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At 10 years old, whither Google?

Daniel Sieberg of CBS News looks at how the company grew exponentially from start-up to superstar and part of our culture, but what's ahead?

"Media Matters"; by Jamison Foser

A test for the media On MSNBC on Thursday, Time's Jay Carney offered an assessment of the McCain campaign's most recent assault on the media: "Clearly, the campaign has decided that one way to win is to attack the media. Now, that could work. It does not have a great history of working. 'Annoy the Media: Re-Elect George Bush,' 1992 -- Bush got, I think, 39 percent of the vote or 37 percent of the vote." Carney didn't explicitly say it, but he seems to be under the impression that the point of the McCain campaign's attacks on the media is to win support from voters who dislike the media. And he seems to think the Republicans only occasionally wage a war on his profession. In fact, it is a constant war, the point of which is not to merely win a few votes from people who dislike the media. The point is to make voters distrust the media, to make them believe the media are out to get conservatives and thus cause them to discount news reports that are unfavorable to conservatives, and to cow the media themselves into running fewer such reports. (It serves another purpose, too: It helps a nominee whose heiress wife shows up at the convention in an outfit estimated to cost $300,000 pretend to be a man of the people raging against the "elites." But that's a story better told elsewhere.) And it does indeed have a great history of working. No, it has a spectacularly successful history of working -- of helping conservatives win both short-term and long-term victories. Don't take my word for it: Longtime Washington Post reporter Tom Edsall, now of The Huffington Post, has explained: The conservative movement has been very effective attacking the media (broadcast and print) for its liberal biases. The refusal of the media to disclose and discuss the ideological leanings of reporters and editors, and the broader claim of objectivity, has made the press overly anxious, and inclined to lean over backwards not to offend critics from the right. In many respects, the campaign against the media has been more than a victory: it has turned the press into an unwilling, and often unknowing, ally of the right. Take one example of right-wing media bashing contributing to short-term electoral success: Under fire from the White House and conservative activists, CBS News spiked a report questioning the Bush administration's case for the Iraq war that was supposed to air shortly before the 2004 election. During that year's presidential debates, Bush told Americans, "I'm not so sure it's credible to quote leading news organizations" -- a direct assault on the media from the president of the United States in the biggest forum he had. But that was only a small drop in the steady stream of media criticism that came from Bush and his allies during the 2004 election. If Jay Carney is going to point to election results to assess the success of the GOP's assault on the media, he can't simply cherry-pick the elections the Republicans lost; they've been doing this every election cycle for 40 years. But the conservatives' attacks on the media aren't simply about the next election. They recognize that each such criticism makes voters and the media more likely to believe the next -- so even if the 2004 attacks hadn't worked, they still would have been successful. And there would be nothing wrong with any of that -- if the Republicans' complaints had significant merit. But they frequently do not -- and they often don't even pretend that they do. A few weeks ago, for example, there was a frenzy of conservative whining that Barack Obama had gotten more media coverage than John McCain. Now, the amount of coverage each candidate has gotten, by itself, tells us virtually nothing. What was the content of the coverage? Was it positive? Negative? True? False? Fair? Balanced? The conservative complainers made no attempt to assess this -- they just yelled that Obama was getting more coverage. Well, O.J. Simpson got considerably more coverage than Mother Teresa in 1994 -- anyone want to argue he got more favorable coverage? Anyone want to argue that, by covering Simpson too much, the media were demonstrating that they were in the tank for him? Still, despite glaring flaws with the Republicans' criticism, the media took them seriously, and many journalists adopted the complaints as their own. The past week provides a useful case study of how the Republicans' assault on the media works. Last Friday, John McCain announced that he had chosen Sarah Palin to be his running mate. The media had a few questions -- basically, who is she, and is she ready to be president? So the McCain campaign threw a tantrum, insisting the media were being unfair. As usual, the complaints were short on details and merit -- but the media still took the complaints seriously, treating them as one of the most important topics of the past few week. Perhaps the best example of how phony the GOP's complaints were: the McCain campaign's cancellation of an appearance by McCain on Larry King Live because, they said, CNN