Politico's Martin asserts as "fact" Gore and Kerry "elitists out of touch with average Americans"

[DeepModem Mom]

Media Matters for America: Sat, Apr 12, 2008
Politico's Martin asserted as "fact" that Gore and Kerry "were elitists and were out of touch with average Americans"

During the April 11 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin asserted as "fact" that the two most recent Democratic nominees for president, former Vice President Al Gore and Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), "were elitists and were out of touch with average Americans." Referring to recent comments by Sen. Barack Obama, Martin said, "But again, this ultimately could be a problem in the fall for Obama in the general election. If you look at the past two cycles, (guest host) Kitty (Pilgrim), Al Gore and John Kerry. What did Republicans use against them more than anything else? The fact that they were elitists and were out of touch with average Americans. This is going to be the same thing all over again, probably."

But in characterizing Gore and Kerry as "elitists," Martin did not note that to the extent the public perceived them in that manner, the media played a dominant role during the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns in creating and promoting that perception. By contrast, the media largely avoided discussion during those campaigns of whether President Bush -- a graduate of Phillips Academy Andover, Yale University, and Harvard Business School, and the son of a former president and grandson of a former U.S. senator -- was an "elitist."

From the April 11 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

PILGRIM: Jonathan, your thoughts on how close the race is?

MARTIN: Well, it's very, very competitive. Especially in a place like Pennsylvania where Obama had made some progress, this could really hurt him in rural parts of that state. But look beyond that. Also places like Indiana, which is a key state coming up in May, and perhaps some rural parts of North Carolina. But again, this ultimately could be a problem in the fall for Obama in the general election. If you look at the past two cycles, Kitty, Al Gore and John Kerry. What did Republicans use against them more than anything else? The fact that they were elitists and were out of touch with average Americans. This is going to be the same thing all over again, probably....

http://mediamatters.org/items/200804120001?f=h_latest

(NOTE: Please see this related post, making the case that portraying progressives as elitists goes far beyond The Politico: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3149508)

[muntrv]

1. Martin must think he could have a beer with Chimpy.

[MADem]

2. Well, whaddaya want, it's Politico, after all. I've been saying for a long time

that the Albritton apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Of course, when they say things folks like, they're just peachy!

Clever, aren't they!

[Marr]

3. Anyone know where Politico's funding comes from?

They started getting invited to contribute on cable stations the day they launched, if I recall correctly. Blogs generally have to establish quite a bit of street cred before their contributors are invited on panel discussions, but not so with Politico. It almost seemed as if the establishment decided they needed to include a "blog" in their lineups, but they wanted one that could be counted on to behave like a cable network.

[seasat]

4. Gee, I wonder if they'll tell me which of these is more elite.

An admiral's son who dumps his disabled wife for a rich heiress or a man who pulled himself up by his own bootstraps and worked as a community organizer.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. Good point! Son of a single Mom, lived with his grandparents in an apartment...

in Hawaii. He did, however, go to private school (Punahou), Columbia and Harvard Law. So I guess we'll hear a lot about THAT.

[seasat]

6. I wonder if they'll note that he recieved a financial scholarship.

While McCain attended an exclusive all boys private prep school.