I

n responding to Steve Schmidt’s criticism of the NY Times for being “150 percent in the tank for Obama,” the Obama campaign issued a list of 40 “probing” stories the NYT has published on Obama.

I got a copy of the list from The Page, added live links to all 40 stories and reviewed them.  The long and short of it:  There are four stories among the 40 that qualify as “probing” in a negative sense.  The other 36 pretty much probe into just how wonderful a human being and candidate Barack Obama is.

Did they release the list because they thought no one would look at it?  And they’re supposed to be with it?  Of course the list is going to get scrubbed!  Kind of like this:

In Law School, Obama Found Political Voice [1/28/07] – Let’s start of the list of pointed stories with a hero-worship piece, shall we?  His peers call him “a natural leader, an impressive student, and a nice guy.”  Ouch, that hurts.  It may not be pointed, but it does offer up this spoof of Obama from the Harvard Law 1990 Review:

“I was born in Oslo, Norway, the son of a Volvo factory worker and part-time ice fisherman,” a mock self-tribute begins. “My mother was a backup singer for Abba. They were good folks.” In Chicago, “I discovered I was black, and I have remained so ever since.”

So Far, Obama Can’t Take Black Vote For Granted [2/2/07] – This piece was back in the day when, as the NYT had to ask, “So why are some black voters so uneasy about Senator Barack Obama?”  It basically goes on to say they shouldn’t be.

Obama Had Slaveowning Kin [3/3/07] – OMG, that’s so TODAY!

Disinvitation by Obama Is Criticized [3/6/07] – Talks of black leaders criticizing Obama for disinviting Jeremiah Wright to an event; discussion of what Wright said from the pulpit is not included.

Obama, in Brief Investing Foray In ‘05, Took Same Path as Donors [3/7/07] – Obama “did not know” he had invested in the companies in question.  Don’t we all feel better?

Obama Says His Investments Presented No Conflicts of Interest [3/8/07] – An actual follow-up piece on the one above.  This must have been before the NYT was all the way to 150% in the tank.

Charisma and a Search for Self In Obama’s Hawaii Childhood [3/17/07] – You can tell from the headline that this one does not exactly rip him a new one.

Clinton Camp Challenges Obama on Iraq [3/22/07] – Hint:  The second paragraph, the one after the Clinton alegations that Obama is not all that tough in his opposition to the war, begins with “But:”

But a review of Mr. Obama’s statements on Iraq since 2002 shows that he has opposed the war against Saddam Hussein consistently, calling it ”dumb” and ”rash.”

After 2000 Loss, Obama Built Donor Network From Roots Up [4/3/07] – This gush piece starts with this “probing” lead:

“When Barack Obama announced to friends over brunch in 2002 that he planned to run for the United States Senate, one of their first questions was how he could possibly raise the necessary millions.”

How could he? Because he’s so wonderful!

A Candidate, His Minister and the Search for Faith [4/30/07] – This three-clicker in response to the Wright crisis never gives a single inflammatory Wright quote.

An Obama Patron and Friend Until an Indictment in Illinois [6/14/07] – This probing piece calls Obama’s relationship with Tony Rezko “problematic.”  Ouch.

In Illinois, Obama Proved Pragmatic and Shrewd.  [7/30/07] As opposed to McCain, who’s old and mean?

In 2000, a Streetwise Veteran Schooled a Bold Young Obama. [9/9/07] – This one includes a highly critical quote from former Black Panther Bobby Rush, who Obama ran against and lost:

“He was blinded by his ambition. Obama has never suffered from a lack of believing that he can accomplish whatever it is he decides to try. Obama believes in Obama. And, frankly, that has its good side but it also has its negative side.”  But the story races to assure us, “Not that the loss hurt Mr. Obama. Not long after getting ‘my rear end handed to me,’ as he later put it, he ran successfully for the U.S. Senate.”

Loyal Network Backs Obama After His Help.  [10/1/07] – Ouch!  You can tell this one really smarts.

Obama’s Account of New York Years Often Differs From What Others Say.  [10/30/07] – This analysis compares the sparse pickings from Obama’s bio-books with some quotes from people who knew him.  Obama’s accounts “required a bit of exaggeration,” says one. That smarts.

It’s Not Just ‘Ayes’ and ‘Nays’: Obama’s Votes in Illinois Echo. [12/20/07] – This piece on Obama’s “present” votes in Illinois explains away most of them and concludes moderately, “In at least a few cases, the issue was politically sensitive.”

