Reynolds: Sept 2, 2009~~USUALLY PRESIDENTS ARE PAST THE 8-MONTH MARK BEFORE THEY HIT THIS STAGE: Obama’s Political Operation Escalates Attack On Media. It’s like W’s whole second term, playing out at double speed.
Posted at 2:29 am by Glenn Reynolds
Obama’s Political Operation Escalates Attack On Media; Raises Money Off Failure To Debunk “Lies”
The Plum LineGreg Sargent's blog
theplumline.whorunsgov.com
This has to be the Obama camp’s most direct and premeditated shot at the media yet: His outside political operation just blasted an email to supporters directly faulting the press for falling down on the job of debunking health care “lies.”
The email from Organizing for America, which was forwarded by a reader, is obviously not addressed to the media and explicitly focuses blames on the press for the traction that reform foes have gained. Hitting the media riles the base, and the email also asks for donations to fund OFA, because “stepping in where the media fails is a daunting challenge.”
“Our opponents will create and spread outrageous lies to try to stop President Obama from creating real change,” reads the email from OFA chief Mitch Stewart. “We just can’t count on the media to debunk them.”
The email suggests that the media’s failure has helped the “frightening smears” of reform foes seem “pretty convincing,” because “folks don’t know that they’re false.” It also quotes Obama’s recent denunciation of he-said-she-said journalism:
If somebody puts out misinformation… then the way the news report comes across is, “Today, such-and-such accused President Obama of putting forward death panels. The White House responded that that wasn’t true.” And then they go on to the next story. And what they don’t say is, “In fact, it isn’t true.”
Needless to say, this particular OFA effort has not been announced to…the media.
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