Hillary Clinton: “To us, to me personally, this video is disgusting and reprehensible,”
Josh already noted the strange case of this substantially rewritten New York Times story, which seems to have dropped some of the writers’ key reporting.
That’s a very odd story of its own. But it (both the original version and the updated one) also has a thematic quality that badly obscures what Romney was up to on Tuesday night.
Here’s how the original version of the story reported Romney’s statement: Read More
A number of media reporters have now followed up with reports about the Times switcheroo. And the answer from the Times is that it was part of the normal editing process and the preference for on-the-record quotes over blind quotes. The specific response we got from Eileen Murphy, spokesperson for the Times, reads as follows …
As reporting went on during the day yesterday, we were able to flesh out the story, add more context and get more sources on the record, which is obviously what we prefer. Having said that, we stand by the reporting in all versions of the story.
Peter Baker, who replaced David Sanger as the lead byline, told Buzzfeed, “It’s just normal journalism — as more reporting comes in, you improve the story. On the record Republican criticism beats anonymous Republican criticism.”
But this is a weak answer which at least dodges what I see as the key question about the piece. Read More
Is President Obama really zeroing in on 50% in his head to head match ups with Mitt Romney?
Chart after the jump … Read More
Federal Reserve announces new round of quantitative easing. A big, big deal for the economy and for our politics. Here’s why.
Which of these delightfully outmoded Apple products did you once cherish?
The events in the Middle East over the last 48 hours stand on their own and speak for themselves. But this ‘movie’, the one that allegedly triggered the riots, has so much mystery and bizarreness behind it that I can’t help wondering whether there isn’t more to it, more bad acts or double dealing than we realize. I don’t think a bunch of Coptic Christians impersonate Israeli Jews and say they’re raising their funds from 100 super-rich Jews for nothing. Here’s the latest weirdness on that front.
Kyle Leighton looks at the public sentiment on the economy and how it may affect the Presidential race:
Republicans and folks in the media may mock President Obama for pointing to President Bush as the culprit for the country’s continuing economic woes. But beyond accuracy, there’s a reason the White House keeps making this argument: people believe it. They say people have short memories. But according to a new poll (and most other polls on this question) clearly majorities of Americans continue to blame President Bush and the GOP for the country’s economic problems. And that’s a real problem if you’re Mitt Romney.
That’s not all bad for Mitt. You can still argue that even if it’s not Obama’s fault, he’s just not up to the task of fixing it. But that’s a much tighter argument to have to make.