Nuclear Leaks and Response Tested Obama in Senate [2/3/08] – This is actually a good one, the only really good one of the 40.  It not only details how Obama said he passed a bill when it really died in the legislature. but goes on to point out that the dead bill targeted nuke company Exelon, which has subsequently given $227,000 to Obama and which Obama campaign chief David Axelrod has consulted to. Finally, a winner!

Daschle Uses Senate Ties To Blaze Path for Obama [2/5/08] – Another one that you can tell, just from the headline, is a real Obama-scorcher.

Old Friends Say Drugs Played Bit Part in Obama’s Young Life [2/9/08] – Basically, the NYT goes to work to find some old Obama friends to confirm that he really wasn’t much of a doper.

Seeking Unity, Obama Feels Pull of Racial Divide [2/12/08] – This one leads off with a big photo of a bunch of young voters – black and white, mostly female – beaming at the candidate, with more than a few bedroom eyes. The piece interviews Axelrod, not Obama, and says he (Axelrod) is “a consultant to several black elected officials” and “has been steeped in racially charged elections.”

Obama Walks a Difficult Path as He Courts Jewish Voters [3/1/08] – A straight political report in which Obama pretty much blames Hillary’s campaign (not himself and what he’s said) for his troubles with Jews.

Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role [3/9/08] – Here’s a journalistic rule:  If you want to do a hard-hitting, probing piece, be sure to put “Star Power” in the headline.

A Free-Spirited Wanderer Who Set Obama’s Path [3/14/08] – No, not Saul Alinsky, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro – the Obama-mama.  Quite a body slam:

“They were close, her friends and his half-sister say, though they spent much of their lives with oceans or continents between them. He would not be where he is today, he has said, had it not been for her.”

Pastor Defends His Predecessor at Obama’s Chicago Church [3/17/08] – Yet another story on Rev. Wright that doesn’t offer a single quote from his racist sermons.

Obama’s Narrator [4/1/07] – A big, largely adoring profile of David Axelrod in the Sunday magazine.

Wright Remains a Concern for Some Democrats [5/1/08] – This is getting interesting; another Rev. Wright story that doesn’t quote Rev. Wright’s rants.

A Strained Wright-Obama Bond Finally Snaps [5/1/08] – And yet another.

A Pulpit-and-Pews Gulf on Obama’s Ex-Pastor [5/2/08] – Guess what?  No quotes from the sermons!

A Fiery Theology Under Fire [5/4/08] – Again no quotes, but it does say “Mr. Wright stands condemned of late as a incendiary radical for his views that the American government may have created AIDS and that the Sept. 11 terror attacks were payback for the sins of American foreign policy” … after saying he is “A man of capacious learning.”  But still, there are no hefty quotes to give that summary needed context.

Obama Secret Service Agent Tied To Sex Joke [5/15/08] – Sorry, guys – this is about a Secret Service agent, not BHO.  What a stretch!

The Story of Obama, Written by Obama [5/18/08] – Oh, for cryin’ out loud! This is a story about Obama’s books – so anything probing here will be about the books, not the candidate.  Here’s a sample:

“The book is so literary,” said Arnold Rampersad, a professor of English at Stanford University who teaches autobiography and is the author of a recent biography of Ralph Ellison. “It is so full of clever tricks — inventions for literary effect — that I was taken aback, even astonished. But make no mistake, these are simply the tricks that art trades in, and out of these tricks is supposed to come our realization of truth.”

Following Months of Criticism, Obama Quits His Church [6/1/08] – The penultimate story in the series; again, with no quotes from Wright’s sermons.  Eight stories and not one sermon quoted – ladies and gentlemen, it’s a clean sweep!

Many Blacks Find Joy in Unexpected Breakthrough [6/5/08] – This hard-hitter includes this:

“[M]any African-Americans exulted Wednesday in a political triumph that they believed they would never live to see. Many expressed hope that their children would draw strength from the moment.”

Where Whites Draw The Line [6/8/08] – This one has some biting criticism – but it’s against whites who may not be too eager to jump on the Obama bandwagon.

Obama’s Organizing Years, Guiding Others and Finding Himself [7/7/08] – This one hardly has a whiff of negativity, although it does mention the Obama-Alinsky link (not mentioning that Alinsky was a Socialist rabble-rouser):

The small organization Mr. Obama worked for, the Developing Communities Project, was influenced by the thinking of Saul Alinsky, a Chicago native regarded as the father of community organizing. Mr. Alinsky viewed self-interest as the main motivation for political participation.

