US-Election 2008

[acharya]

Het Parool, The Netherlands
American Press is Sick of the Clintons
WASINGTON – The American media predict a fierce battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The journalistic sympathy clearly goes out to the black senator.
By FRANK HENDRICKX
Translated by Dorian de Wind

February 07, 2008
The Netherlands – Het Parool- Original Article (Dutch)
A battle between “darkness and light.” That is how Maureen Dowd, the popular New York Times columnist, sees the Democratic primaries. “If Obama wants to be president, he has to slay the dragon,” concludes Dowd after Super Tuesday. “His dragon is the Clinton attack machine, which emerged Tuesday night, not invincible but breathing fire.”
It is sometimes not entirely clear who fights harder against Hillary Clinton: Barack Obama or the fine flower of American journalism. If the former first lady wins the democratic nomination, she will in no way have to be thankful to her “friends in the media.” “Hillary has had the whole dinner service thrown at her head,” complains one of her advisors. “It is time that the media also take a look at Obama.”
It is a complaint that continues to be expressed by Clinton supporters: Obama is the darling of the press. News experts almost declared him the winner on Tuesday. According to exit polls, Obama would win New Jersey as well as California. Eventually Clinton won in both states. Some journalists come right out: they want something newsworthy, not the Clintons again. “Obama is a new guy,” said Howard Fineman of Newsweek. “He is an interesting guy, a trendsetter and path breaker. Perhaps it is true that he is not looked at very critically.
Time’s Mark Halperin, who believes that the media are excessively critical of Clinton, was even clearer: “No one hopes that she wins.” Former president Bill Clinton can’t do any more good. “I am sick of him,” wrote Alex Beam, Boston Globe columnist, frankly. Maureen Dowd called Clinton “a narcissist” and her colleague Bob Herbert wrote that Clinton “sometimes comes across as a man who doesn’t take his medication.”
Only a few come to the aid of the Clintons. Columnist Craig Crawford called the criticism “insane.” “The evidence-free bias against the Clintons in the media borders on mental illness." Crawford went on to state, "I mean, we've gotten into a situation where if you try to be fair to the Clintons, if you ask for proof, you're accused of being a naïve shill for the Clintons.”