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The critical policy issues, and almost every other element of the campaign, took a back seat to the vice-presidential selection process last week. The only other story to really break through was a flap that arose after John McCain had trouble keeping track of his real estate.
There wasn’t much good news in the media campaign narrative for either John McCain or Barack Obama last week. The big McCain story was a staff shakeup that exposed internal problems in the campaign. Meanwhile Obama was trying to prove his patriotism, avoid charges of flip-flopping, and minimize the damage from a surrogate controversy.
Introduction “The qualifications for self-government are not innate,” wrote Thomas Jefferson, “but rather are the result of habit and long-training.”[51. numoffset=”51″ Thomas Jefferson to Edward Everett, 1824, The Writings of Thomas Jefferson (22 vols., 1905), edited by Andrew A. Lipscomb and Albert Ellery Bergh, Vol. 16, p. 22.] Indeed, the development of citizens, key to […]
Most Americans continue to track local and national news most of the time, while most say they follow international news only when important developments occur. A 57% majority follows local community news closely most of the time, whether or not something important is happening. Similarly, 55% follow national news most of the time. By contrast, […]
Barack Obama and John McCain sparred over offshore drilling and campaign financing, and former Presidential contender Al Gore generated headlines with an endorsement of Obama. But the coverage last week also focused on two people—Michelle Obama and George Bush—who may have a major impact on the outcome of the election.
Two men who are non-candidates for president drove the media story lines in the campaign last week. Jesse Jackson’s brutal remarks about Barack Obama may have helped the Democrats. Phil Gramm’s about the recession being largely mental did not help his friend John McCain.
Overview Barack Obama has achieved a significant lead over John McCain in the days following the first presidential debate. Pew’s new survey conducted Sept. 27-29 finds that Obama has moved to a 49% to 42% advantage among registered voters. The race was virtually even in mid-September and early August. Obama had not led McCain by […]