ABC reports that Republicans are mocking Democrats' columned stage, not that 2004 GOP convention sta

[Leo 9]

Thu, Aug 28, 2008 5:31pm ET

ABC reports that Republicans are mocking Democrats' columned stage, not that 2004 GOP convention stage also had columns

Summary: Good Morning America's Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer echoed Republican talking points mocking the stage at Invesco Field in Denver, where Sen. Barack Obama plans to give his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for president, for including a structure with columns. But Roberts and Sawyer failed to mention that the stage at the Republican National Convention in 2004 also included columns.

On the August 28 edition of ABC's Good Morning America, co-hosts Robin Roberts and Diane Sawyer echoed Republican talking points mocking the stage at Invesco Field in Denver, where Sen. Barack Obama plans to give his acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination for president. After Sawyer noted that Republicans were "making fun of" the stage, which includes a structure with columns, Roberts responded by chanting, "Toga! Toga!" Sawyer replied: "You're right. That's what they're saying," and then aired pictures of people in togas, saying the Republicans circulated them. Neither Roberts nor Sawyer noted the Obama campaign response, which included pointing out that the stage at the Republican National Convention in 2004 also included columns.

Also during the broadcast, Roberts described the stage as "transformed with Greek-like columns and something the Republicans, yes, wasted no time in pointing out," and Sawyer did not challenge Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty when he said in an interview that the stage had a "Roman-like façade" without much substance behind it, and that Obama wanted to appear " 'emperor-like' in the setting." At no point did either Roberts or Sawyer note that the stage at the RNC in 2004 had a columned backdrop, as highlighted by Ben Smith in an August 27 post on his Politico blog, which the Obama campaign reportedly circulated. Smith wrote, "Republicans who are mocking Obama's appearance haven't mentioned it, but George W. Bush accepted his own nomination in 2004 on a set with a similar neoclassical theme, with columns rising on either side of him," illustrated with these photographs:





On the August 28 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, co-host Mika Brzezinski mentioned that "the McCain campaign calls the look at Invesco Field, 'The Temple of Obama,' " and asked Obama communications director Robert Gibbs how he would respond to "ridicule from Republicans, because it's setting up Obama on this stage with these columns around him." Gibbs pulled out a cellular phone, showed Brzezinski and co-host Joe Scarborough the picture of Bush standing before the RNC's columned backdrop in 2004, and asked: "Can you guys see this?" Brzezinski replied: "That's George Bush."

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200808280015?f=h_latest