The press is upset that Sen. Obama is not buttering them up like John McCain does. That’s because if the battle is between the lame media and the people they’re supposed to be serving — the people win every time. (And for a vomit-inducing look at the way McCain pathologically surrounds himself with press folks, almost as a substitute for real friends, check out this article)
Do keep in mind that these people, petty though they can be, have the power to shape the political narrative for the next 8 months. If their affection for McCain makes it difficult for them to communicate his flaws or if Obama is seen as being arrogant and unapproachable, these ideas will seep into their reporting.
I wish it weren’t so but that’s reality.
“But camera crews and reporters often clogged the rope line, which annoyed Obama because he viewed it as his time to meet voters. ”
So here we see how the press puts itself as being more important than the voters. And with all of the important work the press does: like investigating whether Obama is a secret Muslim, or whether he is expressing the proper amount of patriotism as evinced by a (Chinese) lapel pin. Not to mention their insightful coverage of important issues in the Clinton campaign such as “laugh or cackle: behind the laughter”.
The reason that McCain spends so much time with the press is because McCain has no popular support. The press is his only real constituency.
z_adura, I understand what you are saying and don’t necessarily disagree, but at the same time is hands-on contact with reporters really going to stop any of them from publishing stories worthy of TMZ?
Bush showed a legendary disdain for the press during his first term- did it stop them from marvelling at his er eh- “codpiece” and his man-musk?
If their affection for McCain makes it difficult for them to communicate his flaws or if Obama is seen as being arrogant and unapproachable, these ideas will seep into their reporting.
Obama was, if I recall correctly, the first person to actively state that he was boycotting FAUX News after their repeated attempts to perpetuate the “madrassa” story and their juvenile fearmongering based on his middle name.
For better or worse, Obama was making it clear that he’s only going to tolerate a certain amount of unprofessional behavior from the MSM (of which, yes, FAUX is a part), because he’s not running for President of the Media Circus, he’s running for President of the United States.
More power to him. I hope he’s very cold with CNN for at least a few weeks after that ridiculous “patriotic enough” poll.
I’m with you, Spider. While I applaud Obama’s obvious, er, disdain for the press, I think he also knows he ain’t going nowhere without them.
And man I bet that burns their ass to no end. At this point the press is, well, not quite bottom feeders, but on par with lawyers, for sure.
You mean the whambulance.
Welcome to the general election, folks. Now that the media has fulfilled its sixteen-year dream of attending the funeral of a Clinton’s political ambitions, it’s time to go back to form. Obama’s usefulness is at an end and the media will now drop him and rush back to the arms of their all-time crush, Johnny McCain.
I mean, you can all act surprised when it happens over the next six months, but there’s no reason to actually be taken aback when it does.