McCain protests NBC coverage; Objects to Andrea Mitchell's question on Faith Forum "heads-up"

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Politico

McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis asked Sunday for a meeting with Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, to protest what the campaign called signs that the network is "abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race." Davis made the request Sunday in a letter that is part of an aggressive effort by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to counter news coverage he considers critical.

In this case, the campaign is objecting to a statement by NBC's Andrea Mitchell on "Meet the Press" questioning whether McCain might have gotten a heads-up on some of the questions that were asked of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), who was the first candidate to be interviewed Saturday night by Pastor Rick Warren at a presidential forum on faith.

Warren told the audience that McCain was being held in "a cone of silence" so he wouldn't hear the questions, which were similar for both candidates. Warren referred again to "the cone of silence" when McCain came onstage, and the senator joked: "I was trying to hear through the wall."

Mitchell reported that some "Obama people" were suggesting "that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well prepared." A McCain aide said that is not the case: "Senator McCain was in a motorcade led by the United States Secret Service and held in a green room with no broadcast feed."...

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12594.html

[roody]

1. Was the show on the radio?

[FrenchieCat]

4. On Xm radio....certainly!

[PatSeg]

7. Is doesn't matter

Someone could have been watching it on TV and been on the phone with the motorcade, feeding McCain the questions and Obama's answers.

[elocs]

22. This is far too simple of an answer for many here, but it is very plausible.

In other threads about this I have seen Rick Warren branded a liar based upon the "suggestion" that McCain may have known the answers. Based upon this suggestion I have then read posters here claim that it "proves" that Warren is a liar, but that's not good enough as it had to be added that Warren is also accused of being a pedophile (with absolutely no link or anything to back up that kind of accusation) and then others go on about how preachers are liars. All of this based upon a suggestion. That's quite a leap. Why not wait until there actually is proof of exactly what happened?

[atreides1]

25. Wait For What?

We know that the McCain campaign is more then capable of lying, and I'm willing to give Rick Warren the benefit of the doubt in that he wassn't aware that McCain hadn't arrived!

Does this make Warren a liar, no, but does make him look like a dope who was fooled!

[elocs]

29. Is there any actual proof of this or only suggestion and suspicion?

Simple question. People are free to speculate all they like.

[specterderrida]

36. yes, and Andrea will speculate about Obama also.

[Doctor_J]

42. Yes. Warren said "McSame has been safely placed in a cone of silence"

he then said that McSame was on his way from the hotel while Obama was speaking. That's a lie. Period.

[elocs]

43. Just to be clear--is there any proof that McCain listened or knew the questions beforehand?

We can suspect and speculate all we like, and usually do. I suspect this will keep DUers busy for at least the next few days.

[Doctor_J]

44. He was with his handlers. I don't really see any of them confessing to yet another cheat

So no.

[zanne]

57. Obama has been smeared with no proof at all.

For you to ask for "proof" of what could only happen in a McCain motorcade, inside a vehicle, is a little disingenuous.

[goclark]

50. Would Obama have been in the "cone" if he spoke second

?

I don't get it.

If they were having a debate they would hear each others answers.

Is it that Obama didn't know the questions ahead of time and that was the deal?

[PatSeg]

37. I was a bit shocked

at the overreaction against Warren, when it is probable that McCain managed to pull this off without any help from the preacher. I've always been impressed with Rick Warren and sincerely hope he had nothing to do with this. He is one of the few celebrity preachers I can stomach.

[bobd0]

55. The words "celebrity" and "preacher" are mutually exclusive, IMO

And not only in my opinion, if I understand these words correctly:

Mark 6

7 And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;

8 And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:

9 But be shod with sandals; and not put on two coats.

One more point, I wonder how it is that McCain and his campaign staff, with their oft stated disdain for "celebrity", manage to accept the celebrity of "Pastor Rick" with no problem? I guess when the celebrity is working for you it's OK -- even when his sandals cost as much as McCain's shoes.

Hypocrites.

