Here are today's news items from Media Matters for America, click on the title or 'read more' to read the entirety of each story.

2008 Elections

NY Times, AP again reported McCain's pledge of civility and respectfulness, ignoring his prior shots at Clinton and Obama
The New York Times, in a November 19 article by staff writer Marc Santora, and McClatchy Newspapers, in a November 18 article, uncritically reported Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) assertion, "You can be tough, but you should never degrade or ridicule anyone who is seeking public office." McCain made his comments during the question-and-answer portion of his November 18 appearance at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire, where he asserted that he was "the conservative Republican with the best chance of defeating" Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) if they faced each other in the general election, adding that if they were their party's nominees, he "intend[s] this to be a respectful debate." Neither the Times nor McClatchy noted that McCain has previously mocked Clinton, as well as Sen. Barack Obama (IL). Read more

Chris Matthews teased segment by asking whether Clinton is a "She Devil"
On the November 18 edition of the NBC-syndicated Chris Matthews Show, host Chris Matthews teased a discussion by asking, " 'She Devil?' Republicans are absolutely demonizing [Sen.] Hillary Clinton [D-NY]." While he spoke, an image of Clinton appeared on screen with the words "She Devil?" below it. Later, an image of Clinton with devil horns appeared on screen while Matthews stated: "We did poll our people and asked 12 of our regular panelists, is it smart politics for Republicans to demonize Hillary Clinton, get real personal about it? Eleven say yes. Just one say, no, it's not smart." Read more

Fox News' Hill claimed Obama's reaction to Novak's thinly sourced column means he "could have something to hide"
In his November 17 nationally syndicated column, Robert D. Novak wrote that "[a]gents of Sen. Hillary [Rodham] Clinton [D-NY] are spreading the word in Democratic circles that she has scandalous information about her principal opponent for the party's presidential nomination, Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL], but has decided not to use it." Offering no clear sourcing, Novak continued: "The nature of the alleged scandal was not disclosed." On the November 19 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, Novak claimed that his source was "a well-known Democrat" who "was told by an agent of the Clinton campaign ... about the alleged scandal, but acknowledged that he personally has no idea whether the alleged "scandalous information" even exists, saying: "[W]hether there is any such scandalous information, I don't know." Later that day, on the November 19 edition of Fox News' America's Pulse, host E.D. Hill said that Novak "said that team Hillary had some, quote, 'scandalous information' on her rival, Barack Obama, but wasn't releasing it -- yet." Hill went on to introduce a report by Fox News congressional correspondent Major Garrett by saying that Obama's "reaction" to Novak's column "might leave some with the impression that he might, perhaps, could have something to hide," failing to note that Novak himself admitted that he has no personal knowledge of any information Obama would want to "hide." Read more

CNN ignored McCain's missed vote while highlighting Obama's missed vote
CNN's The Situation Room reported on Sen. John McCain's attacks on Sen. Hillary Clinton's support for a $1 million earmark for a museum at the site of the original 1969 Woodstock music festival, more recently as part of its "top 10 debate zingers." But, as in multiple previous reports on the subject, CNN did not note that, although McCain is listed as a co-sponsor of the amendment to remove the funding for the museum, he missed the vote on the earmark. Read more

Stephanopoulos, Politico allowed Thompson's claims about his abortion record to go unchallenged
In an interview on This Week, George Stephanopoulos did not challenge Fred Thompson's assertions that "I think ... that Roe versus Wade should be overturned" and that "I've had a pro-life voting record my entire career on every conceivable issue that came up before us for almost a decade." Similarly the Politico reported that Thompson "trumpeted his own anti-abortion credentials after receiving the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee." Neither Stephanopoulos nor the Politico noted that Thompson has reportedly expressed support for abortion rights, as well as for Roe v. Wade. Read more

Reliable Sources guest dismissed criticism of Russert debate questions, but Kurtz still hasn't noted questions based on false information
On CNN's Reliable Sources, while discussing the November 15 Democratic presidential debate, Howard Kurtz did not challenge university professor Steve Roberts' dismissal of criticism of Tim Russert's questions to Sen. Hillary Clinton at the October 30 debate, even though at least two of the questions Russert posed included falsehoods. Read more

War in Iraq

CNN's Cafferty, Wash. Post's Murray left out GOP filibuster in reports on Democrats' failed Iraq legislation
During the November 16 edition of CNN's The Situation Room, while discussing the Senate Democrats' failure to get the 60 votes necessary to overcome a filibuster on a bill that would have provided $50 billion for the Iraq war while requiring President Bush to begin redeploying troops, CNN commentator Jack Cafferty described "the 53-45 vote" as "seven votes shy of what they needed for the measure to advance." Similarly, in a November 17 Washington Post article, staff writer Shailagh Murray reported, "The 53 to 45 vote in favor of the bill fell seven short of the 60 votes needed and signaled that the contours of the war debate, now nearing its first anniversary, have barely changed." Neither Cafferty nor Murray pointed out that the reason the Democrats -- despite having attained a majority of votes -- failed to advance the bill was that the Republicans forced a cloture vote, for which a 60-vote supermajority is required to overcome a filibuster. A July 20 McClatchy Newspapers article documented the Senate Republicans' repeated use of the filibuster to block legislation since they lost the majority in the Senate. Read more

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