anchor Campbell Brown had behaved improperly in interviewing campaign spokesperson Tucker Bounds the night before. They didn't really say what Brown had done wrong -- probably because all she had done was ask simple questions that Bounds couldn't answer. After Bounds said that as governor of Alaska, Palin leads the state's National Guard, Brown asked him for an example of a decision she had made in that capacity. He didn't answer. So she asked him again. That isn't inappropriate; that's exactly what she should have done -- that's journalism. And that drove the McCain campaign crazy. So, did all the complaints work? Consider this: Wednesday night, Sarah Palin falsely claimed she had told Congress she did not want funding for the "bridge to nowhere." She didn't; that was a lie. Congress had said a year before Palin became governor that Alaska need not spend the federal funds on the bridge. And Palin had initially supported the bridge, not opposed it. And once she became governor, Palin kept the money. Palin's false claims Wednesday night were not new: She had said the same thing in previous campaign appearances since McCain picked her -- and several media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times had debunked the boast. But when Palin told the lie during her convention speech -- after days of McCain complaints that the media had been too hard on Palin -- those newspapers ignored the lie. That wasn't the only false claim in Palin's speech that went un-debunked by the media. She falsely attacked Barack Obama's legislative record -- and media uncritically quoted the false claims. She lied about Obama's tax plans -- she said he "wants to raise" them, even though John McCain's own economic adviser has admitted that is false -- and, again, the media repeated her claim without debunking it. Instead, much of the media gushed over her speech. If you watched MSNBC yesterday, you would have seen reporter after reporter talk about the McCain complaints that the media were too hard on Palin. And you would have seen reporter after reporter lavish praise on Palin's speech. But you wouldn't have seen them say much about the actual content of Palin's speech -- certainly not about whether she told the truth in it. At one point, Andrea Mitchell declared that "what came through" in Palin's address was "the authenticity." Nonsense. "Authenticity" doesn't consist of doing a good job of delivering a speech -- not if the speech is riddled with falsehoods. But most of the media didn't tell you about the falsehoods, they just fell all over themselves praising the speech -- even praising the "authenticity" of someone who stood before the nation and repeated lies she had already been caught telling. So, did the McCain attacks on the media work? They certainly didn't hurt. And this isn't the first time a McCain assault on the media has appeared to pay off. He and his campaign have spent much of the year attacking the press. And it seems to have worked: McCain still hasn't faced the media scrutiny reporters kept insisting would come eventually. The media have told us a lot about Barack Obama and Tony Rezko, for example -- but kept key details about John McCain's relationship with Charles Keating a secret. Did you know that Cindy McCain was business partners with Keating around the time John McCain was meeting with regulators on Keating's behalf? Probably not: The Washington Post hasn't told readers that fact during this campaign; The New York Times has made only brief mention of it. ABC, CBS, NBC -- nothing. Or how about the fact that John and Cindy McCain would save nearly $400,000 a year under John McCain's tax plan -- a tax plan that includes the extension of Bush tax cuts McCain once bashed as unfairly skewed towards the wealthy? Have you seen any media mention to that lately? It wasn't long ago that news organizations thought John Edwards' wealth was important to keep in mind in assessing his policy proposals -- but that apparently doesn't apply to John McCain. The McCain campaign's war against the media shouldn't be surprising; this is what conservatives do. The only real question is what reporters are going to do about it. Are they going to fall for the absurd argument that John McCain -- arguably the national politician who has received the most favorable media coverage over the past decade, if not longer -- is being unfairly treated by reporters who still haven't given him any serious scrutiny? Are they going to cower in the face of right-wing bullying as they have so many times in the past? It's hard to imagine that they won't. But there have been some encouraging signs this week. Time's Carney seems legitimately irritated that the Republican vice-presidential nominee refuses to face reporters. And colleague Joe Klein -- who has, in the past, been awfully kind to McCain -- urged fellow reporters not to back down in the face of the barrage of criticism from the right: There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme. The next two months will constitute a test for reporters: If they fall for the idea that they're treating unfairly a candidate who has long referred to them as his "base," what won't they fall for? If they won't stand up to these attacks, what will they stand up to?

