Could Hillary Camp's Attacks On Press Bear Some Fruit?
February 27, 2008 -- 5:05 PM EST // //
Yesterday I argued that Hillary's new strategy -- attacking the press as rooting for her defeat -- ran the risk of making things worse for her by making the campaign look frustrated and in search of a scapegoat, something that spooks supporters and donors.
But now I think it's fair to ask whether the strategy is also bearing at least a bit of fruit.
The full force of Camp Hillary's assault on the media really became public yesterday morning. Since then, CNN ran a lengthy segment on the Hillary campaign's gripe that Obama is getting largely "rock star" treatment from the press.
Just a few minutes ago, CNN ran another lengthy segment, this one about Jeremiah Wright, the recently retired pastor at Obama's church who lavishly praised Louis Farrakhan. The piece had a pretty tough chyron:
What Obama's Pastor SaidDuring the segment, Wolf Blitzer noted that Obama "faces questions about his level of support for Israel from some American Jews." Tough scrutiny -- if not on this precise topic -- is exactly what the Hillary campaign has been asking for from the major news orgs, of course.Jewish-American Concerns
To be clear, the points I raised yesterday about this approach still stand. And obviously, a couple CNN segments is hardly enough to judge whether Camp Hillary's bash-the-press strategy will work in any meaningful sense. Even if it did work to some degree, it seems unlikely that it would alter the outcome of the contest.
Still, you have to wonder whether CNN would have aired these segments at these lengths, or with this sort of tone, if Hillary advisers hadn't spent so much time of late stamping their feet over the media's alleged softness on Obama. Someone at CNN seems to be listening, and responding accordingly.
Update: It's worth recalling that CNN has proven pliant in the face of such criticism before. When the Obama camp complained to CNN about its use of Hillary supporters James Carville and Paul Begala as on-air analysts, the network banned them except in outright surrogate situations.
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