BE ELECTED
by Christine Bowman

Let's see. Voters care about the economy and Iraq and whether candidates are honest and ethical and will change our country's direction. So far, 13,689,293 Americans have gone to the trouble of voting for Barack Obama, and 12,861,985 have so honored Hillary Clinton, according to the estimates of Real Clear Politics. [1]

But enough about us. More importantly, what does mainstream media care about?

Democrats muddying one another. Gaffes. Gotcha moments. It's the bread and butter of television, as we know all too well. The bottom line. Nielsen numbers. Advertising dollars (which come from campaigns, not only from corporate sponsors).

That's why last night's so-called "debate," featuring Clinton and Obama in supporting roles, spent over 50 minutes at the top of the show on personal attacks and right-wing, media-generated gotchas like the flag pin "issue" and a 1960s anti-war activist. Even sadder is the fact that the Democratic Knock-Down, Drag-Out brought to us by ABC News/Disney was the first over-the-air televised debate since ABC's other one which aired January 5th from New Hampshire. Economically constrained regular folks who don't pay for cable have seen nothing else.

Thank you, Charlie Gibson!

Kudos to you, George Stephanopoulos!

Your show was great entertainment for anyone who wanted to see Barack Obama, very possibly our next American president, squirm. We doubt your show helped Hillary Clinton much either since you ignored her for most of the night except to bring up sniper fire.

The show definitely came up short for Pennsylvania voters who have to choose their candidate by next Tuesday. Guess they'll just have to grab a newspaper or go to the Internet for answers to their substantive questions.

You ABC pundits really had us in your hands, but then you dissed us. Your viewers weren't tuning in to Fox's "American Idol," after all. We came to ABC News seeking in-depth political coverage. Silly us.

Don'tcha wonder how many viewers hit their remote control buttons before the end? Do you get it, yet, Charlie, why the crowd was turning on you?

P.S.: Look here, Charlie, Mission Accomplished! ABC bumps up on Democrat slugfest: [2] "At 8 p.m. ABC was first with a 2.7 for the first hour of the debate: ... [but] Fox took the lead at 9 p.m. with an 8.5 rating for 'American Idol,' while ... ABC was third with a 2.8 for the second half of its debate ..."

Columbia Journalism Review: On Debate, ABC Gets A “D”? [3]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/election08/131 [3]

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/election08/089 [3]

BE ELECTED

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