Gov. Sarah Palin continues to dominate the national media's coverage of politics, which is focusing on her effect on Republicans and Democrats alike. In that context, Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden appeared on the Sunday shows yesterday, and ABC World News says "what became pretty clear is that the Democrats still have not settled on a strategy for responding to Palin." ABC added, "At this point, the Obama campaign is trying to get the focus off Sarah Palin, and back onto John McCain, and the present occupant of the White House" and will "aim its heaviest artillery at" McCain while "waiting and hoping that Sarah Palin makes a mistake."
The Politico reports Obama, on ABC's This Week, called Palin "a 'skilled politician,' but said she was ideologically aligned with the Bush administration." Obama said, "He chose someone who may be even more aligned with George Bush or Dick Cheney, or the politics we've seen over the last eight years than John McCain himself is." The Hill reported on its website that Obama "avoided any harsh criticism of" Palin, "but he seemed to indicate that he views the pick as largely political."
Biden, on NBC's Meet the Press, said Palin is "a smart, tough politician, and so I, I think she's going to be very formidable. But you know, eventually she's going to have to sit in front of you like I'm doing and have done. Eventually she's going to have to answer questions and not be sequestered. Eventually she's going to have to answer questions about her record."
Obama campaign chief strategist David Axelrod was asked on Fox News Sunday if Obama "really believe[s] that he has more executive experience than Gov. Palin." Axelrod declined to answer the question directly, but maintained that "we'll let the voters sort through the experience issue...because we don't really know...as much as you should about her...because she was basically an unknown."
McCain Praises Palin's Record Sen. McCain, on CBS's Face the Nation, said, "This is the most popular governor in America. She has a clear record of doing what Americans want first and uppermost, reform. ... What we want is change in Washington. Who better in the political landscape could do that than Governor Sarah Palin, whose whole life has been engaged in that, taking them on and winning. I've taken them on and won less than she has." Bloomberg News adds that McCain "said Palin's outlook and political experience as the governor of Alaska and a former small-town mayor 'not only qualifies her, but brings to Washington a kind of an energy and a fresh wind.'"
On its front page, the Washington Post reports from Norfolk, VA, that Gov. Sarah Palin's "debut has invigorated the Republican base here in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia, a battleground area in a top swing state, and one where GOP turnout depends heavily" on evangelical Christians. The "reaction has been remarkably instantaneous, with socially conservative voters who had barely heard of Palin electrified by the few facts they quickly learned." The Washington Times reports that among conservatives, Palin "has single-handedly swayed fence-sitters into the ticket's camp, drawing women, abortion-rights opponents, gun enthusiasts and moderate independents who find" Obama "too liberal." U.S. News and World Report adds that Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, "says Palin has become extremely popular with key segments of the GOP base."
Meanwhile, in a story headlined "John McCain has found a muse in Sarah Palin," the Los Angeles Times suggests that John McCain himself may be changed by campaigning with Palin, saying she "has loosened up McCain on the stump and banished the staid image of the dignified elder statesman. He is a feistier candidate with Palin at his side. ... Aides acknowledge that Palin's presence has turned McCain into a sharper campaigner." The Times notes that McCain, "who once struggled to match the ability of" Obama "to draw large crowds, is now being flocked by throngs of supporters."
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The Washington Post notes this morning that Sarah Palin "was the only member of the major parties' presidential tickets not to appear on a network talk show yesterday. Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, said on 'Fox News Sunday' that she would not put herself before a 'cycle of piranhas called the news media' until reporters started to treat her 'with some level of respect and deference.'" However, she appears set to sit down with one news outlet. ABC World News reported, "ABC News can confirm that Governor Sarah Palin will grant her first major interview since becoming John McCain's running mate to ABC's Charlie Gibson later this week." The AP says the interview "is a coup for Gibson, who also had the only sit-down with McCain during the Republican National Convention. During that interview, he did not question McCain about Palin's family, a decision that he fretted about for hours, Gibson said in a Web log posted last week."
Media Columnists See Palin As Turning The Table On Press In his "Media Notes" column for the Washington Post, Howard Kurtz writes, "From the moment Sarah Palin stepped onto the national stage, she was mauled, minimized and manhandled by an openly skeptical media establishment." Kurtz adds "the media's tattered reputation has not fared as well, not after the frenzy over Palin's mothering skills, her baby and her pregnant teenage daughter," and "the uproar handed John McCain's team an opening to declare war on the press."
In a 'The Media Equation' column in the New York Times, David Carr discusses Palin's targeting of the media in her speech, saying, "When she was announced as John McCain's running mate, I told my wife that the governor had no idea what was about to hit her." After her speech, "I realized the reverse was precisely true as well. She was a huge hit in the room and beyond." In a post on the 'Political Perceptions' blog on the website of the Wall Street Journal, Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, adds that the GOP "is hoping to capitalize on resentment of those news media elites, particularly in the heartland."
