Yesterday the President held a a town hall in Portsmouth, NH in which 1,800 people respectfully listened to his remarks on the success of the Stimulus plan and the current debate underway on health care reform.  They applauded when he called for a more civil debate of the issues.  Outside the hall were many demonstrators - over 1,500.  Some were there to protest against Obama, carrying signs like "Obamacare Makes Me Sick."  Others were there to support the President, carrying signs reading "Reform Now - Insure People, Not Profits."  I was not there but I did watch the raw footage of the demonstrators shot by CBS and posted on their website.  And you can watch it too - here.  But if you happened to tune in to the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric last night what you saw instead was this. 

When I watched them back to back I was stunned.  In the first Obama supporters offer sane comments about why they support health care reform now, balancing out the Anti-Obama demonstrators who seem cranky and crazy in comparison.  In the second link - the one watched by many more Americans who tuned in to the Evening News mind you - you will find only Obama inside and anti-Obama protesters outside railing against his socialist policies.  The pro-Obama forces present are nowhere to be seen - erased.  Why?  Because they don't fit the narrative the so-called liberal mainstream media is pushing - an embattled President struggling to get his message across - under fire from an angry mob.  Putting their slant right up front, the CBS segment was entitled "Anger Management."

CBS missed a chance to inform the American people on a critical debate raging around a complex issue - letting the sounds and sights of the protest line in Portsmouth speak for themselves.  On one side a woman interviewed spoke about why the Public Option makes sense to her as a way to keep the insurance companies in check.  On the other a man relayed how he pays for his own insurance and he is not about to pay for someone who has none.  On one side a drumming group sits in front of a sign reading Health Services for Women.  On the other a cute little girl holds a sign reading "Obama lies, Grandma dies."  Powerful stuff. 

Remember wen the Evening News covered the Civil Rights struggles or the Vietnam protests?  Imagine if the Portsmouth story was reported like that.  Americans could have watched what happened in Portsmouth and drawn their own conclusions.  But that was CBS then.  This is CBS now.
 
The CBS News team's failure to report the facts of what happened in Portsmouth would be a journalistic disgrace if what they were practicing was truly journalism.  But that word seems old, something best used in the context of Morrow and Cronkite - back when reporters fought to get the story right and called it like they saw it.

So what to do we need to do?  Show up with 10 times as many protesters as the other side?  100 times?  March on Washington?  How can we hope to get our story across when CBS outdoes Fox in the real-time revision of history department.  It is easy to fall into despair.

But hope trumps fear, remember?  We learned that in the campaign.  So let's hope the MSM can get the story straight if we begin holding them accountable for doing their job.

Let's start today by writing to CBS today demanding that they run a story on the Evening News on the rising chorus of voices in support of the President's Health Care Reform initiative.

Here is the email address for The CBS Evening News: 

evening@cbsnews.com

And a sample comment you can send to the Editors there:

Last night you aired a segment called "Anger Management" which covered the President's town hall in Portsmouth, NH.  Your images and narration highlighted those protesting the President's policies but, unlike the raw footage of the event posted on your website, completely eliminated any reference to the many supporters who were also present.  Please correct this factual error in tonight's CBS Evening News in a story on the increasing numbers of people coming out in support of Health Care Reform along the lines Obama has recommended.

August 11, 2009
Dateline - Washington, D.C.

Using the cover of town hall meetings held to divert the attention of patriots opposing the Administration's efforts to destroy the world's best health care system, a secret joint session of the House and Senate was held last week entirely via teleconference.  During the session the Obamacare bill was passed via the reconciliation process, effectively socializing medicine in America.

In a move to preempt an anticipated public outcry, black helicopters were immediately dispatched from secret bases across the country - rounding up dissenters who revealed themselves by speaking out at the Town Hall meetings.  Initial reports, though sketchy, suggest they are being removed to a unknown, secure location for reprogramming.  President Obama, speaking at a Town Hall in Portsmouth New Hampshire this morning said "Resistance is futile." 

Meanwhile, millions of Americans brace today for the letter expected to go out later this week informing them that their private insurance plan had been canceled as it is no longer competitive with the Public Option.  Kathleen Sibelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services assured the nation that "there is no need for alarm as the new Health Care Commission  is standing by to make any and all decisions related to who gets what care when."