CBS' Rodriguez allowed McCain adviser to claim unchallenged that Obama "has a plan to raise" taxes

During the September 5 edition of CBS' The Early Show, co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez did not challenge McCain campaign senior adviser Steve Schmidt's assertion that "Senator [Barack] Obama has a plan to raise" taxes. Rodriguez did not note that Obama has proposed cutting taxes for low- and middle-income families, and McCain's own chief economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, has reportedly said that it is inaccurate to say that "Barack Obama raises taxes." According to Obama's "Tax Fairness Plan," "Barack Obama's plan will provide $80-85 billion in tax relief to America's workers, seniors, and homeowners." Obama's proposed tax cuts include "a new 'Making Work Pay' tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family," a "universal mortgage credit" which "will provide the average recipient with approximately $500 per year in tax savings," and the "eliminat[ion]" of "all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year." In its analysis of Obama's and Sen. John McCain's tax proposals, the Tax Policy Center concluded that "Obama would give larger tax cuts to low- and moderate-income households and pay some of the cost by raising taxes on high-income taxpayers. In contrast, McCain would cut taxes across the board and give the biggest cuts to the highest-income households." Rodriguez also did not challenge Schmidt's claim that Obama is "against" expanding domestic drilling. In fact, although Obama's energy plan states that "with 3 percent of the world's oil reserves, the U.S. cannot drill our way to energy security," Obama calls domestic oil and natural gas production "critical to prevent global energy prices from climbing even higher" and proposes "set[ting] up a process for early identification of any infrastructure obstacles/shortages or possible federal permitting process delays to drilling" in Montana, North Dakota, Texas, Arkansas, and Alaska. From the September 5 edition of CBS' The Early Show: RODRIGUEZ: Thanks, Jeff. I'm joined now by Steve Schmidt, John McCain's senior strategist. Good morning, Steve. SCHMIDT: Good morning, Maggie. It's great to be with you. RODRIGUEZ: Thank you. So, what was John McCain's strategy last night, and what do you think he accomplished? SCHMIDT: Well, what he wanted to do was talk to the American people about why he is ready to be president of the United States. American people got to hear his remarkable story, his journey from that 4-by-6 foot squalid prison cell in Vietnam to accepting his party's nomination. He's someone who has fought every major special interest in Washington, somebody who's put his country first, and what we have to do to change America is to stop the "me first" politics that you see out of so many of the Washington politicians. Senator Obama talks -- RODRIGUEZ: Steve, we heard all this from Senator McCain last night, but I just want to ask you, as I watched the biographical videos and heard all these personal stories, I was reminded of what Rick Davis, your campaign manager, said this week. This campaign, this election is not about the issues; it's a composite view of what people will take from -- about the candidates. Do you think you've focused enough on the issues? SCHMIDT: Well, it will certainly be about the issues and Senator McCain talked about them last night: For example, $700 billion a year going overseas to countries who don't like us because of our dependence on foreign oil. Senator McCain has a real plan to start moving this country towards energy independence. We need to drill for more oil here, now. We need to build nuclear power plants. Senator Obama is against both. And if you're against both, we will never be energy independent. Senator McCain has talked about reducing the wasteful spending in Washington that is bankrupting our kids' future. Senator Obama wants to raise spending. Senator McCain is going to hold the line against tax cuts. Senator Obama has a plan to raise them. So, when we talk about the people -- RODRIGUEZ: Steve, I don't want to repeat -- SCHMIDT: Sure. RODRIGUEZ: I don't want to repeat everything that Senator McCain said last night 'cause our viewers heard that already. I want to ask you in the limited time that we have left one more question about your running mate, Senator McCain's running mate Sarah Palin. SCHMIDT: Isn't she great? RODRIGUEZ: I know that you raised a million dollars -- I know that you raised a million dollars after her speech, so apparently John McCain's supporters think she's great, but Senator Obama's campaign raised $10 million. What do you think that says about Sarah Palin? SCHMIDT: Well, I think she did a great job. She gave one of the great speeches that anybody has seen in a generation at -- out of a candidate from either party. She's going to have broad appeal across the country. She's somebody who understands what working families are going through. She's been one of the great governors in this country. She's the most popular governor of any governor in the country. And she's an expert on energy issues and it would be good to have an expert on energy issues who can help lead this country into energy independence working with Senator McCain in the White House. RODRIGUEZ: All right. Steve Schmidt, thanks for your time this morning.