NYT: "Some" Criticize Palin For Using Downs Child For Political Gain. Meanwhile, some critical stories about Palin continue to surface. For example, under the headline "Fusing Politics And Motherhood In New Way," the New York Times reports on its front page on Trig Paxson Van Palin, who was born with Downs syndrome. The Times says, "No one has ever tried to combine presidential politics and motherhood in quite the way Ms. Palin is doing, and it is no simple task. In the last week, the criticism she feared in Alaska has exploded into a national debate. On blogs and at PTA meetings, voters alternately cheer and fault her balancing act, and although many are thrilled to see a child with special needs in the spotlight, some accuse her of exploiting Trig for political gain."
USA Today reports this morning that the GOP convention has given John McCain and Sarah Palin "a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an 'enthusiasm gap' that has dogged the GOP all year." McCain now "leads Democrat Barack Obama by 50%-46% among registered voters, the Republican's biggest advantage since January and a turnaround from the USA TODAY poll taken just before the convention opened in St. Paul. Then, he lagged by 7 percentage points." But "in the new poll, taken Friday through Sunday, McCain leads Obama by 54%-44% among those seen as most likely to vote." The survey polled 1,022 adults, including 959 registered voters. Another USA Today piece notes the Obama camp "downplays the importance of an individual poll, especially a national one."
McCain Also Leads Zogby Survey, Gallup Tracking Poll; Rasmussen Tied A Zogby Interactive online poll of 2,312 likely voters taken September 5-6 shows McCain leading Obama 50%-46%.
The Gallup daily presidential tracking poll shows McCain leading Obama 48%-45%. The poll surveyed 2,765 registered voters from September 4-6. As recently as last Tuesday, Obama held an 8 point lead in the survey.
The Rasmussen Reports daily presidential tracking poll for September 7 shows McCain and Obama tied at 47%, and tied at 48% including leaners. The poll was conducted September 4-6.
The AP reports Barack Obama, on ABC's This Week yesterday, "says he would delay rescinding President Bush's tax cuts on wealthy Americans if he becomes the next president and the economy is in a recession, suggesting such an increase would further hurt the economy." However, Obama "has no plans to extend the Bush tax cuts beyond their expiration date, as Republican John McCain advocates." On ABC's This Week, Obama also said John McCain was distorting his tax plans, saying, the GOP nominee has "been peddling this story about me increasing taxes when every independent analyst said my tax cuts provide three times the amount of tax relief to the middle class families than do John McCain's."
The New York Times reports Joe Biden "departed Sunday from party doctrine on abortion rights," saying in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press that, as a Catholic, he thinks like begins at conception. Asked about when life begins, Biden said, "I know when it begins for me. It's a personal and private issue. For me, as a Roman Catholic, I'm prepared to accept the teachings of my church. ... This is a matter between a person's God, however they believe in God, their doctor and themselves."
The Washington Times reports Barack Obama's "foes seized Sunday upon a brief slip of the tongue, when the Democratic presidential nominee was outlining his Christianity but accidentally said, 'my Muslim faith.'" The "three words -- immediately corrected -- were during an exchange with ABC's George Stephanopoulos on 'This Week,' when he was trying to criticize the quiet smear campaign suggesting he is a Muslim." But "illustrating the difficulty of preventing false rumors about his faith from spreading, anti-Obama groups within one hour of the interview had sliced it out of context and were sending it around via email. They also were blogging about it." Obama, who "is a Christian and often proudly speaks about how his faith has influenced his public service, said he finds it 'deeply offensive' that there are efforts 'coming out of the Republican camp to suggest that perhaps I'm not who I say I am when it comes to my faith.'"
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In what media reports are describing as a historic step, the federal government yesterday took over mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Most stories and analyses tend to portray the move which earned the backing of both Barack Obama and John McCain as inevitable, even if it carries some potential risks. The Wall Street Journal reports, "The sweeping government intervention stemmed from a growing realization by Treasury and Federal Reserve officials that the two companies couldn't survive in their present forms, and that any collapse would be devastating to the economy." On its front page, the Los Angeles Times says the government's move was "aimed at...arresting a plunge in housing prices that endangers the nation's economy." The Washington Post profiles the new GSE chiefs in a story titled "Veteran Financiers To Head Fannie, Freddie."
The New York Times calls the move "a seismic event in a year of repeated financial crises followed by aggressive federal intervention," and "an extraordinary federal intervention in private enterprise." USA Today notes the Mortgage Bankers Association "reported Friday that more than 4 million homeowners, or 9% of those with mortgages, were delinquent by at least one payment or in foreclosure at the end of June. It's the highest rate ever, the MBA says."
The Washington Post reports Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has now "taken responsibility for assuring that low-interest loans will continue to flow into the country's hard-hit housing markets. Not since the early days of the Roosevelt administration, at the depth of the Great Depression, has the government taken such a direct role in the workings of the financial system."