In a related story, a handwritten list of Obama critics was found this morning on the news desk at Fox Friends - apparently left by Rahm Emmanuel following an interview in which the existence of such an "enemies list" was vigorously denied by the White House Chief of Staff.  Fox News analyst Glenn Beck, whose name appears at the top of the list, commented "As it is clear now that I have been selected to be the first to face Obama's Death Panel - I regret only that I have one life to give for this great country."  A representative of Sarah Palin objected to Beck's claim, suggesting the list - which includes the former Alaska Governor's name as well, was in alphabetical order, preserving the possibility that Palin would be taken before Beck.

As The Week That Was comes to a close, let us ponder its possible significance.

• Unemployment went down (surprise, surprise), not up
• $'s spent on "Cash for Clunkers" went up and # of gas guzzlers on the road went down
• # of stories titled "Stimulus Not Working" went down
• # of non-crazies at Town Halls went up and # of Town Halls disrupted went down
• # of stories in the MSM highlighting scariness of the right wing-nuts went up
• # of stories in the MSM pushing Republican talking points went down
• # of Republican Senators willing to talk seriously about health care reform went up
• # of stories about things returning to normal in Iraq went up
  
• # of Taliban leaders in Pakistan taken out without collateral damage went up
• Obama's poll numbers went up, not down

The way I score it, the good guys - you know, the ones who prefer hope to fear and facts to hate-based fantasies - won the week. 

A turning point?  Hard to say - but remember that the stimulus money has just started to flow, the Climate/Energy bill has yet to clear the Senate, the Health Care debate is still heatedly underway, and we are still fighting two wars.

And yet President Obama is back up to 58% job approval in the latest Gallup poll.

As Darth Vadr once said, "Impressive, most impressive."

And this week made clear that Obama is not daunted by the huge challenges he faces, nor by the powerful forces arrayed against him.  No, like Teddy taking on the Trusts or Franklin assailing speculators on Wall Street -  Obama is psyched. 

This week he began to strike a more populist chord, urging on the faithful to get fired up again - doing whatever is needed to win this battle for the soul of our country.  E-mails went out calling for those who campaigned so hard for change to show up again.  And they did. 

This morning I read of the Town Halls in Washington, Indiana, and Massachusetts where respectful progressives showed up in large numbers at town halls - balancing out the shouting crazies with thoughtful questions - changing the tone of the debate just by being there and staying cool.

Until I ready these stories I admit, I had my doubts that this all would work - that change can really happen in this mixed up country of ours.  But it is -and it will.

So allow yourself to dream a bit, fast forwarding to next August, 2010:

• Unemployment is down to 7% as the stimulus is creating thousands of jobs
• Affordable health care for all Americans is the law of the land
• Our carbon footprint has stopped growing as green energy is big business
  
• And our men and women are finally leaving Iraq - in peace

Wow,  I get teary-eyed just thinking about.

What will the race-baiting, hate-spewing crazies be saying then?
More importantly, will there be anyone left listening to them?

For now, civil discourse is winning the day and progress in remaking America is being made.

And that, friends, is The Week That Was.

While the crazy Right is sending in stormtroopers posing as citizens to disrupt town halls, the crazy Left is sounding the alarm of betrayal at every sign of compromise on the part of the Democrats in Congress and the Administration.  So far this week I have written on how we need to step up and be a more active part of the solution.  Today I am focused on how we need to stop being part of the problem.

Do any of these blog titles sound familiar?

• Single Payer not even on the table
• Obama refuses to rule out bill with no Public Option
• Baucus bought by insurance companies, holds true reform hostage

Well sure they do.  Because they are almost - though not quite - every other thing one reads these days on Daily Kos, Open Left or TPM.

Why is this?  Why do we (I am a card-carrying, third generation liberal Democrat) fall into the same digital, simplistic lensing of this debate that we rightfully call out conservatives for in all the other blogs we pen each day? 

How is the Party of Just Say Not Enough any better than the Party of Just Say No?

How counterproductive is this tendency to discount those with differing points of view and to discredit those who bother to sit down and talk with them - let me count the ways:

• We shut out conservative Democrats who helped turn many red states blue in 2008, leaving them vulnerable to big-government labels thus putting their districts at risk in 2010.