CSI: NY announced

Yesterday Ubisoft and CBS Consumer Products announced the all-new video game CSI: NY. For the first time in the CSI video game series, CSI: NY will allow you to play as actual characters from the hit TV show. In addition, game features will include crime solving in the Big Apple, a graphic novel art style, [...]

ABC, CBS aired no analysis from Dems during Day 2 of RNC coverage, despite airing analysis by Republicans during Day 2 of DNC coverage

Neither ABC nor CBS aired analysis from Democrats, Democratic strategists, or progressive media figures during their live coverage of the second day of the Republican National Convention on September 2 (the first day of the networks' live coverage of the convention). By contrast, both networks aired analysis from Republicans and conservatives, as well as from Democrats and progressives, during coverage of the second day of the Democratic National Convention on August 26. Media Matters for America counted elected officials and strategists affiliated with each party who appeared on the networks during the 10 p.m. ET hour of convention coverage, but omitted interviews of delegates on the floor of the conventions (who presumably were members of the parties holding the convention). Findings are included in the table below: ABC coverage DNC: Tuesday, August 26 RNC: Tuesday, September 2 Democrats, progressives Donna Brazille CNN political analyst, Gore/Lieberman '00 campaign manager Republicans, conservatives Matthew Dowd ABC News political contributor, chief strategist for Bush/Cheney '04 Matthew Dowd ABC News political contributor, chief strategist for Bush/Cheney '04 George Will Washington Post columnist and regular panelist on ABC's This Week Torie Clarke former Pentagon spokeswoman, former McCain spokeswoman CBS coverage DNC: Tuesday, August 26 RNC: Tuesday, September 2 Democrats, progressives Joe Trippi CBS News political analyst, campaign manager for Howard Dean in '04 Mark Warner former governor of Virginia, candidate for U.S. Senate from Virginia Lisa Caputo press secretary to former first lady Hillary Clinton Michael Dukakis 1988 presidential nominee Ed Rendell governor of Pennsylvania Beau Biden Delaware attorney general, son of Sen. Joe Biden Republicans, conservatives Dan Bartlett CBS political analyst, former counselor to President Bush Tim Pawlenty governor of Minnesota Dan Bartlett CBS political analyst, former counselor to President Bush Mitt Romney former governor of Massachusetts and former presidential candidate Steve Schmidt McCain campaign manager Lindsey Graham senator from South Carolina, McCain national campaign committee member

Ignoring Palin's video message, CBS reporter claimed McCain campaign "prove[d]" Palin has "no connection" to Alaskan Independence Party

