1) Story Moves Candidate to Provide More Access
Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has become more accessible to the traveling press corps since Washington Post reporter Howard Kurtz wrote on Jan. 28 that “The Illinois senator remains a remote figure to those covering him,” according to a campaign reporter who related her experiences for the Columbia Journalism Review.
“There was a philosophy, I think, in the campaign that to win Iowa or New Hampshire the people they needed to make themselves available to was the local press. I wrote a story about it and there was a story in The New York Times about the effort they’d put in to court local press,” Anburajan said in the CJR Daily piece by Liz Cox Barrett.
“And it worked for them, I mean they got all these editorial endorsements. . . . Then the Kurtz article came out and the next thing you know, there was lot more of an effort to get the candidate to know the press: Obama came back on the plane more, they held press avails,” or “press availabilities,” “on the plane or a formal press conference, they’re trying to do more of them. They seem to have taken note of that criticism.
“There was a post on the Chicago Tribune’s Swamp blog that talks about a big debate about off-the-record access and on-the-record access to Obama on the press plane. We all appreciate that the candidate should just be able to come back and chat and just be a normal person. But when you had no avails, no access to the candidate, every time he came back he was swarmed by reporters and whether he wanted to chat on the record or off the record, we all wanted something newsworthy. It created a small rift between print reporters and TV reporters, and between classes of print reporters—some news organizations have a policy of being [on] the record all the time—about what should be the policy on the plane. But it was resolved. It’s a very collegial group.
Barrett asked, “So when Obama comes to the back of the plane now, is it on or off the record? How was it resolved?”
Anburajan: “I would say, depends. If it’s the end of day, he’s just stopping by, saying hello, walking up and down the aisle, I think we all see it as off the record. It was such a clusterfuck when he came back to take questions, people would be throwing themselves onto seats.
“I’m a small person. One day, I balanced myself on two sides of an airplane seat with my legs dangling down and held myself there, my muscles were shaking, just to be able to hear and listen. What they did was, there hasn’t been any formal announcement. But the last press avail, the press advance people made us all sit in rows in a very civilized fashion. He’d stay seated during the press conference. The press people took all our little recorders and held them near [Obama] so everybody got sound, although the campaign usually provides a transcript. One cameraman got access to the front and then we all pooled it. It was the best way to organize chaos in a small 737.
“Sometimes it takes public criticism in a paper, but at least they’re responsive to the idea that they need to work with us.”
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2) Clinton Campaign Complains Media Favor Obama
“The theme of press bias,” Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote on Friday, “is woven through the Clinton campaign’s narrative of the story thus far. There are two basic allegations: that journalists look at Obama uncritically while subjecting Hillary Clinton to microscopic scrutiny; and that we react with hair-trigger reflexes when attacks on Obama have the slightest whiff of racism but don’t seem to notice, or care, when Clinton is subjected to rank sexism.
“The first charge is just bogus, in my view. . . . Is sexism in the coverage of the Clinton campaign excusable? No, and we deserve to be called on it. But it wasn’t the media that decided she should take for granted all those states that Barack Obama has been winning.”
Terence Smith, special correspondent for PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” disagreed after reading Robinson’s column.
“The coverage of Hillary during this campaign has been across-the-board critical, especially since she began losing after New Hampshire,” he wrote on his blog. “She may have brought much of the negative reporting on herself, sometimes with the help of her husband. Able and articulate as she is, Hillary can be as polarizing among the media as she is with the public.
“And her campaign has taken the tough-love approach with the reporters who cover it, frequently ostracizing those they think are critical or hostile. That kind of aggressive press-relations strategy may sometimes be justified, but it [is] rarely effective. Reporters are supposed to be objective and professional. But they are human. They resent the cold shoulder, even if they understand the campaign’s motivation.”
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3) Smiley “Catching Hell” Over Insistence on Obama
Tavis Smiley is a broadcaster and activist who declares he is not a journalist. But he does ask questions, and because of his insistence that presidential candidates should show up to answer them, “I’m catching hell,” as he told Michael Cottman of BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Smiley invited the surviving Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to appear in New Orleans for his annual “State of the Black Union” symposium on Feb. 23. Only Sen. Hillary Clinton has accepted. Sen. Barack Obama said he would send his wife, Michelle. Smiley insists that’s not good enough, and for that he has been criticized.
