Posted on 09/12/2008 7:05:56 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Ex-Clinton Aide: Media Tougher On Palin Sept. 12, 2008(CBS) Political Players is a continuing conversation with the leaders, consultants and activists who shape American politics. This week, CBS News' Brian Goldsmith talked with Mark Penn, a top strategist to both Clintons, about the state of the Obama campaign, and the appeal of Sarah Palin.
CBSNews.com: Sen. Obama is struggling and, in some states, dropping in the polls. Sen. McCain now has higher favorable ratings. How serious is this decline?
Mark Penn: Well, I think you're seeing a real decline after the two conventions. I think after the Democratic convention, Obama had a significant lead, indicating he had a good message. And then after the Republican convention, they reversed it. A fair reading of the polls would be that the race now is basically undecided. And [voters are] going to want to kick the tires on both campaigns and both candidates a bit more.
CBSNews.com: And what does kicking the tires on the Obama campaign involve? What would you examine if you were working there?
Mark Penn: The important thing for the Obama campaign is that they not repeat some of the errors of the last two [Democratic] campaigns that happened after the two conventions. It's important not to go back toward the base, as I think both Gore and Kerry did, but to stay on the convention message that was more in the center.
It was more about tax cuts and strengthening the economy. I think it was a message that was resonating. And so what happens in a situation like this is everybody rushes in with different pieces of advice. And it can be very hard to stay the course.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
What Penn fails to realize is that the DNC Convention message for the past two rounds, or the past twelve as far as I know, have been laundry lists of giveaways. People love that at convention time, but on toward Election Day, they start looking at the check.
The Democrats are not centrists. They only pretend to be from time to time.
‘The Arctic Fox “
I like that name...........
CBSNews.com: Your former colleague Howard Wolfson argued that you all unintentionally paved the way for Palin by exposing some of the unfair media coverage that Hillary Clinton received. And, therefore, a lot of the media may now be treating Sarah Palin with kid gloves.[What?!] Do you agree with that?
Mark Penn: Well, no, I think the people themselves saw unfair media coverage of Senator Clinton. I think if you go back, the polls reflected very clearly what "Saturday Night Live" crystallized in one of their mock debates about what was happening with the press.
I think here the media is on very dangerous ground. I think that when you see them going through every single expense report that Governor Palin ever filed, if they don't do that for all four of the candidates, they're on very dangerous ground. I think the media so far has been the biggest loser in this race. And they continue to have growing credibility problems.
And I think that that's a real problem growing out of this election. The media now, all of the media — not just Fox News, that was perceived as highly partisan — but all of the media is now being viewed as partisan in one way or another. And that is an unfortunate development.
CBSNews.com: [Incredulous] So you think the media is being uniquely tough on Palin now?
Mark Penn: Well, I think that the media is doing the kinds of stories on Palin that they're not doing on the other candidates. And that's going to subject them to people concluding that they're giving her a tougher time. Now, the media defense would be, "Yeah, we looked at these other candidates who have been in public life at an earlier time."
What happened here very clearly is that the controversy over Palin led to 37 million Americans tuning into a vice-presidential speech, something that is unprecedented, because they wanted to see for themselves. This is an election in which the voters are going to decide for themselves. The media has lost credibility with them.
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