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[George_Bonanza]

1. Not to offend Clark supporters

But there's only so much space in the media. Clark just barely won his favoured state, Oklahoma, by less than a percent. Contrast this to Edwards big win in SC and Kerry's 7-for-9 success rate, and you have little room for the general.

[1971]

6. I disagree

Media jockeys have plenty of time to fit news in -- it just means cutting the pie in smaller pieces.

Besides, the Oklahoma election was much more exciting than AZ or SC, yet they give it short shrift the day after.

Also, Clark's story is very compelling, yet they continue to pan it.
Alterior motives for sure.

[Tim_in_HK]

7. But yet there is time

to do reports on Lieberman and Dean?

I agree with the gist of what you are saying, but even when doing pieces on the race overall, info on Clark was scant or non-existant.

I actually have seen some pieces lately on the spouses of the candidates as well, and noticed that Gert Clark wasn't featured on that either. I don't know if you've seen Gert Clark campaign, but she is actually very good, equal or better to Teresa Heinz.

It's a total ignore.

[1971]

30. Gert is amazing!

I noticed that, too. And Gert Clark is amazing - very comfortable on the campaign trail, very personable and warm, just a great campaigner. Wes Clark has a great teammate on the campaign trail.

Theresa Heinz Kerry makes me suspicious. Gert Clark make me feel at ease.

[TeeYiYi]

9. That's right . . .

. . . the whore media only has room for two candidates and one of Janet's boobs. (*)( )

TYY

[xultar]

21. *crickets chirpping* n/t

[jpgpenn]

22. his " favoured state"?

Edwards won a state his was born in and was niebhors of for some time. Did you expect anything less from his win?

Compare apples to apples, When AK gets to vote, you can make such a flimsy claim!

[FullCountNotRecount]

23. Clark won 38% of OK delegates

and delegates in four states. Edwards only won his birth-state and some in two others.

[funky_bug]

27. No, the poster is right on the money - Link to back it up

When they DO have something about Clark that they are forced to report, they do it like this:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0204Clark04-ON.html

A story on Clark, but a pic of Kerry. You wonder why we're so miffed? Hell, even Yahoo BARELY mentioned Clark, but talked on and on about Edwards SECOND PLACE WIN in OK.

It's not a figmant of our imagination, and I really appreciate your post confirming that from the other side of the fence.

[Tim_in_HK]

2. I agree

Although as of now, I would say it has gotten slightly better since Feb 3, meaning they actually have to say his name now.

I was at work yesterday, and a couple of people in my office, knowing I'm for Clark, asked how he did on Feb 3. I said he squeaked out a victory in OK and came in 2nd in three others. None of them believed me. We had to look it up on the Internet together to prove the point.

Obviously unscientific, but decent anecdotal info.

[1971]

3. Thanks for the validation (n/t)

[sandnsea]

4. He's 4th in delegates

If somebody else would drop out because he hasn't got a snowball's chance in hell, then Clark would be 3rd and get the media coverage. He deserves more, but he is 4th and is at the bottom of most of the polls too. Maybe as we get closer to TN and VA.

[1971]

11. Why Sharpton may stay in the race --

-- see the article in the Village Voice, and the interview of its author on Democracy Now! today:

Is Bush Covert Operative Behind Sharpton's Campaign?
Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/04/1656216


A Bush Covert Operative Takes Over Al Sharpton's Campaign
Sleeping With the GOP
by Wayne Barrett with special reporting by Adam Hutton and Christine Lagorio
February 5th, 2004 8:20 AM
http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0405/barrett.php

[Skwmom]

19. He would still not get the media coverage.

Unless it was to trash him. They either ignore or trash Clark.

[texasmom]

5. Thank you for being objective and honest.

It has been painfully obvious, but I do think there was improvement in the media coverage today.

[cthrumatrix]

8. right...they need more time to drag down Dean before this weekend

[LibDemAlways]

10. Last night when it was apparent

that Clark had won OK, CNN refused to acknowledge it. The official line was that the election would have to be "certified" first. What a bunch of bullshit. Had Kerry won by a similar margin, they'd have trumpeted it.

