Biden Angered By Tough Questions

A lot of Attention

This week, FOX News reported that Obama and Bill Clinton will be campaigning together for the first time in Orlando Wednesday. Although the move may be very positive from an Obama strategist's perspective, my immediate thought was that the move could drive a little negativity from voters who don't think so highly of Bill Clinton. And no, I'm not talking about Monica Lawinskey. 

In a sense, some voters view Bill Clinton as an old-time Democrat, someone who has already spent a lot of time in the White House. And, for those who didn't agree with Clinton politics, they may not appreciate the campaign effort from Clinton--especially since he questioned a lot of Obama's qualifications during the primary race between his Mrs. and Barack himself. However, this view is just a generalization. There's no saying that the move could not be a good thing for the Obama campaign. As FOX said, the move will probably at least give the Obama campaign a "boost in media coverage" during these final days leading up to the election. And naturally, who better to be talking up Obama than a former president of the United States? Overall, Clinton will probably contribute to some positive coverage of Obama as his campaign and McCain's battle it out in final days. 

However, on the other hand, negative coverage concerning vice presidential candidate Joe Biden probably wasn't such a good thing for the Obama campaign. FOX News reported Saturday that the Obama campaign cut off an interview with a Florida TV Station because of tough questions from an Orlando reporter. I don't blame Joe Biden for telling reporter Barbara West from WFTV to "get real here," but I'm sure that's not the tone and attitude the Obama strategists wanted him to take on live television. Whether or not the reporter was trying to get Biden fired up, Obama strategists were probably shaking their heads when Biden asked the reporter, "Are you joking?" I don't care what kind of situation Biden was placed in or what kind of question was asked; I'm sure testing the waters of sarcasm was not the best answer. 

As we've discussed in class, strategists can only prepare a candidate for speaking points to a certain extent. They can train them on what to say and how to say it; they can rehearse the tone time after time; they can review general talking points 100 times. However, it's ultimately the candidate's live performance that is recorded, and unfortunately the only one that matters. The interview was not the only instance when the media played up Biden's heated attitude and aggressive tone; the media coverage of Biden in the vice presidential debate also criticized his tone prior to the debate and at certain points in the post-debate coverage. 

For a recap of how the interview went, please see the video above. 

Questions or concerns? Please drop me an e-mail at aliviacnuzzo@gmail.com or post a comment below. 

Players or Politicians?

15 Joes for McCain. 5 for Obama. That summed up the debate in a nutshell, as FOX news reported just moments after the third and final presidential debate between candidates McCain and Obama. Kind of like, well, a final score. 

Other FOX News contributors discussed different analogies, one of my favorites being the tennis match one. According to the contributor, McCain looked as if he were running all over the court while Obama was smoothly knocking em' back on the opposing side. Yet another contributor compared the debate to "an old heavyweight title fight": McCain appeared to come out strong, but he lost it through and through as Obama "hung in there." 

Did I, at some point during the debate, flip to ESPN?

No, perhaps not. But I don't think the Obama campaign would have had a problem with the sports-like coverage. Obama as a Serena Williams or a Muhammad Ali on the political scene isn't an image that would hurt just mere weeks before the election. In Wednesday night's horse race, Obama took the reins, which is a comfortable position to be in during the countdown to Nov. 4. 

However, while Obama was clearly the dominant fighter, FOX also reported that there was "no knock out punch," in other words, no huge winner. In a FOX focus group depicting a room of 23 voters, none of which supported Obama at the start of the debate, said they were still voting for McCain although they thought Obama was the clear winner of the debate. The great irony? Frank Luntz was leading the focus group.

And while McCain obviously wasn't as eloquent, one of the FOX news contributors had to highlight one of his so-called sharpest moments, which was when McCain turned to Obama and said, "I'm not President Bush." It's no surprise there that the majority of the same viewers responded favorably to that question. 

Also noteworthy was the question regarding the vice presidential candidate picks. According to FOX News, Obama handled himself well. Obama didn't bash Sarah Palin, but McCain didn't play her up either. Again, another point for the Obama strategists. 

Weak Win

According to a FOX News commentator on the TV news coverage following the debate, Obama outdid McCain from an "objective" standpoint. I think the Obama campaign strategists would have been pleased with the coverage of the debate because most of the analysts favored Obama 100 percent. Even though he did not outdo McCain by a landslide, FOX definitely portrayed him as a having a better grip on the issues than did McCain, which is positive from a campaign perspective. Even though Obama did not blow McCain out of the water according to several commentators, he still seemed to shine by comparison. 

According to some, it was because both candidates stuck to their messaging during the speech and didn't sway away from what they would say in a speech or rally. Again, from a campaign perspective, I think this kind of coverage is satisfactory. They did not portray Barack as a flip-flopper. He did not stumble over his words dramatically. He just did just fine. Or at least that was the echo I heard from the post-debate conversation on FOX following the second presidential debate. 

But he could have done better. 

According to a FOX focus group that featured undecided voters in Arlington, Virginia, some felt like he really "spoke" to the voter. He wasn't snide. He answered his questions. He had a better grasp on the issues. The one main complaint: dancing around questions. And from a campaign perspective, I'd say most strategists would agree that it's just part of the game. 

Some said the key overall was Obama's responses to healthcare. Again, positive coverage since there are drastic differences between the two candidates' platforms on the issue. Others say he gained points on Iraq and Afghanistan. Still positive. 

However, it wasn't mere irony that the first person FOX interviewed following the debate was Mitt Romney. According to Romney, "What Barack Obama isn't telling you is that John McCain is leaving the tax level the same. He's not going to raise them. That's why he doubles the family deduction and the $5,000 tax credit," he said on the air. Romney also favored McCain because McCain specifically said he would do everything to protect the country during the debate and Obama did not. In the grand scheme of the debate, I thought Romney's comments wouldn't have upset any Obama strategists since they were pretty weak arguments.

