ABC News Knows What Dems Think; Doesn't Need To Quote Any

[SunsetDreams]

August 16, 2010 12:52 pm ET by Eric Boehlert

From ABC News' Rick Klein, headline :

'World News' Political Insights: President Obama Adds Issue to Party's Challenge: Democrats Grumbling After Endorsement of Islamic Center Near Ground Zero

Nut graph:

The president's decision to elevate a New York issue into a national one by speaking out at a dinner Friday night marking the start of Ramadan will spin it into campaigns across the country -- where candidates largely felt like they already had enough baggage to carry from Washington.

According to Klein, with his recent comments Obama had nationalized the mosque debate, even though, of course, national figures on the GOP side such as Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich, as well as the entire staff at Fox News, had already nationalized (or elevated) the issue for weeks. But once Obama weighed in on the topic, he put Democrats all across the country in the hole because suddenly (and only now) they'll be asked about the issue, and OMG, according to (flawed) polilng efforts, Americans oppose the construction of the mosque.

Klein's reasoning seems weak since, of course, the issue had long ago been nationalized. Plus, there's been no polling to suggest voters in Illinois or Delaware or Oregon actually care about the building of an NYC mosque, let alone whether they care what they're local Congressmen thinks about the NYC zoning issue.

More annoying though, is Klein's repeated proclamation as fact that Democrats are upset with Obama about the mosque issue (they're "grumbling"; it was "an unwelcome distraction"), even though Klein doesn't bother to quote one Democrat, either on or off the record, in his entire piece expressing that sentiment.

Not one.

UPDATED: As Greg Sargent notes, it's not clear how Republicans would press their Democratic opponents on the mosque issue, since Obama simply re-affirmed that Muslims in America have a legal right to build places of worship; a claim that not even NYC mosque opponents take issue with.

More here: http://mediamatters.org/blog/201008160018

[FrenchieCat]

1. I would caution the GOP and their media from manufacturing new election issues

prior to September.

[vi5]

2. I agree they should have quoted some specifics....

...but does anyone really doubt that this isn't the case that dems are going to try and avoid this issue like the plague rather than making a stand for what is right and just? I mean some will (Nadler has, so have a few others) say and do the right thing. But others are going to pander and fall again for the republican fear mongering.

I can't imagine many that feel this way wanting to go on record, so that could be why there were none actually quoted.

Shitty journalism, but sadly I don't doubt that it's true.