Analyst Probes Obama's 'Favorite Son' Appeal Among Liberals, Media
by Jim Brown
December 11, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Senator Barack Obama is still riding a wave of positive media attention, with a recent surge of adulation coming from the Chicago Tribune. That newspaper has already endorsed the Illinois Democrat for president in 2008, even before he has officially declared his candidacy. An editorial in the Tribune claims Obama should run for the U.S. presidency in '08 because he brings "an approach that transcends party, ideology, and geography" and his "magnetic style and optimism" would draw in voters. But one conservative media analyst feels there is more to the senator's appeal than meets the eye.
Tim Graham, the director of media analysis at the Media Research Center, admits that it is not surprising when a home state newspaper roots for its favorite son. But, in this case, he says, the candidate being endorsed is not just a favorite son, but "somebody who the Chicago Tribune basically placed in the Senate by destroying his Republican opponent."
The Tribune gave Obama an edge over his opponent, former Senate candidate Jack Ryan, "using leaks from his divorce report," Graham asserts. Ryan withdrew from the 2004 race amidst highly publicized allegations about his past sexual behavior.
"I think when people talk about the political marvel that Senator Obama [supposedly is], they seem to leave out that part of the story -- that the Chicago Tribune basically appointed him to office by destroying his opponent with personal information," the media analyst observes. However, he asserts, Obama is a kind of "black John Edwards," a man with little experience in the Senate running around on buzz.
The Chicago Tribune says of Obama, "No one else has shown a comparable talent for appealing to the centrist instincts of the American people," Graham says. But he insists the "centrist" label is not accurately applied to the Illinois Democrat. "I think there's so much about Barack Obama that hasn't been explored," the media analyst says, adding, "I think it's odd that they portray him as a centrist when he's really quite liberal. It's the same thing they're doing for Hillary."
So, questionable as the basis of Obama's Democratic "favorite son" status may be, it has apparently been documented in the Chicago Tribune. The question that remains now, Graham says, is whether the New York Times is going to be endorsing Hillary Clinton next week.
Are Hillary Clinton's Presidential Hopes Likely to Be Realized?
While Obama has yet to declare definite presidential intentions, Hillary Clinton gave a strong indication this week that she is indeed planning to run for the White House in 2008. Reportedly, she called political activists in Iowa and New Hampshire to discuss her prospects. But one former Democrat insider says voters should not jump the gun and assume that Mrs. Clinton is a shoo-in for the Oval Office, or even for the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination.
Author and political analyst Keith Thompson recently published Leaving the Left: Moments in the News That Made Me Ashamed to Be a Liberal (Sentinel, 2006). He says Hillary Clinton is hoping to convince voters she is really a moderate.
The New York Senator is "betting on amnesia," Thompson contends. "She's betting on a whole new generation of voters who have come of age who don't know about the Clintonista period in American politics. They don't know about the corruption and the illegalities that took place."
But there are a few factors that are not in Hillary Clinton's favor, the author says. For one thing, he asserts, "she doesn't have Bill Clinton's charm, his gregarious, easy-with-words, make-you-want-to-like-him kind of good ol' boy [style]. She's not a good ol' boy. She's a tough, mean, in-fighting person who has worked very hard to hide her true views."
All that is going to come out when Mrs. Clinton goes on the campaign trail, Thompson predicts. Some voters could be repelled, particularly "when she gets out on the stump, and we see her day by day, and her voice gets more shrill -- which it tends to -- and she pounds the lectern, and she looks like a Stalinist," he says. "All of those things are going to make her a far more problematic candidate."
Also, Thompson points out, Hillary Clinton already faces some tough Democratic opposition. Among her opponents, he notes, are Indiana Senator Evan Bayh and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