On the September 2 edition of the CBS Evening News, discussing "reports" that Gov. Sarah Palin "participated in Alaska's Independence Party [AIP], which has called in the past for the state to secede from the union," CBS correspondent Nancy Cordes reported: "Today, the McCain campaign released her voter registration records to prove Palin is a lifelong Republican with no connection to the Independence Party." But Cordes did not note that Palin addressed the AIP's 2008 state convention in a video message in which she said the group "plays an important role in our state's politics," that she reportedly addressed the party's convention with a video message in 2006, or that the McCain campaign has acknowledged that Palin "visted" the AIP's 2000 convention. Further, in a September 2 post on his ABCNews.com Political Punch blog, ABC News senior national correspondent Jake Tapper reported that Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, "says that Palin's husband Todd was a member of the AIP from October 1995 through July 2002, except for a few months in 2000." According to its website, "The Alaskan Independence Party can be summed up in just two words: ALASKA FIRST!" [emphasis in the original]. The website further states that the party's "goal is the vote we were entitled to in 1958, one choice from among the following four alternatives: 1) Remain a Territory. 2) Become a separate and Independent Nation. 3) Accept Commonwealth status. 4) Become a State." The website asserts that "[t]he call for this vote is in furtherance of the dream of the Alaskan Independence Party's founding father, Joe Vogler." As TPM Media's Greg Sargent has noted, in a 1991 "interview that's now housed at the Oral History Program in the Rasmuson Library at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks," Vogler asserted: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. And I won't be buried under their damn flag. I'll be buried in Dawson. And when Alaska is an independent nation they can bring my bones home." In a video message to the AIP's 2008 state convention -- available on the party's website and highlighted on the website's front page -- Palin asserted that the AIP "plays an important role in our state's politics" and said she "share[s] your party's vision of upholding the constitution of our great state." Palin stated: I'm Governor Sarah Palin and I am delighted to welcome you to the 2008 Alaskan Independence Party Convention in the golden heart city of Fairbanks. Your party plays an important role in our state's politics. I've always said that competition is so good, and that applies to political parties as well. I share your party's vision of upholding the constitution of our great state. My administration remains focused on reining in government growth so individual liberty and opportunity can expand. I know you agree with that. We have a great promise to be a self-sufficient state, made up of the hardest-working, most grateful Americans in our nation. So as your convention gets under way I hope that you all are inspired by remembering that all those years ago, it was in this same city that Alaska's constitution was born. And it was founded on hope and trust and liberty and opportunity. I carry that message of opportunity forward in my administration, as we continue to move our state ahead and create positive change. So I say good luck on a successful and inspiring convention. Keep up the good work, and God bless you. Further, on the September 2 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer reported that Palin also "sen[t] a video to this party's convention in 2006." In a September 1 post on Political Punch, Tapper reported that McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers "says that Palin didn't attend the AIP convention in 1994, 'but she visited them when they had their convention in Wasilla in 2000 as a courtesy since she was mayor.' " From the September 2 edition of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric: CORDES: After yesterday's revelation that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, questions are flying about how much the McCain campaign knew about other issues like the probe into Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner, or reports that she participated in Alaska's Independence Party, which has called in the past for the state to secede from the union. MARK CHRYSON (former chairman, Alaskan Independence Party): All I know is she was at the convention in '94 with her husband and several hundred other people. CORDES: Today, a senior official close to the vetting process told CBS News those concerns are either unfounded or were dismissed during a long examination that started way back in May, when they began compiling dossiers on 21 possible picks. Palin's was 40 pages, single-spaced. Eventually that list of 21 shrank to just six. Palin and the other finalists were asked to provide even more personal data. Today, the McCain campaign released her voter registration records to prove Palin is a lifelong Republican with no connection to the Independence Party. And it blamed the Obama campaign for stirring the pot on all this, something that campaign strongly denies.