[JaneQPublic]

32. It was aired on C-SPAN, so there were live TV streams and radio (nt)

[BeyondGeography]

2. Tells you he's feeling the cone of heat

[DeepModem Mom]

5. LOL!

[Frances]

3. By McCain's logic,

Corsi shouldn't be allowed on any TV station becaue Corsi is just repeating lies.

I thought that McCain's excuse for telling lies was that lies about Obama are funny.

Where's McCain's sense of humor?

And McCain definitely wasn't in a cone of silence whether he heard Obama or not.

[Hulk]

6. poor old fart......"biased"? Wow....what a change that would be.

[aquart]

14. Watch the age jokes.

No need to turn lemonade back into lemons.

[truthisfreedom]

8. Ooh, boo-hoo!

Whoop-dee-doo! MSM not playing fair because they're stating THE OBVIOUS!

[LibDemAlways]

9. The corporate whores abandoned non-partisan campaign

coverage years ago. 99% of it favors the repuke, and has for years. McCain's campaign manager is yelping because someone didn't follow the script to the letter. Tough ass.

[Bette Noir]

10. Old man yells at cloud.

[jeff30997]

11. K&R

"abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race." Oh really?

[Politicalboi]

12. Doesn't MaGoo's Horse and Buggy

Have TV? I mean the Clydesdale mobile should have it. "When you say Mud you've said it all"

[northernlights]

13. while I agree

that Capus' letter and complaint are silly, I also have felt that that the allegations "by the Obama camp" that McCain cheated are far more damaging to Obama's campaign than to McCain. They give McCain the opportunity to be insulted and outraged, which seems to be the rethug strong-suit. So Mitchell really did McCain a double favor, both by making Obama look desperate and by giving McCain a chance to be insulted and outraged.

I didn't see the program, only snippets posted on this board. And the only one I remember was McCain's reply to the effect of "following bin Laden to the gates of hell."

Maybe that one was the only obvious and simplistic topic, but it struck me as something has been rehashed to death. My guess is many of the questions were pretty 'black and white' topical issues of the day that don't need nuance or even forethought, never mind rehearsal or preparation. Just kneejerk reaction after having said it or thought it forever.

I do think Saddleback was a trap, and a lot of people here are rushing right into it.

[Warren Stupidity]

20. Why is it that all attacks against McCain are wrong?

McCain answered questions that he wasn't actually asked and that Obama was. He cheated. In this thread one poster objects to attacking McCain on his age, and you object to attacking him for cheating, while elsewhere we are told his questionable military record is out of bounds. The other party routinely wins elections by attacking our candidates on everything imaginable but we manage to convince ourselves that this is not a winning strategy and will backfire on us.

[drm604]

35. McCain was answering questions before they were even asked.

Check out the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n83M-jgOaJQ&eurl=http://...

[clear eye]

15. It looked like McCain had a Different Sort of Advantage

I watched the rerun, and the questions to the candidates were significantly different. Obama's were tough for a Dem and designed to push him to either offend the fundies or his base, such as his definition of marriage, position on abortion, his stance on gov't funding for faith-based orgs. They gave McCain some of those questions, but notably not the one on abortion, or, that I remember, the one on funding the "faith-based" programs. They gave them both a pass on repealing the Bush tax cuts on capital gains and corporate taxation. Nor were there any questions on the environment including any on their voting record on it.

Then the rest of the stuff they asked McCain was taken directly from the script of his standard stump speech. McCain got enormous applause with his conviction that by seeing the soldiers in Iraq he was convinced "we will win" (loud applause), and wasn't questioned on his record of voting against veterans' benefits. And neither the pastor/author (who's name escapes me), nor the audience (going by the cheering) seemed to have any problem with the Christianity of waging endless elective war, or government abandonment of the working poor. They asked them both at what point increased taxes for the rich would kick in and Obama said over $250K and spoke about responsibility to future generations, while apparently McCain expects to stop taxing everybody entirely and instead start handing out money. That was very popular.