On Monday, Roland S. Martin contended on his essence.com blog, “Obama needs to be solely focused on Texas and Ohio.” On Friday on theRoot.com, Melissa Harris-Lacewell wrote a piece headlined, “Who Died and Made Tavis King?: Does Tavis realize that Obama is trying to win an election?”
Smiley replied Thursday in his regular commentary on radio’s nationally syndicated “Tom Joyner Morning Show.”
“This was simply an invitation, nothing more. There has not been, there is not now, nor will there be, any effort on my part to snap on the Obama campaign, or the McCain campaign or the Huckabee campaign, if they choose not to attend. It was just an invitation to him and every other candidate. Accept or reject. An invitation, nothing more, nothing less,” he said. “I’ve lost count now of how many debates the Democrats have had to address other issues that, in fact, do matter to us. But I can tell you exactly how many times they’ve gathered to specifically address our issues. There is no comparison.”
The State of the Black Union hopes to mobilize 1,000 volunteers to rebuild some of the poorest areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina, with volunteers working simultaneously at seven community service projects.
“It’s striking to me that the implications of the storm have received so little national discussion,” Lolis Eric Elie, a columnist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, told Journal-isms. “I wrote about it in last Friday’s column regarding Hillary and Obama. We are not really a national story any more. That, to me, points out a great weakness in American media. The attention span is obvious, but also the failure to realize the national implications of what might seem to be local stories.”
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4) Asian Americans Denounce CNN Report
“Asian Americans are outraged over a recent CNN report that attributes their support for Hillary Clinton to their hesitancy to vote for a black president,” Jun Wang wrote Thursday for New America Media.
“The three-minute video piece, ‘Asian Americans to Vote for Hillary Clinton Across the Nation,’ aired on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° on Feb. 8.
“People with different Asian accents unanimously spoke out one name — ‘(Hillary) Clinton’ — when asked for whom they planned to vote. The report identified two major causes for Asian Americans’ support of Clinton, according to viewers: that they were ‘fearful of a black presidential candidate and/or fearful of change.’
“Samson Fu, 27, a health care project manager with no former political experience, started circulating a petition among the Asian community on Feb. 10. The petition gained sponsorship from the ’80-20 Initiative,’ an Asian American political action committee headquartered in New York.”
The show revisited the topic Friday night in a wide-ranging segment, “Uncovering America: Race, Gender and Politics,” that also discussed the Latino vote.
Prof. Matt Barreto of the University of Washington said Asians “remember good times in the 1990s. There was a lot of benefits on not only the economy, but other policies that benefited immigrants, and in particular, Asian Americans that would cause them to remember the Clintons in fondness.
S.B. Woo, former Delaware lieutenant governor, said of his 80-20 Initiative, “I think the fact that the most powerful political organization in our community has endorsed Senator Clinton for the California Democratic primary has to be one of the major factors, if not the major factor.”
Jane Junn, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers University, said, “I don’t know why we have to try to explain why Asian Americans voted more for Clinton than for Obama when the same pattern happened throughout California. You’re talking about one state, which is arguably 35 percent of the Asian-American population. Let’s see what happens in Hawaii. Let’s see what happens in Texas.”
Faye Wattleton, president of the Center for the Advancement of Women and onetime head of Planned Parenthood, said, “There are tensions between African American and Asians around affirmative action issues at the higher education levels. And I think we can’t ignore those. Now, whether they show up in the electorate and how deep those divides are, but the tensions do exist.”
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5) Pa. Governor “Unfairly Pilloried” for Remarks
“If the hundreds of e-mails and dozens of calls I’ve received since Tuesday are any indication, the governor is being unfairly pilloried as a crypto-racist provocateur for suggesting that there are whites in this state who aren’t ready to vote for a black candidate— i.e., Barack Obama,” columnist.
Tony Norman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote on Friday, speaking of Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.
It was Norman who first reported comments Rendell had made to the Post-Gazette editorial board.
“Mainstream coverage of this kerfuffle has been exasperating to watch, especially on cable news. Mr. Rendell really took his lumps on MSNBC, which is disappointing because it is my favorite news network,” Norman continued.