• We turn off the Independents who want politicians to stop politicking and start governing

• We turn off the Republicans (remember them?) who voted for Obama because he said he would represent all Americans - old, young - black, white - rich, poor, etc. - bringing us together instead of continuing the same old politics of pulling us apart.
  

• We play into the hands of the Media who love drama and have little or no interest in reasoned debate of the issues

• Here is the real kicker - we turn off each other  - Liberals who need to be energized to make change happen at the very moment when they are most needed.  I mean come on, who wants to head down to a town hall meeting for change when single payer is not even on the table?

And when you add all these up - the loss of Conservatives, Independents, Republicans and even Liberals - you get falling poll numbers, feeding the meme that Obama has already failed, that change is not going to happen - again. 

And then Americans - with our notoriously short attention spans and our well documented tendency to turn on our heroes when they show the slightest chink in their armor - start to tune out, leaving the field to those who have no interest in the public good, only in lining their own pockets.

And then consider this: 

Are we just a tad too sure of our own infallibility?    A wee bit self-righteous perhaps?

• What if those with opposing points of view have a point?

• What if taking Single Payer off the table was the right thing to do?
  

• What if this debate is more involved than just Public Option Good - No Public Option Bad?

• What if those we accuse of selling out are doing exactly what is needed to deal with the complexity of reforming one fifth of our economy at a time when we are still emerging from the worst recession since WWII - staggering under trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see?
  

What if we start by considering the possibility that we don't have all the answers?

Now that would be different.  What would the implications of that for us, for our way of engaging in this health care debate?

We could try:

• Really listening to our opponents, taking their concerns and arguments seriously

• Cheering on Republicans still willing to work on health care

• Praising Conservative Democrats for keeping an eye on deficits

• Letting Obama know we are support his efforts to bring us together to get this done
  

• Showing up at town halls with signs like "Keep Working On This - It's Important"

Sounds hard?  Sure.  Not quite as fun as slamming the opposition and nailing the wobbly-kneed in our own camp?  Probably not.  But it is change, no doubt about it, real change, the hardest kind - change in ourselves.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Ghandi

Yes we can.

For those who have not been following my story this week here is a quick recap.

On Monday I wrote that I was back from being a political spectator only, sensing President Obama needed us, just like he needed us back in the campaign.

On Tuesday I reported on the  Organizing for America site which had everything an activist needed to engage in this fight and I promised to report on whether or not I actually did something with those ready-to-use tools to make a difference.

And then on Wednesday morning I put the OFA site's tools to work and:

• Signed the declaration of support for President Obama's health care plan which now has over a million signatures

• Donated money to keep the ad on the air that tells moving stories of Americans who lost their care or whose care did not cover their medical bills

• Volunteered to host a house party of house health care

• Volunteered to show up at a town hall event in support of health care reform now

• Wrote the following editorial which, thanks to the nifty OFA Letter to the Editor engine provided, was submitted to four local, three regional, and three national newspapers when I hit the SEND button:

It is an outrageous failure of journalistic standards that the Fourth Estate has allowed what could have been a serious debate addressing the deficiencies in our health care system to be hijacked by those who prefer only to score political points, deflecting attention away from the clear case for change. Our current health care system is the world's most expensive.  It is not working for employers who bear the brunt of much the spiraling costs.  It is not working for the insured, who often face bankruptcy when dealing with catastrophic illness.  It is not working for the forty-six million uninsured who have little access to the kind of basic checks up that can prevent serious and costly illnesses. This is not about taking away anybody's doctor.  This is not about some government takeover of health care.  And it is certainly not about the crushing deficits that may come if health care reform is enacted.  It is about the crushing economic burden under which we will all suffer if fundamental change is put off yet again.

So that is my report on Wednesday morning - Day 3 of my Return to the Movement.

And then the strangest thing happened yesterday afternoon.

I got this message from the President:

Gregory -

This is the moment our movement was built for.  For one month, the fight for health insurance reform leaves the backrooms of Washington, D.C., and returns to communities across America. Throughout August, members of Congress are back home, where the hands they shake and the voices they hear will not belong to lobbyists, but to people like you.