[DaLittle Kitty]

16. McCain Stating that He Was For "Defeating Evil" Was A Big Hit W/ the Christian Audience Too!

How IDIOTIC!!! DEFEAT EVIL? What kind of childish NONSENSE ARE WE TALKING about ... This is a "Presidential" question? We are soooooo in the SHITTER it is beyond belief! This klown is a BIGGER MORON than Bush! Does ANYBODY See this?

[radfringe]

17. mccain's answers were short and of a sound-bitey - slogany nature

the kind of answers you would expect if you were in a hurry to put something together that would be easy to remember

according to NY Times article - mccain was in a motorcade on the way to forum, NOT IN A CONE OF SILENCE (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.... )

I know alot of people here on the DU are screaming about Warren 'lying' - whether he did or not is NOT the path of questions we should be taking. Given a benefit of doubt - Warren may not have known Mccain wasn't in the building. According the NY times article - Warren "seemed" surprised that learn that mccain wasn't in the building during obama's questioning

the questions that should be asked:

Were there any mccain operatives in the audience while Obama was on stage? What type of equipment did mccain's motorcade have (audio/video/internet/cellphones etc)? were the operatives in any sort of communcation with the motorcade while Obama was on stage?

Next: when asked if the "cone of silence was comfortable" mccain replied that he was trying to listen through the walls. - what walls? did mccain have his head out the car window trying to listen to the wind as the motorcade sped down the highway? was there some sort of mobil cone of silence force field around the motorcade?

More to the point - did mccain lie about trying to listen through the wall? perhaps this is another instance of mccain not speaking for the mccain campaign?

also from the NY times article -

Nicolle Wallace, a spokeswoman for Mr. McCain, said on Sunday night that Mr. McCain had not heard the broadcast of the event while in his motorcade and heard none of the questions.

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

what does being a former prisoner of war have to do with cheating? it didn't stop mccain from cheating on his first wife. does being a former prisoner of war somehow prevent a person from cheating, lying etc? if so, then all former prisoners of war should be immediately elevated to sainthood.

[KansDem]

39. "...what does being a former prisoner of war have to do with cheating?"

According to Sean Hannity, being a POW for 5 1/2 years can excuse you from cheating on your wife when you return.

DU Thread: Colmes once again brings up McCain's infidelity - Hannity once again excuses wife-cheating of Repugs

No one has asked Hannity how long you have to be a POW in order to cheat on your wife without consequences. Is it 5 1/2 years? 3 3/4 years? 2 years? 10 months? How about one day? If you are captured and held as a POW for one day, then does this give you license to commit adultery without being held accountable?

Perhaps Sean should clarify himself...

[liberal N proud]

18. Trying to frame the media as liberal

When the only bias is for republicons

[truthisfreedom]

23. One tiny problem... they will quickly run out of networks if they start attacking the MSM.

There's only so many, and we all know they're all rethug-owned... if you drop one, another one will pick up the news and attract more viewers... which will cause the floodgates to open.

[liberal N proud]

26. No the networks will just clean up their act

Maybe get rid of a few "bad apples" and return to the right wing pandering machines they already are.

[gratuitous]

38. Yeah, this is working the refs

The speculation that McThuselah might have gotten a little preview is quite a padiddle to be getting all offended about and going so far as to contact the network president. The GOP campaign doesn't give a rat's patootie about the story or the speculation, but they sure as the world want to signal to their followers that any coverage less than adulatory is evidence of bias. Bias, I tell you!

And the direct contact with the network president is designed to let NBC (and any other news outlet) know that no slight, no matter how insignificant, is going to be met with an outsize response. So the next time NBC has something disparaging to say about McCain, some editor somewhere is going to wonder, "Is this worth it? It's not all that big a deal, really, though the public should probably know about it. But jeez, I hate getting those phone calls from the suits in New York. Why don't we just expand the panda coverage in the segment after this by 20 seconds? People like pandas." And presto, the negative coverage disappears.

[George II]

19. Did Davis send a similar letter to Faux News?

[Vinca]

21. Calm down everyone. The problem is clear as a bell.

The name "McCain" was obviously used in error on NBC. It should have been "McCain, Prisoner of War."