“Still, the sarcastic tone of my column got the ball rolling, so it’s not all Chris Matthews’ fault. Do I wish I had devoted a little more nuance, space and context to the issue? — you betcha. Unlike many who suspect an organized conspiracy, I don’t consider Mr. Rendell’s words part of the pattern established by other Clinton supporters busted for using race as a weapon.”
Sylvester Brown Jr., St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Hispanic vote is difficult to gauge in this election
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Time magazine blog: We likee Hirally! She best quality!
George E. Curry, National Newspaper Publishers Association: Officials Maneuvering to Steal Election from Obama
Bill Fletcher Jr., Blackcommentator.com: And Now, Obama?
C.B. Hanif, Palm Beach (Fla.) Post: Not a ‘major boost’ for perspective
Bob Herbert, New York Times: No End in Sight
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, syndicated: For White Male Voters, Gender Trumps Race
Derrick Z. Jackson, Boston Globe: The Maine event
Nick Jimenez, Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times: Clinton, Obama woo Hispanics in Texas
Jerry Large, Seattle Times: Fomenting venting on caucuses
Rhonda Chriss Lokeman, Kansas City Star: Little Miss Sunshine
Errol Louis, New York Daily News: Old pol needs a new game plan
Courtney Martin, New York Daily News: Send Obama a Valentine for shining light on interracial love
Judge Greg Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com: By Shunning the Will of Primary Voters, the Democrats Risk Losing Big in the General Election
Sheryl McCarthy, Newsday: Obama honest about drug use as a youth
Mary Mitchell, Chicago Sun-Times: Hillary’s move riles Hispanic supporters
Sonsyrea Tate Montgomery, Washington Informer: Fear of Assassination
Phillip Morris, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Retired Cleveland judge an ‘Obama girl’
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: Get used to it: McCain will do things his way
Clarence Page, Chicago Tribune: First-timer at the voting booth learns the truth
David Person, Huntsville (Ala.) Times: A premature judgment on Clinton
Stan Simpson, Hartford Courant: Harold Ford Worth Watching
Laura Washington, Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Change’ resonates with local voters, too
Tonyaa Weathersbee, Florida Times-Union: Black support for Obama is partly a matter of pride
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N.Y Times, Tribune Co. Brace for Further Cuts
“After years of resisting the newsroom cuts that have hit most of the industry, The New York Times will bow to growing financial strain and eliminate about 100 newsroom jobs this year, the executive editor said Thursday,” Richard Pérez-Peña reported Thursday on the Times Web site.
The same day, Thomas S. Mulligan reported on the Los Angeles Times Web site that, “Tribune Co., struggling with declining revenue, said Wednesday it would cut staff by 400 to 500 people companywide, or about 2% of the Chicago-based media company’s workforce.
At the New York paper, “The cuts will be achieved by ‘by not filling jobs that go vacant, by offering buyouts, and if necessary by layoffs,’ said the executive editor, Bill Keller,” the New York Times story said. “The more people who accept buyouts, he said, ‘the smaller the prospect of layoffs, but we should brace ourselves for the likelihood that there will be some layoffs.'”
“At the Los Angeles Times, 100 to 150 jobs would be eliminated — 40 to 50 of them in the newsroom —through a combination of attrition, voluntary buyouts and, if necessary, layoffs, Publisher David D. Hiller said,” according to Mulligan’s story.
“Tribune Chief Executive Sam Zell broke the news in one of his frequent ‘Talk to Sam’ e-mails to all employees. The job cuts are focused on the corporate staff and the company’s nine newspapers. Besides The Times, they include the Chicago Tribune, Newsday in New York, the Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel, the Baltimore Sun and the Hartford (Conn.) Courant.”
Michele Greppi, TV Week: NBC News Streamlines Bureaus
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Branham Sole Candidate for Syracuse U. Deanship
Lorraine Branham, director of the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, is the sole remaining candidate for the deanship of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, according to the student newspaper, the Daily Orange. But as of Thursday, Branham said she had not been offered the job.
The other finalist, Samuel L. Grogg, dean of the School of Communication at the University of Miami, withdrew his candidacy for the deanship on Feb. 8, said David Smith, chair of the Newhouse dean search committee.
Smith told the Syracuse Post-Standard on Friday that the goal is to have someone in place by the start of the next academic year, but there is no firm deadline for naming a new dean.