ABC's Sawyer did not challenge McCain spokesman's claim that "Democratic-leaning blogs" dictated timing of Palin pregnancy disclosure

During a discussion about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter Bristol's pregnancy on the September 2 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, co-host Diane Sawyer failed to challenge an assertion by Nicolle Wallace, a senior adviser to Sen. John McCain, that "the fervor with which the Democratic-leaning blogs and a few in the mainstream media pursued this, I think forced the Palin family, in an effort to knock down what were really lewd and outrageously false rumors, forced them maybe -- maybe ahead of a schedule that worked best for the family, to make this news yesterday about their daughter." Sawyer did not note that contrary to Wallace's statement that "Democratic-leaning blogs" "forced" the family to disclose Bristol's pregnancy "maybe ahead of a schedule that worked best" for them, according to The New York Times, the McCain campaign released the information about the pregnancy, along with other unflattering information about the Palin family, on Labor Day because that was when the media were focused on Hurricane Gustav and also because "the nation was busy with family and social activities." The Times quoted Tucker Eskew, a senior adviser to Palin, saying of the release of information about Palin on Labor Day: "We are going to flush the toilet." From the Times' September 2 article: Mr. McCain's campaign, which has shown itself adept at handling the news media, tried to influence coverage of the disclosure by releasing it as Hurricane Gustav was slamming into the Gulf Coast. (The Palin news was not mentioned on the "CBS Evening News" until 15 minutes into the newscast). It was also by every appearance tucked into a series of problematic tidbits released about Ms. Palin's past, including news that her husband, Todd, was arrested for driving while impaired in 1986. "We are going to flush the toilet," said Tucker Eskew, who is a senior adviser to Ms. Palin, describing the campaign's plans for Labor Day, when much of the nation was busy with family and social activities. From the September 2 edition of ABC's Good Morning America: SAWYER: As we know, everybody wants to protect the privacy of a family, but there are real campaign issues that have arisen. Let me ask you about the first one. Exactly when did Senator McCain learn about this pregnancy? WALLACE: Well, you know, I think in the vetting process, there are all sorts of rather excruciating intrusions into the personal lives of any politician that subjects themselves to that, so, the normal vetting process was under way, and obviously, this was disclosed by Governor Palin and her family. The thing that forced our hand in it is very unfortunate, is that the fervor with which the Democratic-leaning blogs and a few in the mainstream media pursued this, I think forced the Palin family, in an effort to knock down what were really lewd and outrageously false rumors, forced them maybe -- maybe ahead of a schedule that worked best for the family, to make this news yesterday about their daughter. SAWYER: But let me go back and try to ask you again: When did Senator McCain learn about it? WALLACE: Sure. SAWYER: Did he discuss it with her in that phone call that they had on the Sunday, or in the meeting that they had last week? WALLACE: You know, we're going to let some things stay private, and I don't happen to know the minute, hour, and day that they talked about Governor Palin's daughter being pregnant. But, you know, there -- SAWYER: But -- but they did talk about it? WALLACE: -- certainly wasn't -- it was certainly known, and it didn't give Senator McCain any pause.

Fox News' Garrett ignored McCain campaign attack ads on Obama during Gustav

During the September 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report, Fox News congressional correspondent Major Garrett stated that "[Sen.] Barack Obama made the decision not to attack [Sen. John] McCain and [President] Bush" and later claimed, "[J]ust a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, [Sen. Joe] Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav." But neither Garrett nor host Brit Hume noted that McCain ran attack ads that day or that a campaign spokesman reportedly attacked Obama, as the Obama campaign reportedly pointed out. Indeed, a search* of the TVEyes.com database for September 1 found that McCain's campaign and the Republican National Committee aired an ad approved by McCain on numerous broadcast stations that asserted, "Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans. ... They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead." Further, in a September 1 post on the Tribune Washington bureau blog The Swamp, Mark Silva reported that McCain campaign chief strategist Steve Schmidt said of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain's presumptive running mate, "She is, by any objective experience, more accomplished than Sen. Obama.... We'll stack up her accomplishments against his any day of the week... Governors run things." From the September 1 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Brit Hume: GARRETT: Barack Obama made the decision not to attack McCain and Bush just moments before hitting the stage here at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit, where the city's beloved jazz festival is still going on. And throughout the day, he has held to a "no politics" standard. The same, however, cannot be said for his running mate. Joe Biden eschewed politics this morning at a Labor Day rally in Pittsburgh, which he did not attend, and an economic roundtable. But just a few hours ago in his hometown of Scranton, surrounded by friends and family, Biden ripped into John McCain on energy, Iran, and Iraq, calling him wrong on all three. And the Republicans said that's a hard way for them to see how politics is being avoided in the light of Hurricane Gustav -- Brit. HUME: OK, Major. Thank you. Still ahead, what President Bush has done to make sure Hurricane Gustav does not become another Katrina. And it was once the most dangerous places in Iraq. Now a major turnaround is celebrated today in Anbar province. We'll tell you what happened there when we come back. From the 6 p.m. ET hour of the September 1 broadcast on CBS Detroit affiliate WWJ: ANNOUNCER: Take away the crowds, the chants -- all that's left are costly words. Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans, billions in new government spending, years of deficits, no balanced budgets, and painful tax increases on working American families. They're ready to tax, ready to spend -- but not ready to lead. McCAIN: I'm John McCain, and I approve this message. * Search terms in TVEyes.com: "I'm John McCain and I approve this message" for September 1.

