Democratic Campaign Taking a Toll on Both Obama and Clinton
In four separate surveys conducted since March 20, when asked about each of the Democratic candidates, between 25%-31% of the public has said their opinions have recently become less favorable.
Debatable Campaign Coverage
Last week, a major part of the media narrative about the 2008 campaign involved the media themselves — specifically ABC’s moderators for the April 16 debate in Philadelphia.
Less News is Good News for McCain
While McCain has been consistently less visible to the public, far more Americans say the news they have been hearing about him is generally positive than say the same about coverage of Obama or Clinton.
McCain Doesn’t Get Most Exposure, But Can’t Be “Bitter” About Media
Renewed attention to Iraq benefited the GOP candidate, while Democrats seemed caught up in a game of gaffe ping-pong, with the media eagerly keeping score.
Clinton Punches, Obama Bowls, McCain Reminisces
Obama attracted the most coverage, McCain’s bio tour earned him headlines, but Clinton generated the clearest story line with her “Rocky” reference.
Clinton Controversy Heavily Covered but Obama Maintains Visibility Edge
While her Bosnia flap made Clinton the newsmaker of the week, she continues to lag behind Obama in terms of public visibility. Both candidates, despite recent negative news, have seen little change in their favorability.
Clinton’s Turn in Bad News is Big News
In recent campaign media narratives, bad news is big news. Hillary Clinton’s oft-repeated story about encountering sniper fire in Bosnia made her last week’s top newsmaker.
Talk Show Hosts Agree Obama Speech Was Boffo Theater but Some See the Script as Unconvincing
The usually fractious fraternity of talking heads agreed on one thing — Obama’s ability to put words together. They were less unanimous about the content.
Obama Speech on Race Arguably Biggest Event of Campaign
Fully 85% of Americans say they heard about Obama’s speech, and 70% have heard more about him in the last week than any other candidate. The impact of events on Obama’s image appears to be mixed.
Racial Tensions Roil Democrats’ Media Narrative
Maybe the good news for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama last week was that the problems of another Democrat — Eliot Spitzer — generated almost as much media attention as they did.