A study last summer by Thomas Kunkel, dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, found “the people who run the nation’s journalism and mass communication schools are overwhelmingly white, and two-thirds of them are male — even though about two-thirds of JMC students today are female.”
Less than a handful of African Americans head journalism schools at majority-white institutions: Ernest James Wilson III, dean of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, William T. Slater, professor and dean of the College of Communication of the Schieffer School of Journalism at Texas Christian University, and Branham. Neil Henry is interim dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.
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CNN Boosts Diversity Programming, Africa Coverage
CNN is expanding its “Uncovering America” programming initiative on diversity issues, and, separately, announced it is appointing additional Africa-based correspondents, the network announced on Thursday.
“Originally launched in 2007, ‘Uncovering America’ is now a weekly multiplatform commitment to compelling coverage through diverse people, programming and perspectives. For this political year, CNN’s 2008 series launches on Friday, Feb. 15, and continues each subsequent Friday, with coverage of how race and gender issues are impacting this presidential election,” an announcement said. The kickoff was scheduled for “Anderson Cooper 360°.”
Each week, CNN’s “Situation Room,” which airs from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time, is to carry special segments on current issues affecting “underreported groups.” “Headline News will feature ‘Uncovering America’ coverage across its schedule, including within ‘Prime News’ and ‘News to Me,’ the network’s user-generated content program, which will feature iReports focusing on diversity,” the announcement said.
On African coverage, South African reporter Nkepile Mabuse joins CNN from ETV, South Africa’s leading independent television station, and will be based in Johannesburg; also based in South Africa will be Robyn Curnow, who is returning to CNN after previously anchoring and reporting at CNN’s bureau in London.
David McKenzie, who has reported from more than 30 countries in Africa, will be based in Nairobi, Kenya, and reporter Christian Purefoy will be based in Lagos, Nigeria, according to the announcement.
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Roger Clemens Fails to Persuade Sports Columnists
“Unless I’m misremembering, the greatest pitcher of this era sat before Congress and all of America on Wednesday and answered questions about a ‘palpable mass’ on his buttock,” Jerry Brewer wrote Thursday in the Seattle Times.
“Undeniably, Roger Clemens has had more dignified days.”
And judging from columnists of color, Clemens didn’t win many converts. “Actually, it’s impossible to believe Clemens,” wrote Terence Moore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Jason Whitlock took another tack in the Kansas City Star:
“I honestly believe that if Clemens used HGH and steroids he did so out of a belief that he was doing baseball fans and sportswriters a favor,” he wrote.
“He did it, in his mind, so we could enjoy watching him pitch for a longer period of time, so he could remain a role model in this era of athlete misconduct and so the baseball romantics could have a new Babe Ruth.”
Jerry Brewer, Seattle Times: Clemens should try to misremember this day
Cary Clack, San Antonio Express-News: Roger Clemens hearing a polarized circus
Mike Freeman, CBSSports.com: Clemens’ legend shrinking thanks to the nanny
Rickey Hampton, Flint (Mich.) Journal: Cheating has long been part of baseball
Tim Kawakami, San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News: Clemens, unlike Bonds, steps forward and trips over his ego
Terence Moore, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Clemens the biggest loser of Steroidgate
Rob Parker, Detroit News: Legend offers a strong defense in facing accuser
Monte Poole, Oakland (Calif.) Tribune: Rocket in red glare to thrill Bonds, bud?
Shaun Powell, Newsday: Without Pettitte, hearings proved nothing
William C. Rhoden, New York Times: Justice Will Be Served Only if Clemens Isn’t Given a Pass
Ken Rodriguez, San Antonio Express-News: There are lessons for young Texas athletes in Clemens’ hearing
Jean-Jacques Taylor, Dallas Morning News: Clemens’ credibility takes a crippling hit from shaky testimony
Jason Whitlock, Kansas City Star: In Clemens saga, we’re blaming the wrong guy
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Short Takes
“A Western Washington tribe is now in the broadcasting business,” Rob Piercy reported on Tuesday for KING-TV in Seattle. “The Tulalip Tribe in Snohomish County has its own TV station. It’s called KANU TV and it is the first and only nationally broadcast tribal network.” Programming includes “Northwest Indian News” and other TV shows, movies, high school sports and brief lessons in native languages.