Media continue to promote sexist notion that Biden must soften behavior during debate with Palin

Following Sen. John McCain's announcement of his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, Media Matters for America noted that on the August 29 edition of MSNBC Live, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell and NBC News political director Chuck Todd suggested that Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden bears the burden of having to adjust his behavior in a vice-presidential debate so as not to appear to be a "bully" with Palin. Others in the media have since echoed this sexist notion that Biden will have to soften his tone and manner in a debate against Palin, in contrast with the tougher tone he could take if the Republican vice-presidential nominee were male. For example: On the syndicated program The McLaughlin Group, conservative radio host and Fox News contributor Monica Crowley asserted that Palin has "got the sort of Hillary [Clinton] effect working in her favor, where Joe Biden cannot go in and bludgeon her to death because she is a woman. He's got to be very careful in how he handles her in a debate." Host John McLaughlin replied, "You mean his problems are greater than hers in a debate for those reasons alone -- that he's debating a woman?" An August 31 Chicago Sun-Times editorial asserted: "Until McCain chose Palin, Biden's debating skills ranked high as an asset. Now, he'll have to keep his cutting wit in check or he'll look more like a bully when he debates this suburban hockey mom with her own sharp elbows." In an August 31 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette column, columnist Jack Kelly asserted: "Mr. Obama picked Mr. Biden in part because of his reputed skill as a hatchet man. But if Mr. Biden comes on too hard in the vice presidential debate, he'll look like a bully. And Alaska is littered with the bodies of those who tried to bully Sarah Palin and failed." An August 30 editorial in The Buffalo News, asserted: "When the vice presidential candidates debate, Democrat Joe Biden will have to be careful not to come across as a bully. But he could well find a way to say to Sarah Palin, 'Governor, you're no Hillary Clinton.' " On the August 29 broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, CBS News political analyst and former Bush adviser Dan Bartlett said "Joe Biden's going to have to be very -- I wouldn't use the word delicate, but he's going to have to have a strategy as well to deal with somebody who is new to the scene like this. He can't be seen as a bully himself." Media Matters has noted that during MSNBC's April 26, 2007, coverage of the first Democratic primary debate, host Chris Matthews asserted that "[y]ou can't be aggressive against a woman candidate on stage, or you're in big trouble," and wondered how the male candidates would overcome such a challenge. Then-MSNBC host Tucker Carlson asked a Clinton campaign spokesman whether Clinton had an "unfair advantage ... because of her sex." From the August 31 edition of the syndicated program The McLaughlin Group: McLAUGHLIN: What about the Palin-Biden debate? What do you think's going to happen there? CROWLEY: It is going to be very interesting, because here she's got the sort of Hillary effect working in her favor, where Joe Biden cannot go in and bludgeon her to death because she is a woman. He's got to be very careful in how he handles her in a debate. McLAUGHLIN: You mean his problems are greater than hers in a debate for those reasons alone -- that he's debating a woman? [crosstalk] McLAUGHLIN: Next question: Does Sarah Palin give the Republican ticket more breadth than the Democratic ticket? [National Review editor] Rich Lowry? You wanna help on -- LOWRY: Yes -- McLAUGHLIN: -- can you help on this? LOWRY: -- more life experience and some executive experience. And this is an election where McCain has to take risks if he is going to win. Every risk has