“Should ‘CHANGE’ occur in November as polls indicate, we should see a lot of people from Illinois moving to Washington, D.C., and taking key spots in an Obama administration. Now is the time to anticipate these changes."
“We will be in Washington, D.C., August 4, 5, and 6, and we’re interested in scheduling a meeting with your government affairs team to discuss the changing political landscapes and our services and capabilities.”
“Dan is mentioned in every book about Sen. Obama and is profiled in Sen. Obama’s book, ‘The Audacity of Hope.’ Dan has been interviewed in recent months by Time magazine, the Washington Post, ABC’s ‘20/20,’ CNN, the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune and many other publications about Sen. Obama.”
Of course, the Obama campaign professed shock and disappointment at Shomon's solicitation. “As Mr. Shomon acknowledges, this e-mail was poorly conceived and inappropriate in both tone or content," Obama's campaign said. "He has also committed, and we fully expect, that his firm will take the utmost care to avoid in the future actions or any appearances such as that raised by this e-mail.” Yeah, right. This guy figures with Tony Rezko headed to prison for a long sentence, the field is wide open for him. Note that Shomon's solicitation describes him as "Obama’s longest serving campaign adviser and strategist."
Obama, while in Indiana yesterday, took time out for a lofty interview with Jake Query and Terri Stacy, morning show folks at WIBC. It was in keeping with the dumbing down of America approach to American politics. The questions were about on this level:
Terri: Do you wear boxers or briefs? HaHaHaHaHeHeHe
Jake: Are you a Mountain Dew Man? Hey, Put It Right There.
Terri: Can I keep one of your used soda cans as a keep-sake?
Jake: Is it true how big it is, you can tell me, good buddy?
Terri: Can I hold it? HeHeHeHe?
Jake: Oh yeah, our boss wanted us to ask you if Evan Bayh is going to be your choice for Vice President?
Terri: Oh, boo! Jeff Smulyan is a party pooper. He cut our pay!
13 comments:
As for the WIBC "reporters," somehow I'm not surprised. I was a broadcast journalism major for a while when I was at BSU. Hardly anyone in my classes had a desire to be a serious journalist and most were intellectual lightweights who dreamed of being the next Jon Stewart. The professors weren't any better and I switched majors.
Unfortunately, this dumbing down of media isn't just limited to America. British media is notoriously trashy. As I've traveled through Europe, many locals have complained that they only get a little news of what's going on in their own country and what's happening in the U.S. What's happening in the rest of Europe isn't covered.
I once ran into a young guy from Barcelona not long after Anna Nicole Smith's death. He said Spanish TV kept running stories on her and he asked who she was because no one in Spain knew. I said "No one in America knows either! She's never done anything except marry an old man who died and they've made her into a celebrity."
Sure. Obama's taking it easy! That's why he's fully staffed Indiana. Geez...Nothing is taken for granted by this Obama supporter. I've seen my party mess things up more times than I care to remember. If a dimwit like George W. Bush can be elected twice, McCain can do it, too...especially when you look at the Gallup tracking polls.
Who ever said Jake and Terri were political journalists? Even straight up journalists? That isn't their role. Just because they are available to large audience via TV, radio, newspaper, etc. doesn't mean they have to be a hard-hitting journalist asking the "tough" questions. Unbelievable.
Greg Garrison has an equally wide audience on WIBC. The question isn't whether Terri and Jake are journalists. It's a deliberate choice of persons to conduct interviews to avoid any tough questioning of the candidate. Obama still won't appear on FOX News.
Why would any serious politician appear on Fox News. They distort what people say and are unfair and unbalanced.
That's because, when it comes to cable news networks, Obama only wants to appear on serious news organizations.
Oh, yes, Fox News...fair and balanced? This *is* the same network who digitally altered the photos of two New York Times reporters who had recently reported on Fox's ratings slide. During the segment, however, Fox News featured photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered -- the journalists' teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe's hair moved further back on his head. Fox News gave no indication that the photos had been altered. Remember, this is the same network that wondered if the dap was "terrorist fist bump".
Hell, this is the same network that bumped an interview with John McCain to run an "exclusive" with Brett Favre. Fox is a freakshow, and I think I would actually trust Jake and Terri to report on hard news more than that network at this point. By the way, Garrison is widely considered by the WIBC staff to be a pompous, ignorant joke.
That makes sense then. The way the post was written, it made it seem more critical of them instead of Obama's decision to pick them for an interview. There is nothing wrong with having fun interviews like that, but avoiding serious interviews are another.
Obama and both the Clinton's have appeared on Fox.
I have no regrets over our interview with Barack Obama. Yes, I had fun with the Senator, but in addition, we also asked him why he had not yet gone to Afghanistan, who he is leaning towards picking for VP, his thoughts on off shore drilling, etc..
In addition, I have previously asked Obama questions regarding his acceptance of funds from Oil executives and the accuracy of his campaign ads.
After interviewing Hillary Clinton we were asked to pull one of my questions because Senator Clinton "was not prepared for it". I have never had an invested interest in any interviewee while questioning them. Doing so would jeopardize the integrity of our program. I would welcome the opportunity to be critqued for my interviews of John McCain, but he has yet to agree to be interviewed on the WIBC Morning News.
I am flattered to be mentioned on the blog. Thanks for listening.
Jake Query
Morning Show Co-Host
WIBC
Jake, I actually enjoy listening to you and Terri in the morning. I hope you forgive me, though, if I don't tune you in for hard news but rather more for entertainment value. Kudos to you and Terri for landing an interview with Obama. My criticism is more directed at the candidate for relying on soft news sources to avoid tougher forums. You only have to listen to Obama's interviews with Tim Russert to know what I'm talking about. Obama faired poorly under Russert's tough questioning. So it's no surprise that Obama is choosing celebrity tabloid TV shows and radio entertainers to communicate to voters.
That sound you hear is AI backing up and back pedaling. Kudos to Jake Query for commenting!
Yes, nice job Jake coming in and defending yourself! Even more impressed that you kept it professional, when I assume your blood was boiling after reading the post.
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