pouty little twits they are.

Time columnist Joe Klein, who’s been a forceful critic of the McCain campaign (and already said he’s unwilling to accept a post-election apology), has found himself without a seat on the McCain or Palin planes the past four months.

In June, Klein was kept from boarding the McCain plane over what they said had been a security issue. More recently, when trying to fly on the Palin plane last week, Klein told Politico over e-mail that the campaign's response was he “couldn’t be accommodated at this time.”

“I’ve done nine presidential campaigns and this is the first time this has ever happened to me,” Klein said. “I was even allowed—I won’t say welcomed—on the Clinton plane in the summer of 1996 after I was revealed as the author of Primary Colors.”

(snip)

UPDATE: Campaign spokesperson Michael Goldfarb responded that "we don't allow Daily Kos diarists on board either."

Funny, some pretty important politicians have written diaries over at DKos

Palin press may boycott UN conference

By GottaLaff

And speaking of no access to IWRC* Palin, check out this little gem:

Journalists, displeased with Sarah Palin’s efforts to restrict their access to her, are threatening not to cover her events surrounding the United Nations conference here unless they're allowed more access.

The unfolding boycott is the latest development in a rocky relationship between Palin’s handlers and the press, in which the campaign has sought to tightly control her interactions with the media.

The campaign had originally indicated that the print reporters following her campaign would be among the small group of journalists allowed to attend the so-called “pool sprays” before Palin’s meetings with dignitaries on the sidelines of the U.N. meetings.

The sprays are basically glorified photo opportunities during which journalists can snap photos and film footage and – if they’re lucky – shout a question or two at Palin and her company before she adjourns for private meetings. [...]

But the imbroglio began developing Tuesday morning when Palin’s handlers informed the small print press contingent covering her campaign that the print reporter designated to cover the events, Elizabeth Holmes of the Wall Street Journal, would not be allowed to cover the sprays.

The campaign’s reasoning was that there were not going to be questions or statements at the sprays, so they were only appropriate for photographers and cameramen.

The campaign also at first moved to bar CNN, the television network designated for pool duty, from sending its editorial producer – basically a hybrid print/video journalist – though the campaign budged when the network threatened to withhold its cameras as well.

Oh-h-h-h, early-in-the-day suh-nap!

*In What Respect, Charlie?

How the media presents Sarah Louise Palin

By GottaLaff

Our headline, re: the Palin/Gibson interview:

Gov. Sarah Palin warns war may be necessary if Russia invades another country

Now their headlines:

• Palin Interview: She Didn't Blink When Asked to Run
• Sarah Palin in ABC interview says she is ready to lead the country.
• Palin says she's ready to step in as president

But look what else I found:

Palin Drops "Bridge to Nowhere" Reference in Speech

When she landed in Fairbanks in her home state on Wednesday night, though, the bridge was notably absent from an (otherwise mostly similar) speech she made inside an airplane hangar before her homestate crowd.

Ever since she first said it, two weeks ago, critics have questioned her claim that she “told Congress, ‘thanks but no thanks on that Bridge to Nowhere.’” [...]

On Thursday, a campaign aide said Governor Palin’s decision not to mention the so-called Bridge to Nowhere as she was welcomed home inside the hangar here had no broader significance. Governor Palin had changed other elements of her speech here too, the aide said, in the interest of time. Whether she returns to the theme outside Alaska remains to be seen.

Maybe she can replace it with a segment on invading Russia.

Local papers cover Obama’s working class agenda.

By GottaLaff

Here's what real reporting looks like:

Sen. Barack Obama tours another swing state school on Wednesday, pushing a retooled education plan that promises more of everything. There’s more funding (for teachers and charter schools); more standards (to improve achievement); and more choice (for local “innovation” programs and open source classrooms).

