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FELTS: Kudos! Politics full of surprises
By TOMMY FELTS, Voices From The News
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The air outside may be getting cool, but presidential politics have never been hotter.
With less than two months until the historic election that will produce our next president, fiery political stories are popping up faster than we can cover them. Like most people, I’ve got a lot to do before Nov. 5 — begin Christmas shopping, make a Halloween costume for my dog, figure out exactly what “field-dressing a moose” means — so let’s take a look at the highlights.
We’ll give political news makers kudos (for good folks like Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who crossed party lines to support his Republican friend’s bid for the White House) and boos (for people like the public relations genius that scheduled John McCain’s Lee’s Summit, Mo., campaign stop at a retirement home — What? There wasn’t a coroner’s office available?).
Put down the political bumper stickers and yard signs. Here we go:
• Kudos to Hillary Clinton and the feminist group WomenCount. Both the former Democratic presidential candidate and the women’s group that supported her campaign are taking the high road. In the fight to smear Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as an irresponsible mother for pursuing the vice presidency, Clinton and WomenCount have said they’ll oppose Palin by sticking to the issues — not relying on personal attacks. A blog by the feminist group read, “ ... We will defend Sarah Palin against misogynist smears, not because we like her or support her, but because that’s how feminism works.”
• Boos to MTV. During the “music” TV network’s Video Music Awards programming this week, MTV allowed a variety of nasty left-wing political commentary. The show’s host, largely unknown British comedian Russell Brand, told the audience “some people — racists” may not be ready to elect a black man as president and then referred to President Bush as ‘‘that retarded cowboy fellow.’’ On the red carpet before the show, hip-hop pioneer, activist and Barack Obama supporter Russell Simmons dismissed McCain’s choice of Palin, saying that, for Republicans, “Any skirt will do.”
• Kudos to Obama and McCain. The opponents, as well as their running mates, have re-energized American politics and gotten the public more engaged than ever. Want proof? Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention brought in more than 38.4 million TV viewers. The next week, Palin drew 37.2 million at the Republicans’ convention. McCain scored better than both the following night, grabbing a whopping 38.9 million viewers. That’s more than the number of Americans watching the record-setting coverage of the Beijing Olympics and more than those watching the most recent “American Idol” finale. So ... who’s the “celebrity” now?
• Boos to Bill O’Reilly. The blowhard radio host and FOX News commentator scored a personal win last week when he landed a much-sought-after interview with Obama ... but the interview came at a cost: Fairness. Hoping to deflect news coverage from his Republican opponent, Obama agreed to do the interview on the condition that it be the same night as McCain’s acceptance speech. (In contrast, McCain ran a TV ad congratulating Obama for earning his party’s nomination the night of the Democrat’s acceptance speech.) O’Reilly knowingly allowed himself to be manipulated by the Obama campaign. Ego and greed trump “fair and balanced.”
• Kudos to MSNBC. The cable “news” channel made the long-overdue, but surprising, move this week to demote overtly biased Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews from their positions as co-anchors of the network’s political night coverage. While the two will remain as commentators (and retain their popular nightly MSNBC TV shows), their left-leaning “reporting” and outright hostility toward conservatives got them booted from the marquee anchor slots at coming debates and on election night. The catalyst for the decision appeared to be Olbermann’s increasingly vile rants against and bullying of conservative candidates, as well as analysts, reporters, guests and even fellow MSNBC on-air talent who happened to disagree with him. Only time will tell if the network’s move results in the honest, unbiased coverage it has long been lacking.
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Casualty update: At least 4,155 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. At least 517 have died as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department.
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Tommy Felts is design editor for The Ottawa Herald. E-mail him at tfelts@ottawaherald.com.
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