CNN announced on Friday that Campbell Brown will anchor the Feb. 21 Democratic presidential debate sponsored by CNN, Univision Communications Inc. and the Texas Democratic Party. CNN chief national correspondent John King and Univision anchor Jorge Ramos will serve as 
“With the country’s transition to digital TV one year away this weekend, Nielsen is dropping some strong hints that significant challenges remain to avoid ratings shortfalls,” Ira Teinowitz reported Friday in TV Week, speaking of the ratings service. “In a new study to be unveiled today at its annual client meeting, Nielsen warns that 13 million homes, or 10.1% of all households, would lose access to most TV signals if the transition happened now. . . . The study said 26.2% of Hispanic homes have at least one set that can get a digital signal but have others that don’t. That compares with 19.5% for African American households, 18.8% for Asian households and 15.2% for white households.”
The ancestors of President Bush enslaved about 30 people on the shores of the upper Chesapeake 175 years ago, Edward W. Ball, author of “Slaves in the Family,” wrote Friday on theroot.com. Bush was to arrive in Africa on Saturday on a five-country trip.
The National Association of Black Journalists “strongly” urged the Federal Communications Commission to deny the proposed XM Radio-SIRIUS Satellite Radio merger as it currently is structured, the organization said on Friday. “Simply put, NABJ believes the proposed merger of XM and SIRIUS would create a monopoly in satellite radio and ultimately close the door to opportunities for minority ownership or control in the medium.”
Orleans Times-Picayune “clarified” Wednesday that Nagin was not laughingly pointing an M-4 rifle at Chief of Police Warren Riley at a news conference, and apologized to Nagin. “A review of a video taken at the event shows that the mayor momentarily pointed the gun at the chief as he was lowering it but he did not deliberately point it at Riley,” the Times-Picayune said.
A fund-raiser to aid veteran automotive journalist Frank Washington, whose face was severely damaged when he was mugged near his Detroit home on Jan. 29, is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Seldom Blues jazz restaurant in Detroit’s Renaissance Center, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Entertainment will be provided by Luther “Badman” Keith, a bluesman who spent 35 years as a journalist at the Detroit News. Donations are $20. Supporters may R.S.V.P. to this e-mail address by Feb. 22.
The life of T. Thomas Fortune, a noted black journalist and activist who lived in Red Bank, N.J., from 1901 to 1908, will be celebrated from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Feb. 27 at River Street Commons, 49 Catherine St. in Red Bank, Larry Higgs reported on Thursday in the Asbury Park (N.J.) Press. In 1883, Fortune founded the New York Age, which became the leading black journal of opinion in the United States.
Philip Balboni, founder of New England Cable News, plans to set up a Web site devoted exclusively to international news, with correspondents in more than 70 countries, Jeffrey Blyth reported on Friday for Britain’s Press Gazette. The Boston-based site is to be called Global News.
This is a memorable week for renowned “Wee Pals” creator Morrie Turner, David Astor reported in Editor & Publisher. “The Berkeley, Calif.-based cartoonist will be the featured guest Saturday at Pittsburgh’s ToonSeum, where he’ll speak and draw. Since last month, the museum has been exhibiting Turner’s work.” Friday was the 43rd anniversary of “Wee Pals” — considered the first comic strip with a truly integrated cast, Astor wrote.
David Mays, long identified with the hip-hop magazine the Source, promoted his new magazines in an interview with EURWeb.com. “Monsta, his new monthly mag and Hip-Hop Weekly have stepped up to kick in the proverbial door of the unclaimed advertising dollars of companies that are dying to market to urban minded readers. That’s money that People, Us Weekly and others of that orientation will never see,” the story said.
Muhamed Oury Bah, a Sierra Leonean journalist and former reporter with the banned Independent newspaper, based in Banjul, the Gambia, West Africa, has fled the Gambia in the face of persecution by suspected agents of the National Intelligence Agency. He was in the country as a refugee, working as a freelancer, the Media Foundation for West Africa reported on Thursday. MFWA sources reported that Bah and his family fled on Jan. 20 after repeated physical attacks and threats against his life. Bah told MFWA sources that the last straw came on Oct. 17, when he was physically attacked by people he suspected to be NIA agents, the foundation reported. “Bah said his assailants told him: ‘You are responsible for your own problems . . . because you are a stupid journalist who writes stupid things about The Gambia.'”