[JerseygirlCT]

47. My friends. nt

[Supersedeas]

56. when the Free Ride stops, the accusation of media bias begins

ain't no McRove cheerleader goin' to accuse Kelly O'Donnell of bias -- all Free Ride -- all the Time, baby.

[Frisbee]

24. I'll take their word on it...

[BrklynLiberal]

27. They had the nerve to say that..after the way the MSM has coddled McSame?

to protest what the campaign called signs that the network is "abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race."

Maybe they were being sarcastic?

[JaneQPublic]

33. John "The press IS my base" McCain charges non-partisan coverage?

That's rich, considering he long ago admitted the media's favoritism toward him.

[zanne]

28. Are McCains's people trying to tell the MSM to "stay in line"?

It seems that way to me. They can question Obama's sincerity, but when they question McCain's "cone of silence", letters start pouring in to the Big Three.

[Highway61]

30. Looks like they need to take

Steve Capus to the wood shed out back...can't have truth in the media can we?

[Doctor_J]

31. I think I would have noticed

[Algorem]

34. We still have the liberal media on our side!

[ryanmuegge]

40. He's continuing to appeal to the religious right mentality: "everybody's against us."

It's apparent the direction in which his campaign is going: appealing to the religious right and pimping the living shit out of his (highly exaggerated) Vietnam stories. This, the Antichrist ad, and his tactics at the forum on Saturday are evidence of this. I guess this rules out Ridge and Romney as potential VP choices.

[Doctor_J]

41. Big Media has run with McSame's lies about Obama. I wonder how they like

him lying about them?

[underpants]

45. DID THEY WATCH THE SHOW? She totally carried water for him

claiming that Obama's answers were too long and that McCain "won politically"

I have been looking for video of this.

[underpants]

48. We have transcript

MR. GREGORY: Andrea Mitchell, that's a pretty clear contrast.

MS. ANDREA MITCHELL: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, there was the crisp, immediate, forceful response by John McCain, clearly in a comfort zone because he was with his base. And Barack Obama, taking a risk in going there but seeing an opportunity. And a much more nuanced approach. The Obama people must feel that he didn't do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because that--what they're putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.

MR. GREGORY: Right.

MS. MITCHELL: He seemed so well prepared.

MR. GREGORY: Well, you talk about this issue and the crisis that's in Georgia, nuanced doesn't work for Democrats. And here, Obama's been criticized this week for the idea that there should be restraint on both sides when the administration, you hear this morning, is out with very tough language against Russia.

MS. MITCHELL: In the long run, though, if you look at the analysis and how this all started, nuanced may be a better approach than this get tough approach. But clearly, as a sound bite in a political campaign, going after Russia, going after Putin is a much more appealing approach. But when you, when you talk to people who really know the issue, Georgia did things and Ossetia is not a clear-cut case. I mean, there is a lot of, of depth here. But what Obama is trying to--how he's trying to frame it is not as easily sold on the campaign trail.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26252093/

[JerseygirlCT]

46. What they mean is that every time the MSM backs off their support

of McCain ever so slightly, the McCain people will cry "favoritism".

It also probably means "guilty as charged" as to the listening to the questions as put to Obama thing.

Although, I think he'd have needed far more prep than that. He cannot think even that quickly on his feet. I still think he really just worked from pat answers, and applied them as best he could to whatever question was put to him. You know, "speaking of my failed first marriage, did I ever tell you about the time I was a prisoner of war in Vietnam?"

[PittPoliSci]

49. they don't have to be non-partisan johnny.

at best they should try to be objective.

objectively speaking, mccain is a piece of horseshit, and he deserves all the criticism he gets.

[fishwax]

51. what a whiner

[Bonobo]

52. McWhine. nt

[liberal1973]

53. McCain has such a lack of character.

Essentially McSame wants NBC to lie for him.

Please lie for me NBC because CNN and others like the AP do it.

Because McSame's bs maverick and straight talker meme is all bs created by people like at faux news and the AP.

[and-justice-for-all]

54. Was someone telling mctoad what to say?

hmmm... I would not put it past them.