According to FOX, the debate was not a game changer. "Obama was in command of the facts and aware of the game change. It was a great debate performance for him. Republicans love deficits. Obama's plan is about stimulating the economy through green jobs, growing the middle class, strong and steady," said Senator Claire McCaskill.

I thought it was interesting that FOX also quoted David Plouffe, Obama's campaign strategist in a story on his outlook of the debate: "No mud. No hits. No errors." That leads me to the final conclusion that overall, debate coverage favored Obama. Like Plouffe, I thought the benefits of the debate coverage were things that didn't happen rather than the things that did. 

Polls Polls Polls

We've discussed their advantages and disadvantages, their accuracies and discrepancies, their power in the media, and the list goes on. Voters watch them. Media reports them. We are fascinated by the grand horse race that polls represent as the election approaches. Ahead. Behind. Ahead. Behind. Tight race. Close call. 

Generally though, these polls focus on voter behavior among citizens in our own country. Naturally, it's our vote that is going to count on November 4. But, while both candidates chat away about their foreign policy platforms in the political arena, I think it's interesting to see how the rest of the world feels about our presidential candidate picks. 

For the first time, I looked at the results of global poll that FOX reported yesterday. Interestingly, the poll found that Barack Obama was the preferred presidential candidate in 16 out of 17 countries surveyed. The one country that preferred John McCain: the U.S. 

However, keep a few facts in mind. For one, the poll was taken before the August conventions. Reader's Digest magazine released the poll yesterday. It asked 17,000 people in 17 different countries, including the U.S., who the preferred presidential candidate would be. Although the poll favored McCain in the U.S., this result obviously clashes with the most recent Gallup daily tracking polls reporting Obama holding a 50-42 percent lead over McCain. 

For Obama's campaign, the better the reputation in the rest of the world, the better. But are these global polls really affecting the attitudes of Americans? I assume not. As FOX reported Reader's Digest Washington Bureau Chief saying, a number of Republican issues are not of the same concern in European countries. Other countries also naturally associate McCain with Bush. 

Although the accuracy of these polls may vary, it would be interesting to see which candidate people around the world favor, based on their individual attitudes toward the many issues on the political agenda. 

Behind the Scenes

As we have pointed out in class and as many would agree, FOX News tends to swing toward the right. That being said, it did not come as a shocker when I found out that Frank Luntz was quizzing the focus group on FOX in regards to the 2008 vice presidential debate Thursday night. Many of you may have seen focus group analyses across the bottom of your screen last night. CNN, for example, was running a viewer response line for uncommitted voters in Ohio. CBS also ran a poll that surveyed uncommitted voters. According to their results, the undecided thought vice presidential nominee Joe Biden did the best job by a margin of more than two to one!

So what happened with FOX's analysis? Quick reminder for readers: In Professor Honald's class, we were assigned to read segments of George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant." In chapter one, Lakoff refers to Luntz as the man "who puts out big books of language guidelines for conservatives only, which are used as training manuals for all conservative candidates..." 

It's no wonder then that this particular focus group on FOX thought Palin did an excellent job, and even perhaps won the debate. 

Even more interestingly enough, the focus group was funded by Budweiser, owned by Anheuser-Busch, of which Cindy McCain's Hensley company is the third largest distributor. Oh, the things you can line up on mainstream media when the resources are plentiful!

As for FOX's coverage of the vice presidential debate on the Web, it also leaned to the right. According to the debate analysis coverage, "it was Palin's cool and confident performance that prompted analysts to suggest that after more than  week of bad news for Republicans, John McCain can ride a new wind in final month of the race."

I think that may be stretching the truth in comparison to other news outlets. 

FOX also reported that Palin pulled off a "bravura performance" according to some analysts. What analysts were they referring to? Some included editors from the Dallas Morning News. Hmm. 

It's all about S-T-R-A-T-E-G-Y

Perhaps the one thing I've enjoyed (or tolerated rather) on the FOX News Web site are the videos from "The Strategy Room," which is a 9 hour commercial-free Web video with no teleprompters, no scripts and no Britney Spears...or so they claim. 

One particular video I'd like to focus on in regards to Obama is one that discusses debate strategies. I chose this video in particular because 1.) It was one of the only videos that mentioned Obama's name; McCain took most of the spotlight this week for his dramatic debate hold-up and 2.) Bill Burton, Obama's campaign manager, was an interviewee, which helps to point to our specific interest: FOX News coverage vs. Obama's campaign strategy

Exhibit A: Language

In the video, Burton refers to all political moves as being "for the American people." I point this out because I have learned, and maybe you will too, that everything is "for the American people" no matter the partisan platform. Take a look at the CBS exclusive interview with John McCain and he too will tell you that it's all "for the American people." Here, we have shared communication strategy. 

According to Burton, there would be no better time than now to make sure the American people know where their candidate stands in a time of crisis. Which candidate could handle the leadership position as president of the United States in a time of crisis? 

Not only did Bill Burton get some time in the spotlight, but liberal voices on the video said that John McCain would have to show up to the debate or, again, the "American people" would see through it. 

But what was "it" exactly? Well, for the Obama campaign's sake, I think they were replacing "deception" with "it." As some political analysts in the room argued, "Where was McCain Monday and Tuesday?" Really, why has the political debate been on the back burner when Wall Street took a blow if it was so important "for the American people" to be addressed on this issue? 

We cannot forget about McCain's buddy, George W. and, just in case anyone forgot, he would be the current president of the United States. Not that anyone cares at a time when McCain and Obama are running neck-and-neck, economic drama has been in every news headline and the election is a just about a month away. Things are getting hotter viewers. Watch out for some heated coverage.