1 day to Election Day
The final show of the campaign season opens with the news that Obama's grandmother has died, and a clip of Obama briefly talking about it in North Carolina. It then swings to the final polls before the election: Obama leads in almost all demographics other than evangelicals, the elderly, and whites; he also leads in a measure of supporter enthusiasm and in all of the most important swing states. Howard Fineman joins the show once again, and is asked whether McCain should be finishing his campaign with a claim that Obama opposes coal, what the political impact of Obama's grandmother's death is, what it says that Obama has only been in red states for the past week, and whether Republicans claiming that it won't take a "miracle" for McCain to win have different polling numbers or are just wrong. This is a mixture of interpretive journalism and game schema -- the discussion of polls, and Fineman refers to McCain's coal claim as "small-ball." There's also a moment of partisan bias when Olbermann finishes the segment by saying that he's "still worried" that McCain might win.
The next segment, in which Nate Silver analyzes the last polls, is nearly pure horse race, with a little speculation mixed in. Olbermann asks him whether McCain has a chance to win, what early indicators of the outcome will be, whether there's anything in the fivethirtyeight.com model to account for candidates' ground games or the historic nature of the election (as in, will people come out just to be able to say they voted in 2008), whether exit polls are even remotely useful, and if weather will be a factor. There are several baseball references as well.
Next is a discussion of the early vote margins (heavily in favor of Obama), and by extension the campaign's "ground game." Chris Kofinis appears here, and Olbermann asks how far above average the Obama ground game is, whether empty McCain offices are indicative of volunteers giving up en masse, if there's any legitimate explanation for a McCain win other than "fraud at polls" (Olbermann says here that he's quoting Citizen Kane), and whether Obama owes a debt of gratitude to Hillary Clinton for giving his "ground army," as Kofinis refers to it, a dry run of sorts. This is one part interpretation, one part game schema.
The next subject is "a weekend of comedy." McCain made a last-second appearance on Saturday Night Live before the election, and Olbermann himself was the subject of a skit (played by Ben Affleck). Also, a Quebecois comedy team pranked Sarah Palin, convincing her that she was speaking to French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Eugene Robinson joins the show to talk about the political comedy. Olbermann asks how it's possible that Palin's staff let the prank call through, how the McCain campaign can afford to spend time talking about the Olbermann skit (and whether Robinson was disappointed he wasn't in it), why Palin's handlers lied about a deleted line from her last appearance, and how important the SNL appearances really are. This is primarily an example of interpretive journalism.
"Worst Persons" shows an unusually non-partisan feather today, with honorees including Bill O'Reilly and Bill Cunningham -- more usual suspects -- but also Shirley Neagle, who put out a sign on Halloween saying that children of supporters of one presidential candidate (who Olbermann does not name) would not receive candy. Olbermann says that it doesn't matter what candidate it was, she was "a jerk to children" and should be scorned. Though the first two were Republicans, the lack of identification of the third was a refreshing change.
The final Campaign Comment is a fiction: what would be happening now if all of the mistakes, blunders and gaffes that John McCain has committed were, instead, Barack Obama's? The answer, Olbermann says, is that Obama "would have long since ceased to be taken seriously by any measurable part of the voting public, as a viable, responsible, self-aware, mentally vigorous, non-dangerous, non-risk." This is essentially a plea with America to vote for Barack Obama, and it's a fittingly politically biased end to the period of analysis.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Day 23: October 31
4 days to Election Day
The show opens with a recap of everything that happened overnight in the campaign. Obama is attacking in Arizona still, while widening a national polling lead and getting help from an appearance by Al Gore in Florida, the state that cost him the 2000 election. Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is claiming that they are statistically tied in Ohio polling, as well as attacking Obama over claiming in an Iowa speech that winning the caucus there "vindicated" his faith in the American people, with McCain claiming that means Obama has less faith than he does. Howard Fineman enters the ring here, to discuss these topics. Olbermann asks him whether a new McCain ad claiming Obama supports him on climate issues is counterproductive by making Obama look good, what can or will change over the weekend, and how much of Tuesday's outcome will depend on the campaigns' ground games. Fineman's answers are interpretive reporting, the polling discussion is based on the game schema (as, for that matter, is the term "ground game").
