yes, \clinton's media portrayal was complex and not one-sided. yes, they liked the hillbilly& slick willy aspects. but they also recognized him as a formidable president, capable of besting gingrich, capable of remaining quite popular amid so many scandal accusations. yes, the media took some shots at him, but i see this as simply not revering him. they still respected him.

i see the media characterization of obama as completely lacking respect. they may portray him as a decent man in the way they portrayed carter as a decent man but a hapless president. they consistently refer to obama as unpopular, sometimes deeply unpopular, when his approval ratings are no worse, and often better, than shrub's were, and they almost never referred to shrub as unpopular until the very, very end (and then, it seemed as if he was unpopular just because this external economic collapse happened to him, as if the president bears no responsibility for such things).