its potential downsides, but this was a good one to take. From an August 31 editorial in the Chicago Sun-Times: Palin's complete lack of national experience, though, could be used to draw a sharp contrast between her and [Sen. Barack] Obama's vice presidential pick, Sen. Joe Biden, who has been in Washington for decades. Until McCain chose Palin, Biden's debating skills ranked high as an asset. Now, he'll have to keep his cutting wit in check or he'll look more like a bully when he debates this suburban hockey mom with her own sharp elbows. Palin is a true outsider who shook up the old boy network in her scandal-plagued state and uncovered ethical misconduct. From Kelly's August 31 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette column, headlined "McCain's masterstroke: If I were Joe Biden, I'd be worried about Sarah Palin": Whether this is a brilliant choice or a bad risk will depend on how Ms. Palin performs on the campaign trail. But if I were Joe Biden, I'd be worried. A former journalist, Sarah Palin is careful about what she says and says it well, qualities for which Mr. Biden is not reknowned. Mr. Obama picked Mr. Biden in part because of his reputed skill as a hatchet man. But if Mr. Biden comes on too hard in the vice presidential debate, he'll look like a bully. And Alaska is littered with the bodies of those who tried to bully Sarah Palin and failed. From an August 30 editorial in The Buffalo News, headlined "McCain's unlikely choice: Selection of Palin could alienate women but appeal to conservatives": Palin stands firmly on the pro-development side of the western political divide. Her husband works in the oil fields, and she is among those who most strongly favors drilling for oil in the Alaska [sic] National Wildlife Refuge and opposes listing the polar bear as an endangered species. Whether those are stands that will attract the votes of women is questionable. When the vice presidential candidates debate, Democrat Joe Biden will have to be careful not to come across as a bully. But he could well find a way to say to Sarah Palin, "Governor, you're no Hillary Clinton." From the August 29 broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric: KATIE COURIC (anchor): Back now from St. Paul. Dan Bartlett is a Republican strategist and a CBS News consultant. Dan, I'm curious. What are your Republican friends saying about this choice? BARTLETT: Well, the people I've talked to are both excited and a bit anxious, Katie. This is a real, you know, bolt out of the blue, as Bob Schieffer [host of CBS' Face the Nation] was saying earlier in the broadcast. This was vintage McCain. So, in some respects, we probably shouldn't have been surprised. They like the profile, they like the story and narrative, but you're going up against a real pro in Joe Biden, and I think there's some reluctance or anxiety as to whether she can step up to the plate. We'll see very soon. COURIC: And in fact, a McCain official I spoke to this afternoon, Dan, said that they had -- they conceded they have a lot of work to do when it comes to these upcoming debates, and -- especially because they're going to be opposing two good talkers. How concerned would you be if you were on the McCain campaign and you had to prep Sarah Palin to debate Joe Biden, particularly on foreign policy? BARTLETT: Sure. As somebody who participated in 2000 with President Bush when he first went through this debate process, it was a steep learning curve there, and he was much more exposed. So there's no doubt about it. They're going to have to do a lot of homework, crash course. But at the same time, Joe Biden's going to have to be very -- I wouldn't use the word delicate, but he's going to have to have a strategy as well to deal with somebody who is new to the scene like this. He can't be seen as a bully himself. So both sides will have challenges, Katie, but they're gonna work hard at it. COURIC: All right. Dan Bartlett. Dan, thanks.