The Financial Times reports, "While the Bush administration stopped short of using the word 'nationalisation', analysts said the moves amounted to a de facto government control." The Financial Times reports the plan received support from the McCain and Obama campaigns, "yet neither is campaigning on the basis of a concrete plan for pulling the US out of its economic hole. Mr Obama has so far approached the crisis more as a symbol of the failures of Republican rule and the struggles of the middle class than as a discrete problem that demands specific remedies."
In a front-page analysis, the Washington Post says an aide to McCain said that the GOP presidential candidate "wants the firms downsized or simply closed," which an aide for the Obama campaign called "ideological and simplistic." The Obama campaign said the status quo is "untenable," but they haven't taken a position on the ultimate form of the companies."
NBC Nightly News reported the government bailout "not only rights the ship, it could make buying and selling a home a whole lot easier."
Bob Woodward is stirring controversy in his new book, "The War Within" available in bookstores today which discloses the divisions within the US government over the war in Iraq. In an excerpt run in the Washington Post on Monday, Woodward tracks the genesis of the Iraq surge, which was opposed by top military officers. A "rift had been growing between the country's military and civilian leadership, and in several" Joint Chiefs of Staff meetings "that November, the chiefs' frustrations burst into the open. They had all but dismissed the surge option, worried that the armed forces were already stretched to the breaking point. They favored a renewed effort to train and build up the Iraqi security forces so that U.S. troops could begin to leave." But the brass "found themselves badly out of sync with the White House in the fall of 2006, finally losing control of the war strategy altogether after the midterm elections."
Woodward's book is also generating headlines for his coverage of the factors that contributed to the decline of violence in Iraq. While he attributes some of the decrease in violence to the surge itself, in a second Washington Post story, Woodward cites at "least three other factors were as important as, or even more important than, the surge. These factors either have not been reported publicly or have received less attention than the influx of troops." The factors include "a series of top-secret operations that enabled them to locate, target and kill key individuals in groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq, the Sunni insurgency and renegade Shia militias, or so-called special groups," the "so-called Anbar Awakening," and Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's order to "his powerful Mahdi Army to suspend operations, including attacks against U.S. troops."
White House Plays Defense The Politico, meanwhile, reported on Friday that the White House "released an unusual 700-word statement Friday evening that charges author Bob Woodward with distorting the effectiveness of the Iraq 'surge' policy in his new book." The statement is "extremely surprising because it was issued by National Security Adviser Stephen J. Hadley, who shepherded Woodward's interaction with the West Wing and encouraged top administration officials to grant interviews to the celebrity investigator." The AP also reported that the White House "disputed an assertion...that President Bush was slow to react to escalating attacks in Iraq, forcefully arguing that Bush's military buildup was responsible for a sharp drop in the violence." The Washington Post added that Hadley contended that the book "is wrong to say an increase in US troops in Iraq, beginning in early 2007, was not the primary reason violence has dropped in that country."
The Bush Administration is seeking to defuse tensions generated by Woodward's claim that the US is spying on Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. ABC World News reported that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "said the US relationship with Iraq is open and transparent. 'The War Within' isn't as tough on President Bush as Woodward's previous book. Even so, he writes Bush 'rarely was the voice of realism on the Iraq war' and 'too often failed to lead' at a time when violence in Iraq was at an all-time high." The AP adds that Rice "did not directly confront the assertion."
U.S. News and World Report reports despite "heavy pressure from Republicans throughout the August recess, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California isn't budging from her refusal to allow an up-or-down vote on additional domestic drilling. Aides say Pelosi is assembling comprehensive legislation and choosing from a menu of options. Possibilities include releasing a small portion of oil from the 700-million barrel national stockpile known as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; expanding drilling in parts of Alaska where it already is permitted; requiring major oil companies to invest billions in clean energy sources; and opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling." Roll Call reports a "bipartisan group of Senate lawmakers will meet this week to map out a strategy for pushing forward a comprehensive energy agreement in the waning days of the 110th Congress, despite a lukewarm reception for the deal from GOP leaders and an increasingly partisan election-year atmosphere."
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Jay Leno: "Hey, did you all see John McCain last night? He gave a great speech. And you've got to admit, he looked so life-like, didn't he?"
Jay Leno: "As you know, several times, McCain talked about serving his country in Vietnam, which is a nice change after 16 years and two presidents who could never quite explain how they got out of serving their country in Vietnam."
Jay Leno: "Actually," some "Republicans are not that thrilled with the speech. In fact, the rumor is Sarah Palin is thinking of dropping him from the ticket."
Jay Leno: "You know, when Governor Palin was giving her speech the other night," the "teleprompter broke and she had to keep going from memory." That "happened to Joe Biden once," but "with him, he talked so long, the teleprompter" shot "itself."
Jay Leno: "Well, here's a little known fact from the Republican convention. This is kind of interesting. You know the confetti they dropped at the end?" That "was made from the actual Constitution of the United States."
Conan O'Brien: "During John McCain's speech last night, an anti-Republican heckler began yelling at him. Yeah. Officials removed the man and immediately gave him a job at MSNBC."
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