How weird is the that?I think the President needs me - needs my help - and he does.  So much so that he sends me an e-mail.   Did a president before this one ever send you a message directly asking for your help to change the country?  Well, there was, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."  But JFK issued that call to a nation.  This message was to me. And this is the really weird part:  I heard that call BEFORE Barack sent me that message.

Well, that is my Day 3.

What did you do yesterday?  What are you planning to do today?  Every day we need to wake up saying what can I do today to make a difference.  Sound corny?  Sound over the top?  I assure you that is what the other side is doing. 

More from Barack's message yesterday:

Fixing this crisis will not be easy. Our opponents will attack us every day for daring to try. It will require time, and hard work, and there will be days when we don't know if we have anything more to give. But there comes a moment when we all have to choose between doing what's easy, and doing what's right.

This is one of those times. And moments like this are what this movement was built for. So, are you ready?

I know I am not the only one who got this e-mail yesterday - I know you all doing your part.  I know you have your own stories - communiques from the field of battle for the soul of our republic - stories of the fight to take our country back.

Let's hear them!

Update: 

The time to log in, sign up and show up is now.  The other side is taking this political fight to the streets, their town hall disruption strategy all about getting the most attention for their upside down version of reality.  We need to act with at least the same degree of coordination and show up at our town halls - and theirs - making our voices heard - now.   We now return to the revolution, which is already in progress... 

Organizing for America

Wow.  The response to my post yesterday was incredible. 

Clearly many of us are way past watching the opposition drive the debate and the mass media serving up dollops of "who's on top" cynicism.  We want change now and we realize it is going to take more than electing our representatives and leaving the rest to them.  Every day Obama and those in Congress driving for true reform are battered by networks who are motivated not by what drives up ratings and profits, not by what is needed to hold those who lie for a living accountable.  Every day those who are working to write the bills that will become the laws that we need to make health care affordable and contain carbon emissions growth are pummeled by those who are paid by the very industries that are the problem to write out true reform and write in more giveaways to those who least need them.

This is a political street fight for control of the means of persuasion and we cannot, as the saying goes, bring a knife to a gunfight.

So what do we do? 

Yesterday that question was vetted by my circle of friend and here on this blog.  The answer is right in front of us.  We do not need to create some national movement - we are already part of one.  We do not need to generate from scratch the infrastructure a national movement needs to be effective locally, regionally and nationally - we have that already.

Last night I got an email from Organizing for America and clicked on the link.  These were the words I saw there as I scanned from left to right on the page.

• "Organizing for Health Care" - with a button below that read "Take Action"

• to the right of that was "Stand with the President on Health Care"

• and below that was "Organize Locally"

There was a video entitled "Organizing for Health Care" in which Barack is right there on my screen - cheering me on, urging me to step up to this defining moment and make change happen now.

There was another video, an ad with moving testimonies from working class American making the case for change plain and simple.  The current system leaves them out.  We need a system that actually delivers health care to its people.  That ad is already playing, paid for by donations by people like you and me - not by a lobbying group - not by a PAC - all over the country.  To keep it on there another button to click to help keep that ad on the air.

Then I clicked on that Take Action button.

My choices then?

• "Stand with the President" - sign a petition urging Congress to act on Health Care now
• "Share on Facebook"
• "Tweet This"
• "Contact people near you about Health Care"
• "Write a letter to the editor"
• "Tweet your Senator"
• "Faces of Health Care Reform" in which we can share own our stories, photos and videos
• "Display your support"

It was just like the campaign!  So sophisticated - so twenty-first century - so ready-to-use...and almost anything my friends and I thought of yesterday to do was there, waiting for me - to just do it.

It was clear to me as I surfed the site that we have the tools, that the same brilliant people who made Barack's once in a generation miracle campaign a reality were still there - doing what they need to drive change in which we can believe.  What was different?  Me.  I used to be out on the old BarackObama.com nearly every day.  The last time I can remember doing it was back in December, looking for discounts on Change We Can Believe In t-shirts.

So now I am back, returning to action, and the good news the quarterbacks are already out in the huddles, calling the plays.  We just have to take the ball and run with it.