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Feedback: Glad Asians Are Setting Record Straight
I was highly offended and insulted that the Asian American population didn’t think much of Barack Obama simply because he is a Black man. Asians make soooo much money from Black customers, and to disrespect a highly intelligent family man was disheartening.
I’m glad Asians are standing up and working to set the record straight because I was about to never spend one penny with another Asian merchant due to their perceived racism against the very people who pay their bills.
BLACK CONSUMERS ARE THE MOST DISRESPECTED CONSUMERS IN AMERICA.
Black dollars will only be respected when Blacks demand their deserved respect.
Furthermore, when I’ve worked as a signature gatherer/voter registrant, Asians did NOT participate very often. This is not stereotypical, just a reality. I worked in Los Angeles and Washington state.
Pearl Jr. Owner, Elbow Grease Productions?www.TRUtalk.us?TV/Radio Commentator?Los Angeles?Feb. 16, 2008
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Feedback: Smiley an Undeclared Clinton Supporter
Tavis has been noticeably anti-Obama in his show to the point of twisting himself in knots to dispute pro-Obama comments made by guests. Michelle is a good person to be there. The white Repubs ignored him all together (except Huckie) and neither did they offer to send their wives. AND Obama is behind in states and he should be out there campaigning.
Tavis is an undeclared Clinton supporter just based on how he has been going after Obama. He seems to posit Obama as a contender to HIS throne of power. It is very uncomfortable watching Tavis and his contortions because they are so gratuitous. Pollster Frank Luntz, who does on-air focus groups for FOX, tore Tavis a new [backside] on-air for being so biased AGAINST Obama.
Clinton is desperate and Michelle will blow her away at the forum (Michelle is vice president of community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Medical Center.) Sounds wonderful.
Bill Alexander Freelance writer?Washington?Feb. 16, 2008
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Feedback: Attack on Smiley Is Shortsighted
It was sad to see Tavis Smiley criticized by black journalists and academics alike because he suggested Barack Obama appear at a symposium. I was particularly disappointed by Melissa Harris-Lacewell’s article, “Who Died and Made Tavis King?” The title alone is tabloid in nature, suggesting that Smiley thinks he is Martin Luther King himself. Knowing Tavis, I can personally say this is not the case.
This was a shortsighted attack based on Smiley inviting Obama to a debate and expressing disappointment when the presidential candidate declined. This should have been the end of the story, but Harris-Lacewell and others like Roland Martin have taken the opportunity to personally castigate Smiley. Harris-Lacewell went further to imagine what is going on in Smiley’s mind, saying,”maybe Tavis is just jealous.” It was shallow to attribute Smiley’s overwhelming concern and efforts to help the black community to some petty motive.
If Harris-Lacewell put Smiley’s book “The Covenant with Black America” next to Martin’s “Speak Brother,” there would be no comparison in terms of substance and solutions. Smiley’s book outlines a step-by-step approach to solving the problems of the black community. Furthermore, “The Covenant” has multiple authors, including Cornel West, who is Harris-Lacewell’s colleague at Princeton. “Speak Brother’s” prose simply can’t compare. If Smiley is so self-centered, why did he allow so many voices in his book?
The issue of Michelle Obama showing up on behalf of her husband has its own thorny consequences. The overwhelming point is that inviting a wife/spouse to speak for a candidate could start a new trend, a “cop-out” for candidates. The “send your spouse approach” could prove to be a highly distracting forum. Because of his African American theme, it has already proved almost impossible for Smiley to get white Republicans to attend his debates.
Comparing Smiley with Bob Johnson was unfair regarding his criticism of Obama. When Johnson alluded to Obama’s drug use, he joined the Clinton strategists who have employed stereotypical and racist tactics to discredit the Illinois senator. Smiley expressed disappointment only because Obama was not available to have a dialogue about the challenges that black people face in America. This ugly effort to demonize Smiley has no merit and only shows how desperate some are to stir up trouble, putting the spotlight on themselves at a time when black leaders should be unifying.
Wamara Mwine Crisis Media Counselor?CMPR Communications?Baltimore?Feb. 17, 2008