Truly think Clark has been marginalized because of the threat he poses when America wakes up and reads his resume. The repukes and whores don't seem to be quaking in their boots over a possible Kerry nomination. They've definitely been out there touting him. Must have a hell of a lot of "opposition research" they're waiting for the right moment to unleash.

[FullCountNotRecount]

28. We should demand CNN to show delegate totals besides vote totals

it's about delegates not popular vote. How misleading and one-sided CNN is.

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. Thank You PeteNYC

Even though the media has given much more attention and positive press to Edwards, Clark has beaten Edwards 5 times out of 8 times, each has won one but Clark has more second place finishes, and has demonstrated strength in more regions than Edwards.

Edwards has been given the positive tag of having "momentum", while they do little but maintain an ongoing death watch on Clark. That is the equivalent of Clark having to swim a race against Edwards fighting a constant 10 mph current, while Edwards gets a strong tail wind and a sail. Perceptions affect reality, people like winners. No offense to Kerry, who has really and effectively turned his campaign around, but Kerry isn't a different U.S. Senator now than he was when he was lagging in the single digits in National Polls. People are getting to see him now in a positive light.

Given that Kerry and Edwards are being promoted as winners, and Clark as an also ran, Clark has done remarkably well to date under the circumstances.

[Bread and Circus]

20. This is exactly how I feel...

:-(

And what really burns me is Terry McAuliffe doing
his best to ignore it. I mean, he talks of military
credentials and fails to mention Clark.

[mitchum]

13. I'm another Kerry supporter that thinks there is a media blackout...

of Clark.

His is a fascinating narrative, and they still neglect him. I don't know why.

[1971]

33. Simply because they don't want him to win.

[curse10]

14. I've noticed it too

All last night I was waiting to hear about Clark and got little to no info from cnn. It's ridiculous.

[BeyondGeography]

15. Classy post, as always, Pete

In a strange way, the media mistreatment of Clark actually validates my feelings for him. If he weren't such a truth teller, maybe they'd like him more. Of course, another term for the moral high ground is the nobility of failure, and it would be preferable (and politically beneficial)if he got a fair shake from the media.

[Skwmom]

16. They fear Clark

He is the one who has the moral authority to take on Bush. Putting him up against Bush would expose the corruption of the Bush administration in a harsh light.

On edit: Clark is also such an extraordinary individual to have him on a Democratic ticket would reflect well on the Democratic party. He is like Jimmy Stewart goes to Washington. They are out to destroy the Democratic party not just win the next election.

"I’ve always said there are two things important in a president - one is intelligence the other is character and if you can’t have both you’d probably chose character but in Wes’s case he‘s got both . He’s a soldier but a statesman as well. He’s not just a person with a narrow military knowledge. He has a great grasp of some of the complex issues surrounding education and economic issues." Adm Charles Larsen (Ret.) U.S. Navy

"I think the thing that makes Wes different from others is that he has been motivated not for personal gain - he’s been motivated because he feels generally for this country and always has. I think Wes Clark is an American hero. I know that’s a trite term and perhaps overused term but it’s a realistic term when you describe him." Capt. Gaines Dyer (Ret.)

"Wes Clark is nobody’s yes man, his ability to cut through b.s. that somebody is giving him - I don’t know any communicator better than he is. He’s been around the world. He knows foreign cultures, he knows our own culture. He will have the welfare of the American people writ large always in his heart and in his mind." Col. William J. Taylor Jr. (Ret) U.S. Army West Point Faculty

"Major Clark is the most capable White House Fellow I have known….He brought to his work a brilliant mind and rare common sense. He has initiative, style, imagination, moral courage, and integrity each in extraordinary degree...He has a rare sensitivity to others and a remarkable ability to motivate and lead them....." James T. Lynn, Director, Office of Management & Budget 1976

"Wes Clark has the character and depth to be another Marshal or Eisenhower in time of war.“ Brigadier Gen William W. Crouch, March 1988

[Jerseycoa]

17. Here's how real it gets

Edwards gets the endorsement of a football coach; it's news.