If I like direct action I can share on Facebook and get a group together a group near me to go to road trip down to Washington and sit outside Mitch McConnell's office refusing to move until the GOP is required to say something other than No to Health Care Reform.  Or maybe I could connect with people down in Kentucky to sit outside his office there or show up with signs at his speaking engagement.  Or maybe I could do both.

If I like to write (which you all have figured out by now that I do), then I can write to the editors in my local papers and send copies to my friends around the country to urge them to write their own and submit to papers in states where Conservative Democratic Senators and Representatives are wary of signing on to something as big as changing Health Care.

If I have been personally  touched by the hardships of the current system - dealing with insurance companies to get them to pay for services my plan clearly says are covered, denying services for my children they need - stories that touch on the very real difficulties family face each day trying to care for their members with physical or mental health challenges and still make ends meet at the end of each month - then I can share that story in my own words with thousands, maybe millions of my fellow Americans right there on BarackObama.com.

Maybe I will share my story.
Maybe I will write those editors.
Maybe I will connect with my network and organize for change - now.

Stay tuned friends.  Tomorrow will tell...

It's a fair question- where have you been?  I have not blogged on TPM for nine months.

I know you have not been waiting out there with baited breath for me.  There is plenty to read every day on this great site.

No, the "where have you been" of which I speak is the question my President is asking of me right now. 

Not me, particularly, but the thousands like me that were completely engaged in the battle for the White House - taking time off of work to travel across the country to knock on doors and talk to our fellow Americans about why this election mattered - taking time to make a difference by electing Barack Obama president of the United States - people like me that have now reverted back to the role of political spectator - Sunday afternoon armchair quarterbacks extraordinaire.

Oh we still have great conversations about what is going on - with ourselves - we just are not doing anything about it.    I still avidly consume the blogs  - I just don't write in them anymore.  I can't wait for the 1:00 pm release of the Gallup Poll each day - but I have not done anything in months to make those numbers move.  Not since that day last November when, with pride, I wrote here in TPM saying I was headed off to New Hampshire  -one of millions engaged in a movement to take our country back - AND WE DID! 

But one election does not make a revolution.   

And one charismatic, visionary, intelligent, determined leader. even if he is Barack Obama, does not make for good government. 

Time after time on the campaign trail our President reminded us that this was not about him, it was about us.  Now- that he needs us most, I and thousands of others like me have relinquished the field to our opponents - those who believe that the best political argument is a lie and the best government is one that serves the interests of the upper class.  We have stopped responding to those e-mails from Organizing for America.  We don't hold house parties for change.  And we have no plans to travel to D.C. and protest outside the offices of John Boehner and Mitch McConnell calling to Fix Health Care Now!

No, we sit sipping our coffee, reading the news online surprised that Obama is having a hard time making his case to the American people.  We are shocked when a story like the question of his American citizenship gets traction in the mass media, are horrified when a crazy like Glenn Beck gets away with calling Obama a racist. And we sit in our living rooms watching Rachel, Ed and Keith - starting to get impatient with Obama - wondering if he cares enough about the gay community, is serious enough about closing Guantanomo - or has the backbone to require a health care bill with a public option.   At the very moment when we are in the clear majority - we turn on ourselves, thrashing about for enemies within our own camp - questioning, dare I say, the President himself - who we suspect is betraying us, the people who put him put into power.

The question really should be, who the hell do I think I am doubting Obama's commitment to change when he has given up everything else in his life to make it happen, not for him, but for us.  His taxes will go up.  He already has government sponsored health care.  He had two bestselling books before he was President.

What Barack Obama is working for day in and day out is a better country, a more civil society, a moral criminal justice system, a robust economy, a sustainable environment, and honor and respect and justice in the world community.

Sounds like causes worth fighting for to me.  And doubt not, my friends that we are in a fight.  The forces of mammon never let go of their power willingly.  The forces of repression are always loath to let in even a little light.

Barack cannot and will not win this fight alone.  He needs US - now.

It is time to retake the field my fellow revolutionaries.