The next guest is David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, who discusses the mood and strategy in Obama headquarters. Olbermann's first question is "Arizona? Why not Alaska?" which is a reference to the Obama team's activity in McCain's home state. He also asks Axelrod why the candidate is not visiting Pennsylvania, if he wishes Obama hadn't told Rachel Maddow that "we're winning," and whether Axelrod's opposite number Rick Davis's statement that McCain is in the midst of a comeback is true or a talking point. This last question sums up the segment, because Axelrod says it's a talking point -- but he's just spent several minutes giving out his own talking points, with no response from McCain. Rick Davis does not appear on the show. This is basically free airtime for the Obama campaign, unless the McCain camp has turned down invitations and Olbermann hasn't mentioned it.
Next, Olbermann discusses new evidence of Palin's effect on the Republican ticket: Republicans are endorsing Obama, either intentionally or by accident. Former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein says that he's voting for Obama because "you don‘t offer a job, let alone the vice presidency to a person after one job interview. Even at McDonald‘s, you‘re interviewed three times before given a job." Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger says that she won't be ready to take over as president as soon as she takes office, then backtracks on FOX News, saying that he "made a serious mistake," "wasn't thinking," and that "she's a quick learner." McCain then is quoted as saying that Palin is the new face of the party, either "as the vice president, or—OR..." which Olbermann and guest Jonathan Alter both take to mean that he's horrified at the idea of Palin as president. It's hard to take that seriously -- it's far more likely that his way of phrasing the comment was concerned with not wanting to discuss any other possibility, because that would necessitate his losing the election. This possibility is not mentioned -- not even in passing -- by either Olbermann or Alter. Taking the quote out of context and deforming it in that way is probably the most dangerous instance of partisan bias that I have yet seen while analyzing Countdown, because it is one that is not obvious to the political or journalistic novice. Calling Bill O'Reilly the worst person in the world day in and day out is one thing, but this is nearing intellectual violence that would enrage Olbermann himself, were it perpetrated against Obama.
The rest of this segment is more benign interpretive reporting. Olbermann asks Alter what the McCain quote meant -- as mentioned above -- as well as whether Palin has really united the Republican Party as McCain claims, and whether the vice presidential pick will become more important in all elections or this effect will be restricted to 2008.
Michael Moore appears in the next segment to talk about early voting and health care. Olbermann asks what the emphasis on early voting will do to voting on Tuesday, whether it hurts Obama to see polls released saying that early voting is leaning heavily for him (because it will cause complacency), and what the effect will be of the McCain adviser saying that current employer-provided health care is superior to what will exist under a McCain administration. Beyond just the fact that the guest is Michael Moore, this segment is filled with partisan bias because of the sense of camaraderie between Moore and Olbermann. Moore even refers to "people on our side of the political fence." The game schema is also employed by Moore when he makes an analogy between a fumble by football player Leon Lett and what could happen if Obama supporters become complacent.
"Worst Persons" tonight is predictably biased, but at least Olbermann is really good at doing impressions of people he doesn't like. The winners are O'Reilly, for continuing his ratings conspiracy claims; G.Gordon Liddy, for saying that Obama will rely on "the welfare class" to win; and Ann Coulter -- or, as Olbermann calls her, "Coulter-geist." Coulter makes the list for being the latest right-wing talker to compare Obama to Adolf Hitler. All three get impressions, and Coulter gets an eyepatch photoshopped onto her picture.
The final segment is a mostly useless (in a journalistic sense) conversation with Monty Python's John Cleese. Cleese talks about issues including McCain referring to Joe the Plumber as his "role model," where the glorification of the "everyman" comes from, Cleese's favorite moment from the campaign (it's McCain's "my fellow prisoners" slip-up), Karl Rove's tactics, and whether there's any hope for the American political system. Cleese also reads a poem that he wrote about Bill O'Reilly, much to Olbermann's delight. It's all very amusing as a throwaway segment, but not particularly useful in a news sense.
The show opens with a recap of everything that happened overnight in the campaign. Obama is attacking in Arizona still, while widening a national polling lead and getting help from an appearance by Al Gore in Florida, the state that cost him the 2000 election. Meanwhile, the McCain campaign is claiming that they are statistically tied in Ohio polling, as well as attacking Obama over claiming in an Iowa speech that winning the caucus there "vindicated" his faith in the American people, with McCain claiming that means Obama has less faith than he does. Howard Fineman enters the ring here, to discuss these topics. Olbermann asks him whether a new McCain ad claiming Obama supports him on climate issues is counterproductive by making Obama look good, what can or will change over the weekend, and how much of Tuesday's outcome will depend on the campaigns' ground games. Fineman's answers are interpretive reporting, the polling discussion is based on the game schema (as, for that matter, is the term "ground game").
