Author Archive

Articles by Clint Hendler | Email the Author

 

1. Campaign Desk

   The Last Night

   February 27, 2008 11:09 AM

   The press consensus seems to be that last night’s MSNBC debate was the sharpest of the season, but that it wasn’t quite sharp enough to change the game. As ex-ESPNer Keith Oblermann said just after it ended, more field... Continue reading

2. Campaign Desk

   Avoiding Assassination

   February 25, 2008 12:32 PM

   I always start from a presumption that journalists should probe tough topics. But still, there’s something unseemly and vaguely creepy about using the front page of The New York Times to explore the nightmare idea of Barack Obama being... Continue reading

3. Campaign Desk

   The Debate Shuffle

   February 22, 2008 11:31 AM

   Since April 2007, by my count, the Democrats have met to debate 18 times. As someone who has watched nearly all of these outings—and nearly all those on the other side of the aisle—I’m pretty sympathetic to journalists who, with... Continue reading

4. Campaign Desk

   McCausation

   February 21, 2008 05:13 PM

   One of the chief complaints about The New York Times’ story on the relationship between McCain and lobbyist Vicki Iseman is that the paper is implying more than it has proven. That’s certainly true, but as far as journalism... Continue reading

5. The Kicker

   Don’t Worry, WikiLeaks

   February 20, 2008 03:54 PM

   Yesterday a federal judge ordered WikiLeaks off the internet. Nice try. You see, on Friday the secrecy-shrouded leaked-document Web site posted documents and an accompanying article claiming numerous examples of financial hanky-panky and whistleblower harassment by... Continue reading

6. The Kicker

   Whoops

   February 18, 2008 04:00 PM

   Early this afternoon, I posted a short piece suggesting The Des Moines Register had papered-over an uncomfortable fact. Ralph Gross was a man concerned about the health of his hometown paper, and when the DMR solicited applications for a reader... Continue reading

7. Campaign Desk

   Obama’s Old Boss

   February 15, 2008 10:45 AM

   I was catching up with The New York Times last night, when late in a profile of Michelle Obama I came across this anecdote: Martha L. Minow, a professor at Harvard Law School, did work with Mrs. Obama for... Continue reading

8. Campaign Desk

   Watching The Washington Post

   February 14, 2008 02:08 PM

   On Tuesday, I didn’t watch the Virginia returns on cable or broadcast. I watched The Washington Post on my computer. You see, The Washington Post Company assembled a team drawing on its multiple outlets—Newsweek, Slate, the dead tree Post, and... Continue reading

9. Campaign Desk

   Heisenberg’s Calling Principle

   February 13, 2008 12:20 PM

   After the clock struck eight, MSNBC pounced to make the call: Obama carries Washington, DC. Reuters followed not long after. But wait. As TPM pointed out last night, no exit polls were taken in DC. And the district’s... Continue reading

10. The Kicker

    Five Years Ago

    February 5, 2008 01:51 PM

    Amidst Super Tuesday hoopla, it's worth remembering that today is the five year anniversary of then-Secretary of State Colin Powell’s presentation before the United Nations. This speech moved the U.S. closer to invading Iraq more than any other single event... Continue reading

11. Campaign Desk

    As goes American Samoa…

    February 5, 2008 12:34 PM

    By most measures, American Samoa is a small place. It has a population of 57,000, sharing about seventy-one square miles of Polynesian island. But today is Super Tuesday, and American Samoa, along with twenty-some other states and Democrats living abroad,... Continue reading

12. The Kicker

    Wikileaked onto A-10

    February 4, 2008 05:15 PM

    WikiLeaks.org, a user-editable Web site that anonymously publishes sensitive documents, has obtained what seems to be the United States’ Iraq rules of engagement from late 2005. The document was released on the site this morning, and also written... Continue reading

13. Campaign Desk

    AP readies for Super Tuesday

    February 1, 2008 11:39 AM

    This Tuesday, American voters will face an unprecedented day of primary voting. More than 20 states—and American Samoa—will hold caucuses or primaries. Major news organizations are preparing for a very long night, with results pouring in from American Samoa to... Continue reading

14. Campaign Desk

    CNN’s Reagan Mystique

    January 31, 2008 01:12 PM

    When the Democrats debated in Philadelphia, Brian Williams and Tim Russert didn’t spend the whole night talking about Ben Franklin, or gesturing at powdered wigs. But when you've got a Republican debate near Reagan's tomb, well, that's another matter. Last... Continue reading

15. Campaign Desk

    Politics as Sport

    January 30, 2008 01:17 PM

    Last night, shortly before Florida’s panhandle polls closed, Shepard Smith and Chris Wallace were bidding their farewells so Brit Hume could take Fox’s big chair as the results came in. Conversation turned to Fox’s big cross-promotional plans for “<a... Continue reading

16. Campaign Desk

    “Discovering” Delegates

    January 28, 2008 11:43 AM

    Today Adam Nagourney has a nice Times piece looking at the facts behind the week’s campaign buzzword: delegate. As it turns out, the primaries are actually about selecting delegates to the national conventions. Shocking, isn’t it? It’s easy to... Continue reading

17. Campaign Desk

    Times Have Changed

    January 25, 2008 11:52 AM

    It was the kind of moment that could give a network executive a heart attack: Tim Russert and Brian Williams were unintentionally live on mic as music welled and the director readied to cut to commercial. “Did you see this?”... Continue reading

18. The Kicker

    The War Card

    January 24, 2008 05:53 PM

    Today the Center for Public Integrity released “The War Card,” a voluminous searchable database tallying false statements from the Bush Administration as they built their case to invade Iraq. The CPI, a non-profit investigative outfit (founder Charles Lewis had... Continue reading

19. The Kicker

    GEO TV Back On Air

    January 22, 2008 05:11 PM

    McClatchy’s Tim Johnson reports from Islamabad that Musharraf has agreed to let GEO TV broadcast. GEO is one of a handful of feisty independent channels that were muzzled in Pakistan’s state of emergency; you may remember it from Shahan... Continue reading

20. Campaign Desk

    The Candidates did the Dirty Work

    January 22, 2008 12:13 PM

    On January 15, the last time Clinton, Edwards, and Obama met to debate, NBC moderators Tim Russert and Brian Williams tried to gin-up some controversy. They re-hashed that week’s “race debate.” Russert shook a fistful of paper, and accused... Continue reading

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