Anderson@Large

Arrogant American Idol?

It’s getting nasty out there. John McCain is using Barack Obama’s rock star status against him.

In a new ad, McCain portrays Obama, who was featured on a recent cover of People magazine, as a not-ready-for-primetime celebrity.

McCain hopes to define Obama as uppity “arrogant.” The New York Times reports:

Although Mr. Obama has been under an intense public spotlight for the last year, he is still relatively new on the national scene, and polls indicate that for all the enthusiasm he has generated among his supporters, many voters still have questions about him, providing Republicans an opening to shape his image in critical groups like white working-class voters between now and Election Day.

Left unsaid, linking Obama with young white women, albeit two skanky celebutards, subliminally evokes racial stereotypes of black men lusting after white women.

The Obama is arrogant meme is gaining traction in the MSM. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank wrote:

Barack Obama has long been his party's presumptive nominee. Now he's becoming its presumptuous nominee…

As he marches toward Inauguration Day (Election Day is but a milestone on that path), Obama's biggest challenger may not be Republican John McCain but rather his own hubris.

Obama is also catching flak for rapper Ludacris’ newly released song, “Politics (Obama is Here),” on which he calls Hillary Clinton “irrelevant” and the b-word.

In an email, WomenCount wrote:

It is another example of hateful, sexist language being used on the campaign trail, and now is our moment to make it clear: not on our watch! The leadership of both parties must step up to condemn such hateful speech and demand apologies. The Obama campaign has criticized the lyrics, but we call on the presumptive party nominee, who is the celebrated subject of the new song, to go even further: It is not enough to condemn the song, we are calling on our presumptive Democratic Nominee to call on the artist and the label to pull the song and make a public apology. Now.

Luda, the bus is here.

Obama's Female Problem

Stop the presses! A new Rasmussen report shows that more Americans think that racism is a bigger problem than sexism. Ya think?

Rasmussen found:

CBS News’ beleaguered anchor Katie Couric says sexism is more common and more acceptable in society than racism, but voters do not agree.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 36% believe African-Americans face more discrimination, while only 28% say it’s worse for women. Thirty-six percent (36%) are not sure.

Hillary Clinton supporters agree with Couric. They think Clinton was manhandled by the mainstream media and Democratic Party leaders. In a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, UC Berkeley Prof. Robin Lakoff wrote:

While I and many other women in my demographic (older, professional, liberal) are likely to vote for Obama in November, our feelings about his party (and ours) are not so clear. We remember the perpetual misogyny and sexism of the media during the primary campaign - misogyny aimed less at Hillary Rodham Clinton herself than at "uppity women" (like ourselves) in general. And many of us feel that the Democratic Party is even more to blame than the media.

Indeed, WomenCount wants to "stop the silence." Clinton supporters were encouraged to crash the listening meetings for the "Democratic Platform for Change" that were held around the country. They want the National Platform, which will be adopted in Denver, to deal with sexism and include the following plank:

Our Party is committed to achieving gender equality in all aspects of American life. Therefore, we will not tolerate sexism targeted against our candidates or their spouses in the media or anywhere else in the political arena.

We acknowledge that the 2008 Democratic primary election exposed pervasive gender bias in the media during the campaign. From now on, when we see examples of this behavior, our Party leadership will take immediate and public steps to condemn it.

By doing so, we will establish that our Party recognizes that gender bias is a violation of Civil Rights and that men and women should be treated equally in the media and in all facets of our society.

In the meantime, some of Clinton’s die-hard supporters, members of P.U.M.A., say, "No deal." They refuse to walk the plank. Instead, they will meet in D.C. next week to plot strategy for Denver.

Their message to Obama and party leaders: I am a cougar woman, hear me roar.

Countdown to Election Day

In 99 days, the interminable 2008 presidential campaign will come to an end. On Nov. 4, voters will go to the polls and cast their ballot away from the prying eyes of Gallup, Rasmussen, Quinnipiac and other pollsters.

Barack Obama still has to decide on a running mate. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he told moderator Tom Brokaw:

I'm going to want somebody with integrity; I'm going to want somebody with independence, who's willing to tell me where he thinks or she thinks I'm wrong; and I'm, I'm going to want somebody who shares a vision of the country where we need to go, that we've got to fundamentally change not only our policies, but how our politics works, how business is done in Washington.  And I think that there are a number of great candidates out there.

If the National Enquirer is to be believed, that number has been reduced by one. John Edwards may have 99 problems and a baby-mama allegedly is one of them.

But Obama has two immediate problems. First, the latest USA Today/Gallup poll shows John McCain has opened up a four-point lead among likely voters, 49 percent to Obama’s 45 percent. A month ago, McCain trailed Obama by six points.

Second, his “Berlin bounce” is now as flat as a German potato pancake and may have energized Republican voters. More problematic, in a political environment that favors Democrats, Obama has yet to break 50 percent in national polls.

Democratic pollster Peter Hart told the New York Times:

Here’s a 46-year-old African American with a narrative that is very unusual and that few other Americans can relate to. Add to that the fact that he has had four years in the United States Senate and very little international experience. That’s a large leap for the American public to make.

Well, it is a leap year.

Minority Journalists' Objectivity Questioned

Fresh off his whirlwind tour of the Middle East and Europe, Barack Obama appeared before UNITY ’08, the quadrennial gathering of minority journalists.

