Daily Tidbits: July 24, 2008

• TNR’s Gabriel Sherman shares the MSM reporter’s perspective on covering the Obama campaign, and it’s hilarious. Sherman interviews NY Times’s Adam Nagourney, who complains about how furious he was over how the Obama campaign wrote a detailed criticism of one of his articles. He doesn’t claim the Obama campaign was wrong, mind you, he’s just enraged that the campaign had the audacity to issue the rebuttal publicly without contacting him first. Then Nagourney apparently complains that this goes to a sense of “entitlement” in the Obama campaign. Really? Project much, Adam? The article in question, including it’s headline, was a hack job. The article created a misleading impression of racial divisiveness in the country and racially-based animus towards Barack and Michelle that was not supported by the polling data. It failed to mention that Barack and Michelle actually were more favorably rated than John and Cindy in the poll data. It also didn’t mention that Obama is doing better than the very white John Kerry in ‘04 among the demographics cited in the article. The rebuttal memo by the Obama campaign very unemotionally and quantitatively pointed out how the polling data was not accurately represented in Nagourney’s article. This is a sense of entitlement? No, it’s a political campaign, and if you don’t correct false stories, you die. How about Adam’s expectation that he’s entitled to advance notice of any criticism of his articles before the criticism goes public? Does Adam grant such editorial privileges to people he writes about in his articles? Did he give the Obama campaign a chance to comment on his conclusions before he published? I thought not. Yet he’s enraged. Hypocrite.

• While Obama speaks to over 200,000 cheering Berliners, McCain speaks in front of Schmidt’s Fudge Haus. He seems to be afflicted with some food caught in his teeth and a runny nose, and his remarks compete with some noisy wind chimes. What is up with his campaign? When Obama was looking all commander in chief-ish in a helicopter in Iraq with General Petraeus, they had McCain ride in a golf cart with George H.W. Bush, which looked like an outtake from Grumpy Old Men. Now this photo op on the day of Obama’s Berlin speech. Brilliant.

• Matt Yglesias on McCain’s latest attempt to dig himself out of his Surge-gaffe without conceding error: redefine what “surge” means! McCain is trying to re-define it as merely shorthand for standard “counterinSURGency” efforts by the military — not the troop escalation commenced in early 2007. Problem is, the “surge” was a GOP-manufactured term to help brand the troop escalation in a more politically attractive manner. The term was introduced by Bush himself and repeated by GOP surrogates, including McCain, repeatedly. Even as recently as yesterday morning, McCain and his campaign’s surrogates have attacked Obama as follows: “Obama didn’t support the surge and refuses to recognize that the surge worked!” Obviously, McCain and these talking heads didn’t mean “Obama didn’t support routine counterinsurgency measures and refuses to recognize the effectiveness of routine counterinsurgency measures” — that’s absurd. Like blaming Obama for the gas price surge in his recent negative ad, McCain seems to be doing everything he can to harm his own credibility.
• Another missed gaffe in McCain’s interview with CBS News/Katie Couric: he said Iraq was the first major conflict post-9/11. Is he confusing the Iraq war with Afghanistan war?

• In Quinnipaic poll, McCain gains in several battleground states: CO, MI and MN, while Obama maintains large lead in WI.
• WaPo reports on Obama’s meeting with German Chancellor Merkel and preparations for Berlin speech.
• Pew Hispanic Center Poll: Obama opens up huge lead among Latino voters, 66-23%. Hispanic party affiliation with Democrats has grown significantly, while GOP affiliation has dropped. Obama leads among every nationality, including Cuban-Americans. Obama’s largest lead is among Hispanics under 30, among whom he leads 73-16%.
• Obama is in Germany, and Reuters compiles what some Germans are saying about his visit.
• NY Times reports on Obama’s meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
• Arizona is not in the bank for McCain.
• WaPo: Obama vows to back Israel and peace talks.
• WaPo: Obama’s trip to Israel was the most meticulously planned, reflecting its importance to the Obama campaign.
• Bob Novak hits a 66 year old pedestrian with his Corvette and speeds off before he’s stopped by a witness on a bicycle, who blocks Novak’s car until police arrive. The police give Novak a $50 ticket. (Hey, that’s pretty good justice for DC – I’m surprised they didn’t grant him retroactive immunity!). Here’s video of the Dark Prince:

• WaPo – The Trail. McCain’s trying to promote offshore drilling while claiming to be a friend of the environment. How does he reconcile these two policies? He denies the adverse effects on the environment after Katrina and Rita, despite evidence to the contrary. It didn’t help that he canceled his trip to an offshore rig while Louisiana struggles with a huge oil spill resulting from a barge collision.
• Bush shares his own special theory on how the economy tanked: