I read this article from Business Week today and watched the accompanying videos that went with it. Granted, in the morning I usually quickly scan a story and then read it in depth later. The article is good, but it’s not the important point here. As I scanned the article, I watched the first video and thought it was a funny “love letter” to Obama from some psychotic fan. It is, but it’s from the McCain camp (you can also view the video on his Website). Watch the video below. So what’s it about? I thought it was a humorous look at how the media is gay for Obama. It shows TV journalists, like Tucker Carlson and Chris Matthews, swooning for him. At the end of the video, you see the stamp “Paid for by John McCain 2008.”

Now, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, poli sci degree notwithstanding: 1) I don’t particularly care for politics and 2) I don’t fully understand politics. If the average person out there views this video, there is no indication that it is from John McCain (unless you watch til the bitter end and see the campaign stamp). Apparently, the message has something to do with McCain whining that the media likes Obama better. Guess what? That might NOT be what the video is about, but that’s what I got out of it. As Joe Average viewer, if that’s what I’m getting out of it, chances are others are too. As the article states

This new “Obama Love” video from the McCain campaign may tickle the nutsy Sean Hannity crowd. But I’m thinking it spells “loser” to independents. C’mon, McCain is bitching because Obama is a better communicator? Because the media is paying extra attention to the first African-American candidate with a serious shot at The White House? One wonders what ads and videos McCain and Schmidt might have run in primary ads if he was up against McCain’s hero Ronald Reagan.

So is this a bit of reverse psychology?? Are we supposed to feel bad for McCain because the media doesn’t love him as much? Damned if I know. Is this supposed to be an ironic video? Again, damned if I know because nobody knows what irony is anyway. (I do know that it’s NOT “like ra-ai-in on your wedding day.”) I guess the moral of the story is that the communications people who pull the strings for the candidates ought to think a little harder about how their message will be perceived. Because as far as I can tell from this video, McCain, like the news journalists, is gay for Obama. Did I get the message right, McCain camp?

BTW–if you don’t get the “gay for” reference, brush up on your Simpsons quotes.

After weeks and weeks of fighting with Comcast, a compromise was finally reached and I received home Internet. It doesn’t mean that Comcast does not still suck royally, but at least I can now finish my blog entry that I started almost a month ago comparing left vs. blue blogs. To refresh, I picked FireDogLake (FDL) and Redstate for the study. So here, in summary format, is the findings of what made news between July 1 and July 4, 2008.

Day 1

Redstate included a number of slams agains the following: a Democrat congressman, Obama, and Harry Reid. And the Dems were slammed for being bad on oil. Sen Hutchison wrote a post about sanctions against Iran for nuclear violations. Fundraising was discussed fundraising, which is a big issue during the campaign, to be sure. The most interesting post discussed how this election won’t be fun because it will be a “fishbowl” election. There will be a great deal of scrutiny of the comments made by the candidates, and everyone with access to the Internet can join in by viewing videos on YouTube. An interesting note in the post states that YouTube was founded in February 2005,

Which means that Bush/Kerry was the last American Presidential election in history where a politician’s contradictory statements could not be disseminated by his or her opponent across the country instantly, comprehensively, and for free.

There was also an interesting story about Google’s attempt at socialism, which included this quote

Google is the Obama of corporations — it issues small platitudes about “Internet for everyone” and expects the collective Web 2.0 community to faint.

Also, be sure to read this post about comments made by retired General Wes Clark about McCain’s military service. And then take a look at this satirical post referring to the same topic. The FDL version is pretty funny.

Firedoglake had a couple of stories about FISA, some information about nuclear programs, oil, medicare, and Guantanamo detainees. FISA was one of the biggest sticking points on FDL. The issue deals with surveillance and immunity of telephone companies. Another big article deals with And so after one day, it appears that one major difference between FDL and Redstate is that FDL has many more issues-based posts. Things that would be of interest to the average man or woman–health, rights, liberty, etc. We’ll see if this continues to hold true.

Day 2

While reading for Day 2, I decided on a new tact for this assignment–I’ll read the posts, decide if anything is overly “out there”, figure out the differences in reporting between the two and try to figure out the relevance.

Redstate predicted a flip by Obama about his opposition to the war, and they end the quote by stating that not to call him on it because “If you do, you are a dirty racist.” Interesting tact. Even more evident is that Redstate practices pretty strong mudslinging, as well as some strong opinionated comments (i.e., “The man is a compulsive befriender of dirtbags. His campaign excels at having dirtbag surrogates.”). They also decided to write about his mortgage. Also, there is a lot more about retired General Wes Clark’s comments about McCain’s military service. And more accusationsof Obama flip flopping–this time about trade.

FDL had an interesting post about the “Politics of the Prius.” Something about waterboarding. More about FISA. And again, they cover health, mortgages, and civil liberties. Interestingly, one of the regular contributors (Spencer Ackerman) posted about a friend (Brian Beutler) of his who got shot. The comments are even more interesting because people took a post about real-life drama and used it as a sounding board to rally for better health insurance in America.

Day 3

Redstate had a couple of stories about the rescue of the hostages freed by FARC in Columbia. And of course, criticism of Obama. Senator Thompson posted a speech he was going to give. And more criticism of Obama flip flopping on an issue (this time around it was about getting out of Iraq).

FDL reported that adult Websites are seeing an upswing in business since the economic stimulus checks began arriving. They also summarized some of the news that was also on Redstate (FARC, McCain’s staff shake ups, etc.). Added more about FISA. And there was a good article about the loss of jobs that the US will be facing.

Day 4

And so begins the Fourth of July. RDL gets all patriotic on our collective asses and rallies the troops to do something patriotic. They also give us some celebratory FISA. And this tribute to Jesse Helms.

Redstate began with a large post about Obama’s alleged flip flopping. There was also a vastly different bit of coverage of the death of Jesse Helms. There was also some patriotism in the form of a post by a soldier and a mass re-enlistment of soldiers in Iraq.

So what’s it all about? Well, as stated above FDL and Redstate are vastly different. Redstate definitely seems to engage a bit more of the chest thumping and extremism. FDL is only slightly less biased, but seems to be a bit more even handed. Bias is obviously the name of the game if you’re writing about politics. If you’re a Dem, you’re going to be biased towards your party, same goes for GOP. But as stated, Redstate takes it to a different level. FDL likes to focus more on the human-interest type stories, namely the things that most Dems are concerned about (good life, health care, equality, etc.). Regardless of bias, both sites do a good job of presenting the views of their respective parties. Ultimately, that will provide the interest that people are looking for that will make them want to continue reading.