In advance of his appearance, the Associated Press  asked, “Can minority journalists resist applauding Obama?” The AP reporter wrote:

In addition to race, the issue boils down to questions of human emotion, empathy versus ethics, and whether a group that has experienced its own share of prejudice can resist responding to Obama's powerful oratory and potent symbolism.

Has the AP questioned the ethics or objectivity of NBC correspondent Lee Cowan who was caught on tape gushing about Obama, the “rock star?”

Or Chris Matthews who famously emoted:

I have to tell you, you know, it's part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often.

My fellow Trotterite Les Payne observed:

African American reporters should be mindful that they are not lapdogs. They should be watchdogs.

Les dismissed the notion that black journalists cannot cover Obama objectively:

They make this charge without support.

I was credentialed to cover the Newspaper Association of America and the American Society of Newspaper Editors’ annual convention. Obama was given a standing ovation during his appearance before the AP’s annual luncheon. At the time, I wrote:

Obama’s prepared remarks were followed by a Q&A session. He was lucky no plucky citizen journalist was allowed to ask a question. It was, after all, a blogger, Mayhill Fowler, who broke “Bittergate.”

Instead, the questions were “gathered earlier this morning” from the newspaper executives and editors in attendance. They included mostly softballs and one, um, zinger: Tell us why your supporters love you (h/t: Laurie White).

I missed John McCain who addressed the group a few hours earlier. Laurie told me that unlike Obama’s pre-screened questions, folks lined up at a microphone and fired away at McCain.

It speaks volumes about the state of the mainstream media that a question about the meaning of Obamamania was asked, but AP Chairman Dean Singleton announced they were running out of time so they will avoid the “bitter question.”

BTW, it was tough love for McCain. He also received a standing ovation and joked with his former “base” as he fielded questions.

Obama Abroad

I was tied up in meetings yesterday so I missed live coverage of Barack Obama's speech in Berlin. But the stories could have been written before he uttered a single word: Obama had them from Guten Tag. Loosely translated, I am not George W. Bush.

While Obama wowed them in Berlin, his fellow countrymen are more sanguine.  According to a Rasmussen poll, 63 percent of Americans do not think his world tour makes him more qualified to be president.

A Fox News poll found the media coverage has not translated into an uptick in support for Obama. Still, Obama must be given props for his picture-perfect campaign stagecraft.

The latest Quinnipiac poll show John McCain is closing in on him in four battleground states, Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Los Angeles Times reports, Obama’s path to the White House is “far from clear”:

Even as his turn on the global stage hit an emotional peak Thursday with a speech before a cheering crowd of more than 200,000 in Germany, Barack Obama faced new evidence of stubborn election challenges back home.

Fresh polls show that he has been unable to convert weeks of extensive media coverage into a widened lead. And some prominent Democrats whose support could boost his campaign are still not enthusiastic about his candidacy.

Several new surveys show that Obama is in a tight race or even losing ground to Republican John McCain, both nationally and in two important swing states, Colorado and Minnesota. One new poll offered a possible explanation for his troubles: A minority of voters see Obama as a familiar figure with whom they can identify.

The rock star treatment in Europe and a fawning media may be undermining Obama’s efforts to connect with white working-class voters who remain skeptical that he shares their values.

MSM's Summer of Love

Barack Obama’s entrance on the international stage is receiving wall-to-wall coverage by the big three television networks. Their news anchors and correspondents are hanging on his every word.

John McCain accuses the mainstream media of having a “bizarre fascination” with Obama. McCain is jealous that his former beau “base” has traded him in for a trophy presidential candidate.

A recent Rasmussen poll found that 49 percent of “unaffiliated” – independent – voters think the MSM is trying to help Obama win the election. So, independent voters will take with a grain of salt the boffo reviews of his world tour.

The networks’ shrinking audience is comprised of viewers whose average age is 50. They are not likely to be swept off their feet by campaign stagecraft or a media spectacle. Indeed, Gallup reports:

Barack Obama maintains a modest 46% to 42% lead over John McCain among registered voters nationally in Gallup Poll Daily tracking, with no sign yet of a significant “bounce” from Obama's high-visibility world tour.

The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll also found no change in Obama’s lead over McCain.

The MSM may be giving Obama some outside help that he really doesn’t need.

Black in America

CNN’s special report, "Black in America," an 18-month investigation about what it is like to be black in America premieres tonight.

Well, for starters, nearly 400 years after the first African slaves landed at Jamestown, black Americans are still viewed as outsiders – the "other" – to be marveled, probed and examined.

It strikes me as odd that CNN spent so much time "investigating" black folks. To be investigated suggests illegality, wrongdoing, pathology. Investigative journalists typically focus on government waste, political corruption or subprime crimes.

Perhaps I didn't get the memo, but is being black in America a crime? If not, why were we investigated?

A CNN PR person emailed me the link to the trailer.

For now, I will withhold judgment on this "groundbreaking investigation," but I am not holding out much hope.

Indeed, a recent study of black Americans sponsored by Radio One found that only 29 percent of blacks believe the mainstream media portray them in a positive light. And that was before the New Yorker cover.

The documentary airs tonight and tomorrow at 9 pm ET. For more info, please go here.