Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign

Media Matters had a vote about the most inane punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign, and the winner was...

ABC political commentator Cokie Roberts.

And it was not even close. By an overwhelming margin readers of Media Matters voted for her criticism of then-Senator Barack Obama for choosing Hawaii, where his ailing Grandmother (who would sadly die just before the election) and the state of his birth, to take his August family vacation. Readers chose Roberts' comments as the most popular entry in Media Matters for America's poll for Most Inane Punditry of the 2008 presidential campaign, in greater numbers than her two closest competitors combined.

If you don't remember Roberts' inane comments -- included her characterizing Hawaii, where Obama vacations regularly, as "foreign, exotic". Roberts stated:

"I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state, but it has the look of him going off to some sort of foreign, exotic place."

"He should be in Myrtle Beach, and, you know, if he's going to take a vacation at this time."

Now you might have thought that Robert's weird comments were some off-the-cuff remark, not well thought out, or just a mistake. But this was not the case, because Roberts repeated her criticism of Obama's vacation destination during the August 11 broadcast of NPR's Morning Edition, asserting that Obama's choice of Hawaii for his vacation "makes him seem a little bit more exotic."

She also characterized Hawaii as "a somewhat odd place to be doing it," despite acknowledging, "I know that he is from Hawaii, he grew up there, his grandmother lives there."

Vote totals in percentages*:

Cokie Roberts on Obama's Hawaii vacation: "I know his grandmother lives in Hawaii and I know Hawaii is a state," but it looks "foreign, exotic" 38.65 %

Scarborough on Obama's "dainty" bowling performance: "Americans want their president, if it's a man, to be a real man" 16.76%

Barnes: Obama not "strong on national security" because he opposed war "when the entire world believed" Saddam had WMD 16.71%

Brooks thinks Obama wouldn't seem to "fit[] in naturally" at an Applebee's salad bar -- maybe because Applebee's doesn't have them 5.95%

Defending Givhan's cleavage coverage, Harwood asserted "calculati[ng]" Clinton knew "what she was communicating by her dress" 5.79%

Fox News' Hill criticizes Clinton for leaving too large a tip, accuses her of "spending like a Learjet liberal" 5.59%

On Hardball, Matthews and Shuster critiqued Obama's "weird" beverage selection at Indiana diner 4.80%

Matthews on Obama shooting pool: "[I]t's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days" 2.48%

Matthews: "Who would win a street fight... Rudy Giuliani or President Ahmadinejad" 2.30%

Politico's Simon now on to a different part of Romney's anatomy: "shoulders you could land a 737 on" 0.97%

Media Matters' 2008 Misinformer of the Year

Media Matters has named it's 2008 Misinformer of the Year, and this year it is Sean Hannerty. Honestly I think this was a runaway this year. Sean Hannerty has been pushing a line of BS this year about Barack Obama, and his aquaintences that was head and shoulders above what anyone else has done this year.

Because of the unending stream of falsehoods and character attacks that fueled the "Stop Obama Express," and the countless other distortions he promoted throughout 2008, Sean Hannity is Media Matters for America's Misinformer of the Year.

Media Matters has demonstrated time and again Sean Hannity of Fox News has been a dominant and inexhaustible outlet for every type of rightwing, nutball, conservative propaganda. Never before has he so enthusiastically applied his talents for spreading lies, half truths, fabrications, and innuendo as he did to the 2008 presidential race, focusing his energies primarily on President-elect Barack Obama.

Relentlessly, Hannity devoted his Fox News shows and his three-hour ABC Radio Networks program to "demonizing" the Democratic presidential candidates.

He was pretty open about it to, as he explaining in August:
"That's my job. ... I led the 'Stop Hillary Express.' By the way, now it's the 'Stop Obama Express.' "

Hannity's "Stop Obama Express" promoted and overstated and inflated a vast array of misleading attacks and bogus claims about Barack Obama. He uncritically adopted and pushed countless Republican talking points and rightwing smears. He played host to numerous credibility-challenged smear artists who painted Obama as a dangerous radical. When he was not going after Obama, Hannity attacked members of Obama's family, as well as Senator Hillary Clinton and other progressives, and denied all the while that he had unfairly attacked anyone.