In response to their simple lies, let us tell simple truths:

 - He is not a racist, they are.
 - He is not behind a government take over of health care, they are maintaining an insurance company take over of health care.
 - He is not failing in stimulating our economy - the economy that once was feared to be falling into depression is now coming out of recession in large part because of the largest stimulus since WWII in concert with swift, bold action taken to preserve the financial system and auto industry
 - Obama is not mounting crushing deficits, he inherited crushing deficits from Republicans, had to add to them to avoid a national economic emergency and is now fighting to curtail them in the long run through addressing spiraling health care costs - one fifth of our economy.

We're back, friends, and it's time to give 'em hell - for as Harry Truman once said, we just tell the truth on them and they will feel like they are in Hell.   But to do that we have to go from reading to writing,  From writing to calling.  From calling to networking.  From networking to protesting.  Time for our voices to be heard again, shattering the lazy, hazy summer silence of the August recess, providing not just a counterbalance to the cavils of the right, but a clarion call for true, lasting change - change that begins now.

Yes we can.

Good morning!

Welcome to the day we take our country back.

If you haven't voted already, vote.  If you have not already sent a message to all you know telling them to vote, do that, then vote.

Me?

I am voting at 7:00 am here in my precinct in Massachusetts and then heading up to New Hampshire where the Obama campaign is sending me to a part of that battleground state where they still need more volunteers. 

When I called last night to ask saying I would go wherever they needed me, they did not say:

 "any place would be fine"
 " we already have enough volunteers, thanks"
 "um, not sure we will get back to you"

What they said was:

"Where do you live?"
"How far are you willing to drive?"
"How about (INSERT TOWN NAME HERE), that would be a XX hour drive?"

I said, sure.  And then they gave me the relevant contact info and that was it.

This organization is amazing.  I have been helping out on campaigns since McGovern in '72 and I have never seen anything like it.

So as you get up this morning...and you ask yourself the question "Is there anything else you can do today to help take the country back?"  The answer is yes.

If you are in a battleground state, the Obama campaign still needs you.
Go on the website, enter your zipcode for the office nearest you and call them.

If you are in a neighboring state, ask yourself the question, "How far are willing to drive for change?" then go to the website, get the contact info for an office in that state and call them.  They will tell you where to go.

For the rest of today you won't have to worry about exit polls, late breaking smears and such.   You will be too busy.  Action is the best antidote for angst.

As Senator Obama said to an seemingly endless crowd last night in his closing rally of the campaign in Mannasas, Virginia:

"I have made the argument, now it's about who wants it more."

We do.

Will we take our country back today?

Yes we will.

Thanks TPM'ers for your nominations, discussion and votes for the Eddie Award, the TPM community's opportunity to recognize journalists who are making a difference by doing their job, getting to the truth and getting it out...not just relaying the spins of the campaigns.

Our first winner is Katie Couric of CBS News.
Runners up:  Campbell Brown and Rachel Maddow
Honorable mention:  Keith Olberman

Katies impact on the election has never been clearer than this Monday morning two weeks before the election.   Over the past weekend newspapers across the nation began making their endorsements for president.  Many, in choosing Barack Obama, cited his selection for VP as a reason to question McCain's judgment.  McCain's choice of Palin was also referenced by Colin Powell in his endorsement of Obama.  Before Couric's respectful but remarkable interview  - Governor Palin  was an exciting new figure on the American political scene, firing up the Republican base and brining out the crowds for her candidate.  But then a week of Couric interviews drip, drip, dripped into the national consciousness - and Palin was revealed for what she is, someone not qualified to be a heart beat away from the presidency.

Once again, our first ever Eddie goes to the anchor of the CBS Evening News - Katie Couric.  Got her blog using the link below and leave a comment, thanking her for making a difference through her professionalism, persistence and dedication to accuracy in reporting.

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/couricandco/main500803.php?category=Katie_Couric_s_Notebook&dir=couricandco

You got to hand to to Fox, try as they might to drive their phony stories the truth will out once in a while - even on their flimsy excuse for a "News Channel."

This morning's headline were simply delicious:

Obama Seeing Blue in Red States
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/17/obama-hopes-turn-reliably-red-states-blue/

The Republican Noise Machine were ready to push the "It's tightening" meme BEFORE the last debate, but the polls did not cooperate - providing a different story - "McCain down by double digits!".  Well here we go again...

