Hello Everyone:

From what I have seen so far, there is absolutely no question that Barack Obama has been getting a free and easy ride from the media while the press has been very hostile and biased toward Hillary Clinton:

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/14319

Carl Bernstein said about Barack Obama "he had a kind of free ride up until now"

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on January 5, 2008 - 9:40am.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/14266

Dana Milbank on Hillary: "The press will savage her no matter what, pretty much"

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on December 30, 2007 - 10:48pm.

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/14242

Joe Sestak did a great job of defending Hillary to a very biased Chris Matthews!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on December 28, 2007 - 5:40am.

Howard Kurtz and his panel in my opinion did an excellent job talking about these issues on CNN Reliable Sources on Sunday, January 6.

Right below is the transcript of this very interesting and informative dialogue.

Here are 10 key points that were made by Howard Kurtz and his panel which I definitely think all Democratic primary voters need to be aware of BEFORE they cast their votes:

1) I liked some of the good questions that Howard Kurtz opened up this program with:

HOWARD KURTZ, HOST (voice over): "Iowa earthquake. Hillary Clinton's third place finish. Why did journalists tell us all year she was practically inevitable?

Barack Obama's big win. Will the press now slam the brakes on his easy ride and provide tougher scrutiny?

And are journalists now climbing on the Barack Obama bandwagon?"

2) Howard Kurtz very credibly documented how that "the pundits were rather hard on the former first lady after her third place finish Thursday night" and how Obama "won praise for his victory speech:"

KURTZ: "One thing is clear, the pundits were rather hard on the former first lady after her third place finish Thursday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED BARNES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: She needs a personality transplant, not some ads that are on health care details.

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: This was a real rejection and a repudiation of everything that she has been trying to sell people on of who she is.

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Are they going to conclude that either people just didn't like her or they just had the wrong message?

(END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: Obama, meanwhile, won praise for his victory speech and commentators began describing his Iowa win in the kind of racial terms that most had been avoiding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC: No doubt about it, it was the Obama speech last night that certainly caught the attention of most political observers.

It was just an inspiring speech.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: For a black man in America to win the Iowa primary is astounding. It is just -- it's history.

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: A remarkable breakthrough this year, as the other group said. Ninety-seven percent, in fact, Iowa rural, white, farming state. Barack Hussein Obama, a black man, wins this for the Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)"

3) Mark Halperin mentioned how that this negative press coverage has hurt Hillary Clinton and correctly asked this key question about Barack Obama "will he get the kind of scrutiny that a front-runner normally gets?"

KURTZ: "Mark Halperin, Hillary clearly made mistakes, and her message of experience was not very exciting. But did the critical press coverage of Hillary Clinton hurt her, especially compared to the rather upbeat treatment of Barack Obama?

MARK HALPERIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Yes, it's hurt her badly and it continues, I think, to potentially hurt her badly. We are still at a tipping point, I think, in the Obama coverage. Will it be laudatory and breathless and say, isn't this exciting, or will he get the kind of scrutiny that a front-runner normally gets?"

4) I completely agree with Bill Clinton's complain about the biased media coverage toward Hillary and with John Dickerson's comments "that Obama is not getting the kind of scrutiny that Hillary Clinton gets. She cannot do anything without everybody jumping on her and parsing it and talking about her various problems:"

KURTZ: "I want to come back to the question, but let me ask you, John Dickerson, whether you have picked up some resentment in the Hillary camp toward the press? I mean, here's what Bill Clinton had to say just the other day in New Hampshire. We'll put it up on the screen.

"Independent voters think you're polarizing," referring to his wife, "if someone else attacks you, even if that someone is Rush Limbaugh, even if you've been totally exonerated of every single charge ever leveled against you, which Hillary was, and some people forgot to tell you about that." "Some people," I think, meaning journalists -- John.

JOHN DICKERSON, SLATE.COM: Yes, I picked up the resentment by the ton. They have two main complaints about the press.

One is the point Bill Clinton was making, which is that everybody talks about her divisiveness as if it's a quality only she possesses, and makes no mention -- or they would say make no mention -- of the fact that Republicans have demonized her over the last many years. And the second complaint that they've been making for quite some time is that Obama is not getting the kind of scrutiny that Hillary Clinton gets. She cannot do anything without everybody jumping on her and parsing it and talking about her various problems.

And with Obama, whenever they try to present a storyline that suggests contradiction, she is called divisive for even bringing up any of these questions, and the press ignores them. That's their claim, anyway.

