(4th) Occasional U.S. news media round-up on presidential race
In their own words
Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain both gave interviews in July that the respective publications published verbatim in a Q&A format.
- John McCain spoke to New York Times reporters here (“The Times Interviews John McCain” with Adam Nagourney and Michael Cooper, July 13, 2008).
- Barack Obama spoke to a reporter for The Jerusalem Post in Israel on July 24 here (“Obama on Iran, Syria, and Jerusalem” by David Horovitz, July 26, 2008).
Wars and winners
But no one really wins a war, according to WW II veteran, historian and Boston University Professor Howard Zinn, who wrote an Op-Ed for the Boston Globe recently scolding Obama and McCain for fueling their campaigns with way too much war talk. (“Memo to Obama, McCain: No one wins in a war” July 17, 2008).
Some polls more interesting than others…
An AP-Yahoo News poll has been tracking the responses of the same 2000 people since last November in surveys focused on measuring how they feel about what’s happening in politics, according to the news outlets. A recent finding: one candidate (guess who?) is generating more loyalty and enthusiasm from his supporters than the other (“Poll: McCain’s backers less fired up than Obama’s” by Alan Fram, AP, July 2008).
And some fall prey to the whims of editors
Who knows why, but editors at two major news outlets in the U.S. manipulated the reporting of a recent poll they conducted “withholding from their first release results favorable to Sen. Barack Obama,” according to the watchdog organization Media Matters (“ABC News/Wash. Post withheld results of poll favorable to Obama” July 17, 2008).
Did they really think we wouldn’t find out? And I wonder, Still I wonder — … (lyrics here):
Fascinating peek back in time
Want to hear what Obama had to say before he was the Presidential candidate he is today? For Obama-watchers, it may be intriguing to read this in-depth interview he gave to Men’s Vogue way back in 2006 (“The Path to Power” by Jacob Weisberg, Sept 2006).
Countdowns…
Days until the 2008 Democratic National Convention — 24. Days until the Republican National Convention — 30.
(See here for previous round-up)