MSNBC's Morning Joe has picked up the "It's down to 2 point!" narrative that Drudge started with a banner headline yesterday based on Gallup's dubious "Traditional" Likely Voter screen - one of three Gallup scenarios and - SURPRISE - the only one showing it that close - and made it the focus of the program's first hour.  Good for Andrea Mitchell who, when asked by Willie if she thought the race was that close, said many people are saying that but then noted that McCain is flying across the country defending Red states in which he is behhind.

Funny how Joe never mentioned Gallup's same poll has Obama up 6 with both Registered Voters and their new expanded likely voter screen (the one based on what they think will happen in this race).  Talking points to fight the fiction that it is that close after the jump.

Read more »

Remember the Texas debate back in the primaries - Hillary and Barack sitting side by side?

Many considered it to be Obama's strongest performance in the debates.

Well, that is the format tonight.

Some questions:

• How will that play into the audiences perception of the candidates?
• How will help/hurt McCain if he decides to launch an Ayers-war again the democrat?
• How will Obama use it to help close the deal with the American people?

Some things to consider:

• Obama seems more comfortable with McCain than does McCain with him
• It is harder to look your opponent in the eye and ask why he "pals around with terrorists" when he is sitting right next to you
• The very closeness of the participants tends to enforce a certain civility
• The fact that they are sitting side by side tends to level the players as equals

So how could Obama put all that together? 

Accepting the fact that being at the same level means he does not have to try so hard, Obama can relax, turn on the charm and smile at McCain, the moderator and the audience once in a while - appreciating things his opponent says with which he agrees to demonstrate his bipartisanship - using the same smile later but adding a slight shake of his head when he pivots to say tough things like calling out McCain for saying things that are not true or reminding Americans we just can't afford four more years of the same.  And then he can lean forward, look into the camera and get serious, speaking in short sentences directly to the American people  - explaining why things are so hard for them now and specifically how he and they will have to make tough choices and work hard together to turn the country around.

He does that and it is game - set - match Obama, regardless of what McCain might do.

So, all in all I would say the format will matter and it means advantage Obama. 

The question is will the he take full advantage of it.

We are getting a great response today on the TPM Eddie Award for Journalistic Accuracy. 
Based on your helpfully pragmatic input we will run this for the week, providing updates throughout, with a winner to be announced each week on Friday.  Nominees so far include Campbell Brown, Katie Couric and Rachel Maddow. 

Nominees so far...

Campbell Brown of CNN for "So what if Obama were a Muslim or an Arab?"

Katie Couric of CBS News for her interviews of Sarah Palin

Rachel Maddow of MSNBC for her interview with David Frum  on her own show

Comments on the nominees?  Other heroes of the fourth estate we should consider honoring?

Read more »

Based on the positive feedback yesterday on the post praising CNN's story on McCain's misleading statements about Obama's tax plan, we, the TPM Community will be granting each day an award for Accuracy in Journalism named for Edward R. Murrow which, to distinguish it from the many other awards named for the legendary dean of CBS News, we are calling The Eddie.

Use this thread to offer your nominations throughout the day.  We will close out nominations toward the end of the afternoon and award to the organization or individual who, for today at least, met the standard for journalistic accuracy that is...The Eddie.

Definition of accuracy (from Dictionary.Com):

The condition or quality of being true, correct, or exact; freedom from error or defect; precision or exactness; correctness.

Our criteria for the award: To be awarded to journalists or journalistic organizations who consistently demonstrate in the performance of their duties that they value educating the public over generating higher ratings or sales and that they are willing to take the heat from the campaigns by calling out departures from fact versus taking the easy route and merely repeating a lie they have heard.

Some suggested guidelines:

• Checking on what a candidate says about their opponent and including the truth along with the accusation
  
• Holding candidates responsible for what they said yesterday, not just reporting what they say today
• Pointing out in interviews with a candidate to their face when a statement is false, misleading or and/or more true of their own campaign than that of their opponent

Questions:

• Can an Eddie go to the same organization or individual in successive days?  Yes.
• Can we go a day without an Eddie if no one meets the standard?  Yes.
  

Obama got out in front on the Republican Noise Machine's carefully orchestrated ACORN voter registration fraud dust up. 

Check out the link for the article in the Washington Post:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/10/14/obama_comments_on_acorn_contro.html