The next guest is David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, who discusses the mood and strategy in Obama headquarters. Olbermann's first question is "Arizona? Why not Alaska?" which is a reference to the Obama team's activity in McCain's home state. He also asks Axelrod why the candidate is not visiting Pennsylvania, if he wishes Obama hadn't told Rachel Maddow that "we're winning," and whether Axelrod's opposite number Rick Davis's statement that McCain is in the midst of a comeback is true or a talking point. This last question sums up the segment, because Axelrod says it's a talking point -- but he's just spent several minutes giving out his own talking points, with no response from McCain. Rick Davis does not appear on the show. This is basically free airtime for the Obama campaign, unless the McCain camp has turned down invitations and Olbermann hasn't mentioned it.
Next, Olbermann discusses new evidence of Palin's effect on the Republican ticket: Republicans are endorsing Obama, either intentionally or by accident. Former Reagan chief of staff Ken Duberstein says that he's voting for Obama because "you don‘t offer a job, let alone the vice presidency to a person after one job interview. Even at McDonald‘s, you‘re interviewed three times before given a job." Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger says that she won't be ready to take over as president as soon as she takes office, then backtracks on FOX News, saying that he "made a serious mistake," "wasn't thinking," and that "she's a quick learner." McCain then is quoted as saying that Palin is the new face of the party, either "as the vice president, or—OR..." which Olbermann and guest Jonathan Alter both take to mean that he's horrified at the idea of Palin as president. It's hard to take that seriously -- it's far more likely that his way of phrasing the comment was concerned with not wanting to discuss any other possibility, because that would necessitate his losing the election. This possibility is not mentioned -- not even in passing -- by either Olbermann or Alter. Taking the quote out of context and deforming it in that way is probably the most dangerous instance of partisan bias that I have yet seen while analyzing Countdown, because it is one that is not obvious to the political or journalistic novice. Calling Bill O'Reilly the worst person in the world day in and day out is one thing, but this is nearing intellectual violence that would enrage Olbermann himself, were it perpetrated against Obama.
The rest of this segment is more benign interpretive reporting. Olbermann asks Alter what the McCain quote meant -- as mentioned above -- as well as whether Palin has really united the Republican Party as McCain claims, and whether the vice presidential pick will become more important in all elections or this effect will be restricted to 2008.
Michael Moore appears in the next segment to talk about early voting and health care. Olbermann asks what the emphasis on early voting will do to voting on Tuesday, whether it hurts Obama to see polls released saying that early voting is leaning heavily for him (because it will cause complacency), and what the effect will be of the McCain adviser saying that current employer-provided health care is superior to what will exist under a McCain administration. Beyond just the fact that the guest is Michael Moore, this segment is filled with partisan bias because of the sense of camaraderie between Moore and Olbermann. Moore even refers to "people on our side of the political fence." The game schema is also employed by Moore when he makes an analogy between a fumble by football player Leon Lett and what could happen if Obama supporters become complacent.
"Worst Persons" tonight is predictably biased, but at least Olbermann is really good at doing impressions of people he doesn't like. The winners are O'Reilly, for continuing his ratings conspiracy claims; G.Gordon Liddy, for saying that Obama will rely on "the welfare class" to win; and Ann Coulter -- or, as Olbermann calls her, "Coulter-geist." Coulter makes the list for being the latest right-wing talker to compare Obama to Adolf Hitler. All three get impressions, and Coulter gets an eyepatch photoshopped onto her picture.
The final segment is a mostly useless (in a journalistic sense) conversation with Monty Python's John Cleese. Cleese talks about issues including McCain referring to Joe the Plumber as his "role model," where the glorification of the "everyman" comes from, Cleese's favorite moment from the campaign (it's McCain's "my fellow prisoners" slip-up), Karl Rove's tactics, and whether there's any hope for the American political system. Cleese also reads a poem that he wrote about Bill O'Reilly, much to Olbermann's delight. It's all very amusing as a throwaway segment, but not particularly useful in a news sense.
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