KURTZ: Right."

5) Suzanne Malveaux admitted "I think perhaps some people were not taking Barack Obama as seriously as they should have:"

KURTZ: "Suzanne Malveaux, looking back, did the media make a mistake here by buying into, even indirectly, the narrative that Hillary Clinton, if not inevitable, was going to be almost impossible to beat for this nomination?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were some things that were happening. I think perhaps some people were not taking Barack Obama as seriously as they should have, and they weren't necessarily -- it was kind of hard to tell what the organization in terms of just the number of voters, young voters who were going to turn out..."

6) I completely agree with Mark Halperin that Barack Obama "has not had the kind of vetting certainly that Hillary Clinton has had, but certainly also, as I suggested before, as much as a normal front-runner has" and "that Obama simply has not gotten the kind of scrutiny someone on the precipice of being the Democratic nominee normally gets:"

HALPERIN: "I think it was good journalism because I think the Clintons are right about one point. Senator Obama, although he feels highly scrutinized, because when you get in this arena you get more scrutiny than a person could ever imagine, he still has not had the kind of vetting certainly that Hillary Clinton has had, but certainly also, as I suggested before, as much as a normal front-runner has...

But I think the larger point, which certainly is animating Bill Clinton and his famous temper these days, that Obama simply has not gotten the kind of scrutiny someone on the precipice of being the Democratic nominee normally gets, is accurate."

7) John Dickerson went on to agree with Halperin by saying "Some of these stories have actually been covered, but they are little blips. And Mark's right, they haven't been covered with -- in the sheer numbers that you see for other candidates and other front-runners" when he was asked "Is there a certain skittishness about going after Barack Obama?"

KURTZ: "John Dickerson, you touched on this before, but why is it -- where is the fierce scrutiny that all of these investigative reporters and all of these big news organizations like to inflict on anybody who is perceived as a front-runner, or at least equal to another candidate in the polls? Is there a certain skittishness about going after Barack Obama?

DICKERSON: There might be. Some of these stories have actually been covered, but they are little blips. And Mark's right, they haven't been covered with -- in the sheer numbers that you see for other candidates and other front-runners."

8) Howard Kurtz documents "riding a media wave" where Obama is likened to "JFK and Martin Luther King:"

KURTZ: "And just to underscore your point, yesterday, front page photos in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" -- we've put those up -- showing a kind of triumphant Obama. A "New York Times" story declared -- likened Barack Obama to JFK and Martin Luther King in one paragraph, I believe. And here comes the cover of "Newsweek," "Our Time for Change has Come," a quote from the Illinois senator, if we could put that up. And he is described in this piece, which is a very favorable piece, as being tall, handsome and blessed with a weighty baritone.

So that's what you call riding a media wave, folks."

9) Howard Kurtz asked if journalists who are covering Obama "are somewhat sympathetic to his candidacy because it does have this sort of uplifting and historic nature?"

KURTZ: "And since you mentioned Obama, Suzanne, I mean, just briefly, do you have a sense that journalists who cover the senator are somewhat sympathetic to his candidacy because it does have this sort of uplifting and historic nature?

MALVEAUX: Well, I think people -- they seem to come away with a sense that this is a simple message, it's an easy message, it's an inspirational message that people are responding to..."

10) I hope that Clarence Page is right when he said later in this show "I expect to see the coverage get tougher no matter who it is:"

KURTZ: "Is there a reluctance in the press to criticize Barack Obama too harshly because he represents this uplifting tale of racial reconciliation?

CLARENCE PAGE, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": I don't think there is that reluctance. In fact, now that he's a front-runner, viewed as a front-runner, I expect to see the coverage get tougher no matter who it is.

KURTZ: Why hasn't it happened yet? Why hasn't it happened yet?

PAGE: Because he hasn't been really perceived as the front- runner until, bango (ph), he actually won Iowa. And there's no denying it now. Actual votes or caucus votes have been cast."

The bottom line to all of this in my opinion is that Obama's free and easy ride by the press absolutely needs to stop RIGHT NOW because it will definitely not continue in the general election IF he is the nominee!

Hillary Clinton was been fully vetted and we know for certain what we are getting if she is the nominee. We definitely do NOT know what we are getting with Obama yet and it is much better to find out what we will be getting in Obama right now during the primary process BEFORE the nominee is decided!