These policy events present something of an alternative campaign universe in targeted states. While the national press and political websites go gaffe-gorging, local papers cover Obama’s working class agenda. Take these headlines from this week’s Dayton Daily News, for example:

OBAMA ON EDUCATION: PARENTS MUST HELP
OBAMA TALKS WITH ABX WORKERS ABOUT JOBS
SUPPORTERS WAIT FOR CHANCE TO HEAR OBAMA

Local voters gain information by attending events or learning about them through their circle of friends. At each stop, I’ve watched campaign organizers ask attendees to sync their cell phones with Obama’s text message network. The campaign is also furiously registering new voters in red states like Virginia to buck the region’s Republican foundation. (It hasn’t gone blue since 1964.) Jay Newton-Small reports the early returns of that effort, in a new article today for Time.com:

Virginia is one of 10 states that went for President Bush in 2004 but that the Obama campaign believes will be [tight in November]… Since January alone more than 3.5 million new voters have been registered in 17 of the 23 states tracked closely by the Obama campaign where information is available…. [I]n 14 of the states at least half of the new voters are under 35, a key demographic for Obama. (emphasis added)

Obama’s education speeches have been depicted as an appeal to women voters, but they also resonate with young voters in general, whose priorities include education, along with Iraq and the economy, and could be crucial to Obama turning the tide here.

Never once did the word "lipstick" appear in that piece. Kudos.

McCain's New Press Policy

You know how McCain has been avoiding the press here lately? Well, now we know his new strategy-

So I thought I'd share a photo from inside the press cabin on the Straight Talk Express jet. We may not get to see much of Sen. John McCain in person -- even when he's sitting no more than 40 feet from us on the plane, he's still out of sight. However, his cardboard likeness is always watching over us when we're in the sky.

I can see why the reporters might be confused between the two.

John Sidney McAlienating

By GottaLaff

You'd never know the press is souring on J Sid by watching the TV Machine, but...

Todd Purdum, who has been traveling with Sen. John McCain, says the Arizona's senator's once warm relationship with the press has cooled considerably as his aides force him to stay on message.

"It's a far cry from when I last spent quality airtime with McCain, in the fall of 2006, as we logged thousands of miles over several days in small planes, often with no traveling companions but each other. No topic was off-limits, and virtually no answer was off the record."

So the Fake Talk Express has finally made it into the consciousness of the press:

Purdum also reports that McCain is struggling "at having to rein in his natural instincts, in no small part because he well knows that it was his close relationship with the media that kept him alive a year ago when so much of the smart money -- and so many of the big mouths -- in his party had left him for dead."

And then there's this from Business Week about McDesperate:

Business Week's marketing and advertising correspondent David Kiley notes that Sen. John McCain's recent ad asserting that Sen. Barack Obama wouldn't visit wounded troops in Germany unless cameras were allowed "is a lie. It's a blatant lie."

"What the McCain campaign doesn't want people to know, according to one GOP strategist I spoke with over the weekend, is that they had an ad script ready to go if Obama had visited the wounded troops saying that Obama was...wait for it...using wounded troops as campaign props. So, no matter which way Obama turned, McCain had an Obama bashing ad ready to launch. I guess that's political hardball. But another word for it is the one word that most politicians are loathe to use about their opponents -- a lie."

Note to Obama's campaign: They're handing you material for an ad on a silver platter. Take it. Use it. Win with it.

The Lap Dog Express

By Paddy



From the always wonderful Jed Report.

Obama to allow press coverage for "all movements"

By GottaLaff

The press got miffed when Obama faked them out the evening he met with Hillary at Dianne's house. But since then, he's agreed to what's called "protective pool" coverage. Smart move. I've dealt with the press myself, and it makes things a lot more pleasant when you cultivate them a little:

After requests from major news outlets and wire services, the Obama campaign has agreed to allow coverage for all movements of presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Hat tip to my colleagues who have led this fight for access. This small pool at all events, called a "protective pool," is similar to one that that follows the president no matter where he goes.

Hey, if he's going to be our next president, now is as good a time as any to be hounded like one.