Pittsburgh Tribune-Review blog suggested "giant lead" in poll for Obama foreshadows his defeat

[kevinmc]

http://mediamatters.org/items/200806210001

In a June 20 blog post on the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review's Forty-Fourth Estate blog, titled "Shades of Dukakis, Obama up 15," political reporter and editorial page columnist Salena Zito suggested that Sen. Barack Obama's "giant lead" over Sen. John McCain in a June 18-19 Newsweekpoll foreshadows defeat for Obama by comparing him to unsuccessful 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, who, according to Zito, "enjoyed a 54 to 38 percent lead over" Republican George H.W. Bush "after all of the Democratic primaries ended." Zito wrote: "This evening a new Newsweek poll shows Obama having a giant lead, from 51 percent to 36 percent, over McCain among registered voters across the country." She added: "Obama got his bounce, Dukakis style."

Media Matters for America has noted a pattern of media portrayals of any news, even seemingly negative, as good news for the Republicans.


Contact: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Pittsburgh Tribune Review
D.L. Clark Bldg.,
503 Martindale St., 3rd floor,
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

[anonymous171]

1. Obama is running for president, Dukakis ran for president. Therefore Obama=Dukakis

:wtf:

[speedoo]

2. Is she also predicting that Obama will pose in a tank?

What an idiot.

[MH1]

15. Obama will do something

and the media will tell you it is like Dukakis in a tank.*

And most Americans will believe them.



* I'm in the tiny minority of people who didn't have a problem with Dukakis in a tank. But maybe that's because I was ignoring politics at the time it happened, so whatever the media said whizzed right by me. :shrug:

[TwilightGardener]

3. Salena Zito is a registered and posting member of Free Republic.

[rufus dog]

4. And Reagan = W

Reagan had high ratings, that 41 was able to leverage. So I guess those sub 30 ratings for W are actually high ratings!

[Quixote1818]

5. Obama is no Dukakis.

Dukakis was a horrible candidate and not the least bit hip. He was about as exciting as a brick.

[rufus dog]

6. agree

Apples and Oranges comparison on both Obama/Dukakis and Reagan/Bush. Very silly but the righties need something to hold on to. Like comparing the 2008 49ers to the 1994 49ers. Same team name, much different team.

[davidpdx]

16. As a 49er fan that is sad but true

And to think my team has sucked that long. Oh hell!

[Drunken Irishman]

7. He also ran on the assumption the American people were above petty politics.

I think the 1988 election proved America was, in fact, not above dirty and petty political games.

There is no excuse for losing to Bush I. The country was going through Reagan fatigue, Bush I was a gaffe machine and the Democrats should have easily won.

Oh well.

[TheDonkey]

8. I wish this could be confrimed. I heard that Dukkakis never led H.W. in the 88 race

[On the Road]

9. No, Dukakis Did Lead Early On

in the polls at least. The actual vote did not always conform to the polling.

[Metta]

10. Wishful thinking. What can one expect from people who make J. McCain look like a liberal?

These folks are the worst kind of extremists and nothing is too low for them. Happy karma, folks.

[zeemike]

11. Perhaps they have a few Willie Horton ads in the works

Or they are trying to lay the ground work for the theft of another election.
You have to have some kind of explanation for how an unpopular party wins in a "tight race"

[cloudythescribbler]

12. It's true that PRESUMING it's like Dukakis is CRAP -- but let's not make the opposite mistake of ...

overconfidence. What happened to Dukakis COULD happen, and, eg, making fun of McCain for his age, something that can help get more people over 60 to vote for him (remember they vote in the highest RATES), doesn't help.

But, that said, the Pittsburgh folk seem to be trying to talk a sow's ear into a silk purse, and it's pretty transparently laughable.

[Max_powers94]

13. Whatever....these people are afraid

[BlooInBloo]

14. Like Atrios said when he mentioned this article, anything that happens is good for republicans.

[RamboLiberal]

17. This is Dicky Mellon Scaife's trashy rag

Big deal!