Mr. Obama saw it more broadly. “In his view, figuring out who you are and then getting that person to think about what he or she is going to do with it is the first step toward empowerment,” Daniel Lee, a fellow organizer, recalled. “He told me this was an extension of his own journey in struggling to find his identity.”

Mr. Obama shunned Mr. Alinsky’s strategy of using confrontation tactics like pressuring public officials and business leaders by picketing their homes.

“I think it was strategic that he would not have fallouts with people he disagreed with because he realized that he had to work with them not just on one particular issue, but on other issues down the road,” Mr. Kellman said.

Mr. Obama did adhere to the Alinsky principle of meticulously planning for meetings with people in power. The roles of the residents were scripted and the organizer was a quiet, inconspicuous presence.

As a Professor, Obama Enthralled Students and Puzzled Faculty [7/30/08] – Yeah, this one will just kill him with the important college student demographic.

Delicate Obama Path on Class and Race Preferences [8/3/08] – An article on Obama’s favorable position on affirmative action, from a newspaper that’s favorable towards affirmative action.

Big Donors, Too, Have Seats at Obama Fundraising Table [8/6/08] – A pretty decent reporting job on hedge fund operators, Lehman execs, George Soros and other big-money backers of Obama.  But probing?  No, it just reports, and no one on the Obama staff is asked to answer any tough questions.

Is Obama the End of Black Politics? [8/10/08] – The answer this major puff piece gives is “no.”  How’s this for pointed journalism:

“Here we are, all of a sudden, in the 60th year after Strom Thurmond bolting the Democratic Party over a simple thing, something almost unheard of — because he did not want the armed forces to be integrated,” [Majority Whip James] Clyburn said slowly. “Here we are 45 years after the ‘I have a dream’ speech. Forty years after the assassinations of Kennedy and King. And this party that I have been a part of for so long, this party that has been accused of taking black people for granted, is about to deliver the nomination for the nation’s highest office to an African-American. How do you describe that? All those days in jail cells, wondering if anything you were doing was even going to have an impact.” He shook his head silently.

Obama’s 2003 Stand on Abortion Draws New Criticism in 2008 [8/20/08] – This one looks at Illinois Sen. Obama’s efforts to defeat the Born Alive Infants Protection Act.  It quotes a few anti-abortion folks and a whole lot of supporters of the act, then lets us decide.

Obama Aides Defend Bank’s Pay to Biden Son [8/25/08] – If this had been a piece on Palin’s son’s pay from a bank, the headline sure wouldn’t read “McCain Aides Defend Bank’s Pay to Palin Son.”

Once a Convention Outsider, Obama Navigated a Path to the Marquee [8/27/08] – Whine, whine, whine.  After losing to Bobby Rush and “[annoying] some state Democrats for not waiting his turn to seek a higher office,” Obama doesn’t get invited to the 2000 Dem convention.  But then he gets invited in 2004 and gives a really cool speech!

Obama Looks to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan [9/10/08]  Probing? Let’s just say this one’s last on the list for a good reason.

If I had time, I would do a Nexis search for 40 probing NYT stories on John McCain and compare them.  In the last year, the NYT ran 2,495 stories that match the search “john AND mccain AND candidate,” most of them no doubt pretty straight reports on various political speeches and recaps of issues.  But I would be seriously shocked if the list didn’t include many more truly probing pieces than the paltry few the Obama campaign could cough up.

With Obama’s inexperience, hubris, questionalble funding sources, policy shifts, hard liberal records and odd acquaintances all there, fat and juicy, to be reported on, only media bias can explain the dearth of hard-hitting stories about the Dem nominee. But that’s not how the NYT sees it, not at all. Responding to yesterday’s Steve Schmidt salvos (“150% in the tank for Obama“), NYT Exec Ed Bill Keller said:

”The New York Times is committed to covering the candidates fully, fairly and aggressively. It’s our job to ask hard questions, fact-check their statements and their advertising, examine their programs, positions, biographies and advisers. Candidates and their campaign operatives are not always comfortable with that level of scrutiny, but it’s what our readers expect and deserve.”

Uh-huh. And, Mr. Keller, do you honestly think the McCain and Obama camps share the same level of comfort with your level of scrutiny?

Posted in Media bias, New York Times, Obama | 8 Comments » | |