When last we heard from Politico chief correspondent Mike Allen, he was kissing up like a whorish schoolgirl to conservative gossip Matt Drudge. Apparently knowing just how Daddy Drudge likes it, Mike Allen wrote up a piece of work and it got passed on for Drudge to pimp. The piece is supposedly about “rookie mistakes” plaguing the Obama campaign but the best Mike Allen could dredge up from the political sewer is a verbal miscue or two from the senator (one would think that these “mistakes” would have hurt Senator Obama’s polling, but yet he’s still in the polls in the #2 spot behind Sen. Clinton without much variation). A few weeks ago John McCain couldn’t remember his position on AIDs, but for the sort of hackery Allen seems dead set on writing in the 2008 campaign it was more important to note that Sen. Obama and Sen. Edwards have both used the phrase “a new kind of politics”.
Stop the presses!
Mike Allen is now quickly becoming the poster boy for the failure of the mainstream press. They’ve spent over a decade now being so indoctrinated into the right wing noise machine that they carry its water without even noticing. Allen thinks that with one side of his mouth he can tout himself as an unbiased reporter, then on the other side make fat jokes about Al Gore, describe Barack Obama as living in a bubble, and in general do the work of the RNC and get the Politico traffic from Matt Drudge.
This is not journalism. It isn’t objective reporting of the facts. It’s dishing nonsense in order to placate a political party and movement, and the Politico and Mike Allen are serving them up fat, slow, and over the plate.
MORE COVERAGE:
>> Drudge flagged Obama hit piece on Politico — which presented admittedly “trivial” inconsistencies — apparently one hour before it was posted
>> Drudge and the Politico — poisonously joined at the hip
>> Hell Hath No Fury Like Mike Allen Scorned
>> Rookie mistakes plague The Politico
>> Thanks for the lessons, Politico!
>> A Bad Week For The Politico
PREVIOUSLY:
>> The Politico’s Mike Allen: Democrats Are Bloodthirsty Dogs, Gushes Over Fox News & Matt Drudge, Makes Fat Jokes About Al Gore
I think Obama is too hyped up now.
I’m tired of hearing about him.
I’m sorry, but what is so terrible about this article? It seems pretty reasonable. “Political sewer”? Laying it on a little thick aren’t we Oliver?
Oh and you write:
It isn’t objective reporting of the facts.
Can you point me to one example in the piece that isn’t an objective reporting of the facts?
Tell me Oliver, if this isn’t objective reporting of the facts then why do Rudy’s marriages have any relevance?
Ollie: Way to work the refs! Not letting anything go unnoticed or uncommented upon is how the left can redress the right-leaning bias of the mainstream media.
Jay: Your teachers couldn’t help your reading comprehension problem in grade three, so I’m not about to try to help you now. Sorry.
Jiminy Cricket, my reading comprehension is just fine. I’d like to know why Ollie’s panties are in such a wad over an article that is pretty innocuous.
From Oliver’s opening salvo, one would have thought the article accused Obama of peddling kiddie p0rn. Instead it pointed out some verbal miscues to which Oliver replies that it can’t be hurting him because he’s in second place in all the polls.
I sent Politico an e-mail yesterday suggesting they add “Right Wing” to their masthead and just end the charade of unbiased journalism.
They replied stating they many “unbiased reporters”. Yea, Right!
Instead it pointed out some verbal miscues…
Isn’t that Oliver’s point? That’s all the there there. When John McCain has to check the glove box of the Straight Talk Express to find out what he said before, that seems more damning. Why doesn’t Politico report on that? Huh? Huh?
Jay: You would think that an article entailing “rookie mistakes” would report new information, or perhaps any factual reason for saying the campaign had been hurt by gaffes – like how Mitt Romney’s campaign has been hurt by his flip flopping. Like the articles with new information on Giuliani’s marriages, I had no objection to the stories about Obama’s life in Hawaii, or even about his ancestors holding slaves. But this piece is simply linkbait for Matt Drudge.
Duros, if your gripe is with somebody not reporting about somebody else, then address that. That still has nothing to do with the piece that Allen wrote.
And Oliver, you pointed out yourself what could be fallout for Obama with regard to all of this. He’s consistently polling second behind Hillary Clinton despite the glowing press he has received.
And I disagree with you. I think stories about Obama’s ancestors owning slaves is pointless and a complete waste of time. Him railing against an energy bill he voted for is something that is relevant.
Allen points out that this kind of stuff is going to become fodder for the mainstream press at large who like nothing better than tearing a candidate down after they helped to build him up.
Duros, if your gripe is with somebody not reporting about somebody else, then address that.
Well, OK, my gripe is with a “journalist” not covering the whole spectrum, seeing both sides from an objective viewpoint. Naive, I know, but isn’t that what journalism is supposed to be about? Instead of just pointing and laughing?
Well, OK, my gripe is with a “journalist” not covering the whole spectrum, seeing both sides from an objective viewpoint.
Yeah, but is the media supposed to write about every candidate every time they write about one?
Obama has been on the cover of Time and Newsweek. I haven’t seen Romney on the cover yet. Is that evidence of bias on the part of those magazines against the other candidates?
Allen is writing about this stuff as if any of it is new or that it is hurting his standing in the polls – neither is true. Romney isn’t on magazine covers for the same reason Duncan Hunter and Dennis Kucinich aren’t.
1. Allen didn’t write it as if it were new or old. It just is and that’s what Allen wrote.
2. Allen didn’t say it was hurting his campaign but did say that such statements would start garnering more critical press attention. He’s right.
Romney isn’t on magazine covers for the same reason Duncan Hunter and Dennis Kucinich aren’t.
And Allen didn’t mention McCain because he’s not a rookie. Good to see you understand now.
The McCain issue was even bigger news because McCain has been on the national stage for 30 years yet doesn’t know his position on AIDS. Furthermore, why is it news if it isn’t new? The issues weren’t new, there’s no new effect on Obama’s standing. It’s designed to send Drudge traffic to Politico, nothing more.