{"id":15222,"date":"2008-04-15T15:20:57","date_gmt":"2008-04-15T19:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com\/archives\/15222.html"},"modified":"2008-04-15T15:20:57","modified_gmt":"2008-04-15T19:20:57","slug":"mccain-gets-donuts-obama-gets-likened-to-a-terrorist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/mccain-gets-donuts-obama-gets-likened-to-a-terrorist\/","title":{"rendered":"McCain gets donuts; Obama gets likened to a terrorist"},"content":{"rendered":"

I know I mentioned<\/a> this yesterday, but it’s still bugging me, and Dana Milbank’s piece<\/a> on the subject helped drive the point home nicely — the national media establishment isn’t just McCain’s base, it’s a role the media seems anxious to solidify.<\/p>\n

Appearing before the nation’s newspaper editors yesterday, AP Chairman Dean Singleton pressed Barack Obama on whether he would send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, where “Obama bin Laden is still at large?” McCain’s treatment was slightly different<\/a>.<\/p>\n

McCain’s moderators, the AP’s Ron Fournier and Liz Sidoti, greeted McCain with a box of Dunkin’ Donuts. “We spend quite a bit of time with you on the back of the Straight Talk Express asking you questions, and what we’ve decided to do today was invite everyone else along on the ride,” Sidoti explained. “We even brought you your favorite treat.”<\/p>\n

McCain opened the offering. “Oh, yes, with sprinkles!” he said.<\/p>\n

Sidoti passed him a cup. “A little coffee with a little cream and a little sugar,” she said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is neither a joke nor an exaggeration. ThinkProgress even has a video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, in March, McCain gives political reporters free barbecue, and in April, the nation’s leading newspaper editors give McCain free donuts (with sprinkles!) and coffee.<\/p>\n

Remind me again why some people are under the impression that the media is going easy on Obama?
\n
\nRumor has it that both McCain and Obama are “media darlings,” but consider the difference yesterday.<\/p>\n

Singleton, Obama’s moderator, pointed out that a new poll showed the Democrat had lost the 10-point lead over McCain that he had in February. “The fact that our contest is still going on means that John McCain comes in here, and he’s feeling pretty good,” Obama answered. “He can be a little more deliberate and pace himself. And that probably explains the close in the polls.”<\/p>\n

McCain was indeed in high spirits as he entered the ballroom and invited the editors’ “questions, comments or insults.” Reading from a teleprompter, McCain said he was among friends. “I made a decision to be as accessible to the press as the press would prefer me to be, and perhaps even more than they would prefer.” Accepting the doughnuts, McCain had a gift for the editors, too — his support for a law shielding reporters from identifying their sources.<\/p>\n

This left everybody in a good mood for the criticism of Obama that McCain tacked on the end of his speech. Americans don’t “turn to their religious faith and cultural traditions out of resentment,” he said. The candidate then took a seat with the two AP reporters and crossed his legs casually for the questions. Asked about his advanced age, he pretended to nod off in his chair. “Watch me campaign,” he challenged. “Come on the bus again, my friends, all of you.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When McCain was done, the newspaper editors showered him with a standing ovation. Obama was given polite applause, but the editors did not get out of their seats.<\/p>\n

Just sayin’.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I know I mentioned this yesterday, but it’s still bugging me, and Dana Milbank’s piece on the subject helped drive the point home nicely — the national media establishment isn’t just McCain’s base, it’s a role the media seems anxious to solidify. Appearing before the nation’s newspaper editors yesterday, AP Chairman Dean Singleton pressed Barack […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15222","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15222\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stevebenen.com\/thecarpetbaggerreport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}