McCain Campaign Protests To NBC Over Andrea Mitchell’s Cheating Claim
NBC’s Andrea Mitchell Floats Idea McCain Cheated
Read the letter the McCain campaign has sent to NBC News. The letter is after the jump. They are outraged - outraged - that Andrea Mitchell said the following on air:
“The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because what they are putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well-prepared.”
Campaign manager Rick Davis has sent a strongly-worded letter to Steve Capus, president of NBC News, sharply criticizing Mitchell’s suggestion that the Arizona senator had somehow cheated at Saturday’s Saddleback Civil Forum.
In it, Davis expressed concern that: “the level of objectivity at NBC News has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain;” “Mitchell did what has become a pattern for her of simply repeating Obama campaign talking points,” and; NBC News was “following MSNBC’s lead in abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race.”
Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign manager Rick Davis asked Sunday for a meeting with Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, to protest what the campaign called signs that the network is “abandoning non-partisan coverage of the presidential race.”
August 17, 2008
Mr. Steve Capus
President, NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112Steve:
We are extremely disappointed to see that the level of objectivity at NBC News has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain.
Nowhere was this more evident than with NBC chief correspondent Andrea Mitchell’s comments on “Meet the Press” this morning. In analyzing last night’s presidential forum at Saddleback Church, Mitchell expressed the Obama campaign spin that John McCain could only have done so well last night because he “may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.” [...]
Make no mistake: This is a serious charge. Andrea Mitchell is repeating, uncritically, a completely unsubstantiated Obama campaign claim that John McCain somehow cheated in last night’s forum at Saddleback Church. Instead of trying to substantiate this blatant falsehood in any way, Andrea Mitchell felt that she needed to repeat it on air to millions of “Meet the Press” viewers with no indication that 1.) There’s not one shred of evidence that it’s true; 2.) In his official correspondence to both campaigns, Pastor Rick Warren provided both candidates with information regarding the topic areas to be covered, which Barack Obama acknowledged during the forum when asked about Pastor Warren’s idea of an emergency plan for orphans and Obama said, “I cheated a little bit. I actually looked at this idea ahead of time, and I think it is a great idea;” 3.) John McCain actually requested that he and Barack Obama do the forum together on stage at the same time, making these kinds of after-the-fact complaints moot.
Indeed, instead of taking a critical journalistic approach to this spin, Andrea Mitchell did what has become a pattern for her of simply repeating Obama campaign talking points.
This is irresponsible journalism and sadly, indicative of the level of objectivity we have witnessed at NBC News this election cycle. Instead of examining the Obama campaign’s spin for truth before reporting it to more than 3 million NBC News viewers, Andrea Mitchell simply passed along Obama campaign conspiracy theories. The fact is that during Senator Obama’s segment at Saddleback last night, Senator McCain was in a motorcade to the event and then held in a green room with no broadcast feed. In the forum, John McCain clearly demonstrated to the American people that he is prepared to be our next President…..
We are concerned that your News Division is following MSNBC’s lead in abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race. We would like to request a meeting with you as soon as possible to discuss our deep concerns about the news standards and level of objectivity at NBC.
Sincerely,
Rick Davis
Campaign Manager
John McCain 2008
But Not The Guy Below
Comment by G. Marshall on 19 August 2008:
I hope that the McCain campaign keeps on top of NBC, pressing them and Ms. Mitchell for a response. People have been asked to apologize for far less than unsubstantilly insinuating that someone is a cheater simply because of an excellent performance. The real problem for Obama was that this type of forum does not allow for rehearsal and use of a teleprompter. Contrary to Ms. Mitchell’s impressions, I felt Obama appeared to be less than “nuanced” and “post-modern.” It struck me more as post-mortem. My impression of Mr. Obama (when he is not giving a scripted, grandiose presentation) is that he waffles and stumbles. I was not surprised that he faltered in such a forum. I expected it. Ms. Mitchell has steadily lost my confidence in her ability to perform as an investigative journalist over the past 6 months.
G. Marshall
Utah
Comment by Rae Long on 19 August 2008:
Andrea Mitchell should be fired. Senator McCain demonstrated to the American people exactly what he stands for and I thank him for being honest and straight forward. Not everyone will agree with his positions 100% but at least you know what he believes in and he is not trying to BS the American public. Senator McCain does not have to prove his integity and honesty to me; he already has in that POW camp in Vietnam. Thank you Sir, for your service and love of this country. You have my vote and all those I can convert!
Comment by Gina on 19 August 2008:
Poor babies!!!! As is FOX NEWS is the exemplary example of bi-partisan reporting!!! Go back to Hannity and quit your whining…..