Clark gets the endorsements of 58 ambassadors and diplomats; not
news.

[Bread and Circus]

18. Thanks Pete, it's comments like yours that help heal a lot of soreness..

I am dead serious. Thanks.

:hug:

[FullCountNotRecount]

26. Cnn put OK totals horizontally showing Clark last when he was first

and then had a wrong percentate as Clark was listed as 10% like Leiberman yet had 4,000 more votes.

[emulatorloo]

24. It is just bizarre

I agree, Pete, and it aggravates me because Clark is my second choice. They should be covering him as much as they cover Edwards, yet they don't.

It is as if since he fell back so far in NH from where he was in early polling, they just decided that he was going nowhere.

He is a strong candidate, one of the most intelligent out there. Here's hoping that the OK win will put the spotlight back on him.

[TexasPatriot]

25. In the intro and first segment of Crossfire today

the day after the primaries...
This was the tally for times name mentioned:

Edwards: 16
Kerry: 17
Clark: 1
Clinton: 1
Dean: 1

They cut to 'Ricin-Scare-Alert' and I turned it off in disgust.

[Julien Sorel]

29. Listening to NPR on the way home from work today.

They do a 1 minute spot on politics: a soundbite of an Edwards speech; a quote of Edwards talking about how his SC win will help his fund raising, a paraphrase of Edwards describing the race as between him and the frontrunner Kerry, and that's all. It's been like this on NPR for 2 1/2 months or so; first it was Dean, then it was Kerry and Dean for a while there, now it's Kerry, some Edwards, and some Dean. And what did Edwards do? He won his birth and neighbor state, against almost no campaigning except from Kerry, a Northeastern liberal. I don't buy into the conspiracy theories; I simply think it's lazy and uninformed journalism -- the journalists are creating self-fulfilling prophecies. Clinton won big in SC, and that put him on the road to success; therefore any win in SC should put the candidate on the road to success. Edwards won SC, so Edwards should get plenty of coverage.

[Ivote]

31. Clark is my first choice

February 2, 2004 For Immediate Release: Fifty-five US Ambassadors and Diplomats Endorse Clark visit www.clark04.com/press/release/221/ for text

[tishaLA]

34. They have bought into the myth

that this is a "two man race"--a myth spun by Edwards--and they have chosen to see the race as binary. They are quickly working up ways to make sure Dean's name is forgotten, too (although, to be fair, there is more rationale for that).

Reporters, as you say, are lazy. They want easy narratives. A NE liberal against a southern "populist"--no matter how incorrect that appellation may be--works for them. It's vile.

[nwstrn]

32. Here's a response from MSNBC reporter

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4163913/

I don't think the press likes him:


"He has no idea it’s counter-productive to answer questions from the press by reciting bytes of campaign rhetoric. Worse, his staff rarely managed to give his traveling press corps time to ask him questions and file the stories that would report his message."

. . .

"Upset that his father’s economic and anti-war messages weren’t getting out, told a handful of reporters, 'What did we get on the news for this weekend? A speeding ticket in Oklahoma. It's like, you've gotta be f—-king kidding me, come on. You gotta cover what the man says and what he stands for. And no one's done that. It's a hell of a way to pick a president.' Yet if Clark’s handlers gave his traveling press corps more access, the candidate’s stands on the issues would get more airing."


I don't have a problem with the coverage for Kerry and Edwards; they've both had strong showings and deserve the attention they're getting. But I would like to see some recognition that Clark has won in OK and beat Edwards in 5 of their 8 head-to-head contests. Clark is a serious candidate and deserves more press.

[1971]

35. That bugs.

"... Yet if Clark’s handlers gave his traveling press corps more access, the candidate’s stands on the issues would get more airing."

How about the press doing their job to report to the public, and like, doing their homework... they can get the 411 on Clark's policy issues from Clark's website (duh).