Hannity's attacks have at times influenced mainstream media coverage. ABC News' George Stephanopoulos appeared on Hannity's radio program on April 15, during which Hannity suggested to Stephanopoulos that he ask Obama at the Democratic presidential debate the following evening about his "association with Bill Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist from the Weather Underground." Stephanopoulos assured Hannity that he was "taking notes right now." Stephanopoulos then did ask Obama at the debate to "explain that relationship for the voters, and explain to Democrats why it won't be a problem," though he later denied that Hannity had exerted any influence on his questioning.

Is America a conservative country?

This is the question that Media Matters wanted to find out. It is a claim that has been made on numerous occasions and is repeated so often by the media it's become conventional wisdom. Media Matters for America and the Campaign for America's Future recently came together to examine 20 years of independent, nonpartisan polling data to see if conventional wisdom was actually true.

They feel that this polling data proves that the claim that America is a conservative country is completelyFALSE.

In their new joint report -- "The Progressive Majority: Why a Conservative America is a Myth" -- they show that the conventional wisdom that Americans are overwhelmingly conservative is simply wrong.

On issue after issue, a majority of Americans agree with progressives and have for decades.
» Read the Report and Spread the Word!

Here are some of the key findings from the report:

The role of government -- 69 percent of Americans believe the government "should care for those who can't care for themselves;" twice as many people (43 percent vs. 20 percent) want "government to provide many more services even if it means an increase in spending" as wanted government to provide fewer services "in order to reduce spending."

The economy -- 77 percent of Americans think Congress should increase the minimum wage; 66 percent believe "upper-income people" pay too little in taxes; 53 percent feel the Bush tax cuts have failed because they have increased the deficit and caused cuts in government programs.
Social issues -- 61 percent of Americans support embryonic stem cell research; 62 percent want to protect Roe v. Wade; only 3 percent of Americans rank gay marriage as the "most important" social issue.

Security -- 43 percent of Americans say we are spending too much on our military; 60 percent feel the federal government should do more about restricting the kinds of guns that people can purchase.

The environment -- 75 percent of Americans would be wiling to pay more for electricity if it were generated by renewable sources to help reduce global warming; 79 percent want higher emissions standards for automobiles.

Energy -- 52 percent of Americans believe "the best way for the U.S. to reduce its reliance on foreign oil" is to "have the government invest in alternative energy sources;" 68 percent of the public thinks U.S. energy policy is better solved by conservation than production.
Immigration -- 57 percent of Americans feel "most recent immigrants to the U.S. contribute to this country" rather than "cause problems." 67 percent of Americans feel that "on the whole" immigration is a "good thing for this country today."

Health care - 69 percent of Americans think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have access to health coverage; 76 percent find access to health care more important than maintaining the Bush tax cuts; three in five would be willing to have their own taxes increased to achieve universal coverage.

As you can see from these numbers, this report covers a broad range of issues. And despite the perception given by the media, Americans hold progressive positions on all of them.

This is independent, non-partisan polling data -- gathered over the course of 20 years by sources such as American National Election Studies, the General Social Survey, and Gallup Polls

Media Matters for America and Campaign for America's Future both examined not only the top-level conclusions, but the underlying questions asked in each of the surveys. You can click here to view their full findings, complete with supporting materials.

» Read the Report and Spread the Word!

Even in light of their new report, the media may not be quick to change their tune. That is why it is so important that we all help to spread the word.

Information is power. Click here to let your friends, family members and colleagues know about Media Matters for America and Campaign for America's Future's findings.

By spreading the word we can help expose the myth that we live in a conservative America and show people -- by using the facts -- that you truly are among America's Progressive Majority.