tag:www.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk/blogs/politicswatch//3420 2008-05-17T01:16:58Z Movable Type Pro 4.21-en tag:tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk//17.195579 2008-05-17T01:16:58Z 2008-05-17T01:16:58Z

You know, it just hit me earlier today in the car, something I had written and said several times up to the point we are today in the presidential primary. And it strikes me funny that more people didn't think...

politicswatch And it strikes me funny that more people didn't think this way.
I'm not particularly keen on Clinton, like many people here, but in the end, like a smart democrat, I would vote for her and campaign against McCain. To elaborate, I am not sure how much I could campaign for Hillary, but all my energy would be spent making sure she got elected. There's the other side of the fence: anti-McCain.

Why didn't more people think of that rather than all this self-defeating "If O/C doesn't get the nomination instead of C/O, I'm going to vote for McCain" nonsense?
]]> tag:tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com,2008:/talk//17.194887 2008-05-14T01:50:24Z 2008-05-14T01:50:24Z

Originally posted at my other blog The PunditburoI understand that Clinton has every right in the world to keep up her nomination fight, but some of the whining on her side has been particularly extraordinary. Here we have Terry McAuliffe...

politicswatch The Punditburo

I understand that Clinton has every right in the world to keep up her nomination fight, but some of the whining on her side has been particularly extraordinary. Here we have Terry McAuliffe praising Fox News as the most responsible network in this most biased of political campaigns.

I would like to say something about the state of the race as it pertains to the media. A lot of people have been deeply, emotionally affected by the media in this race, and I think the majority of them are Clinton supporters who have a feminist bent. I'm a feminist too, and I also disapprove of the way Chris Matthews and others are allowed to make misogynistic and racist comments on air (as well as the Clinton camp's attempt to emasculate Obama), and I feel bad for the DNC and Howard Dean not doing much to stop it all, for whatever reason it is they haven't done so.
But there's an important point that I've recently come to realize and want to point out - the majority of stupid crap that gets spewed in this country, is on television news. I understand that it's easy to watch tv news and think you're learning something, but the reality is that I can read my local paper, check Talking Points Memo, and read an article or two somewhere, all in the time it takes Lou Dobbs or Chris Matthews to ask me if Jeremiah Wright hates America as much as feminists do. It's the simple truth. I want to start something this election cycle if I can get a platform for it - The Matt Steele Media Challenge.

It goes like this: How much TV news do you watch? How much news are you actually getting, how much stated opinion are you actually getting, and how many offhand remarks do you hear?
For all the time you would spend watching overpaid pundits run their mouth about the days' news and controversy, spend that time instead reading the news and checking out opinion articles (bonus points for articles that link sources for accuracy). I guarantee you'll be a better voter in the fall.

[edit: and yes, I know that a lot of stupid crap gets spewed on comment boards, but no one reads comment boards as their primary source of decision making material. And blogs are indeed a crapshoot, but I'm trusting people to be able to read bias better than they see it.]
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