Has anyone even asked themself yet why Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh are openly trying to help Obama in the Democratic primary against Hillary?

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/14328

ANALYSIS: Why are Rush Limbaugh & Karl Rove so eager to give Obama their advice?

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on January 6, 2008 - 2:15am.

Could it be that they want Obama to win the Democratic primary because they think that he will be an easier opponent to beat in the general election than Hillary?

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/13782

Barack Obama will be swiftboated & will get eaten up alive if he is the nominee!

Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on November 1, 2007 - 3:49am.

When was the last time that such heavily partisan Neocon GOP ideologues like Rove and Limbaugh ever tried to openly help a serious Democratic Presidential primary candidate?

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the kind of tough and serious questions about Obama that all Democratic primary voters should be thinking about and considering right now as opposed to personal charisma and emotional appeals. That will NOT last during the general election once the swiftboat attacks begin to happen and when the tough questions are asked from the other side IF Obama is the nominee!

On another note, this is also one of the worst examples of terrible and unprofessional journalism that I have ever seen by a press that is supposed to be fair and objective in their coverage of Presidential candidates. This is definitely an excellent example to people of what serious journalism ought NOT to be in my opinion!

I am really glad to see Howard Kurtz talking about these important issues and I hope that all Democratic primary voters will very seriously think all of this information over BEFORE they cast their votes!

Mitch Dworkin

http://www.securingamerica.com/

http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10756
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.

http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!

--------------------

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0801/06/rs.01.html

CNN RELIABLE SOURCES

Coverage of Iowa Caucuses

Aired January 6, 2008 - 10:00 ET

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST (voice over): Iowa earthquake. Hillary Clinton's third place finish. Why did journalists tell us all year she was practically inevitable?

Mike Huckabee's upset victory. Why did the media treat him like an amusing sideshow act for so long?

Barack Obama's big win. Will the press now slam the brakes on his easy ride and provide tougher scrutiny?

Doubleheader debate. ABC's Charlie Gibson joins us to assess his role in moderating last night's Democratic and Republican face-offs.

Plus, home alone. Jay, Conan and Jimmy face the audience without their writers. Are they still getting laughs?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KURTZ: How is it exactly that the Iowa Republican caucus was won by a guy who the national media wouldn't give the time for most of the year? Did we simply miss the boat on Mike Huckabee? And how is it exactly that Iowa's Democratic caucus was won by a guy who the press was saying two months ago had little chance to catch Hillary Clinton, who, as we kept hearing, was inevitable?

And are journalists now climbing on the Barack Obama bandwagon?

One thing is clear, the pundits were rather hard on the former first lady after her third place finish Thursday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED BARNES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: She needs a personality transplant, not some ads that are on health care details.

ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: This was a real rejection and a repudiation of everything that she has been trying to sell people on of who she is.

BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: Are they going to conclude that either people just didn't like her or they just had the wrong message?

(END VIDEO CLIP) KURTZ: Obama, meanwhile, won praise for his victory speech and commentators began describing his Iowa win in the kind of racial terms that most had been avoiding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC: No doubt about it, it was the Obama speech last night that certainly caught the attention of most political observers.

It was just an inspiring speech.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: For a black man in America to win the Iowa primary is astounding. It is just -- it's history.

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: A remarkable breakthrough this year, as the other group said. Ninety-seven percent, in fact, Iowa rural, white, farming state. Barack Hussein Obama, a black man, wins this for the Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: So, with the New Hampshire primary coming up on Tuesday, is there any reason to believe that the new media spin is better than the old media spin?

Joining us now from Nashua, New Hampshire, Suzanne Malveaux, CNN's White House correspondent. In Manchester, New Hampshire, John Dickerson, chief political correspondent for slate.com. And Mark Halperin, senior political analyst and editor-at-large at "TIME" magazine and author of the book "The Undecided Voters's Guide to the Next President."

Mark Halperin, Hillary clearly made mistakes, and her message of experience was not very exciting. But did the critical press coverage of Hillary Clinton hurt her, especially compared to the rather upbeat treatment of Barack Obama?

MARK HALPERIN, "TIME" MAGAZINE: Yes, it's hurt her badly and it continues, I think, to potentially hurt her badly. We are still at a tipping point, I think, in the Obama coverage. Will it be laudatory and breathless and say, isn't this exciting, or will he get the kind of scrutiny that a front-runner normally gets?

KURTZ: I want to come back to the question, but let me ask you, John Dickerson, whether you have picked up some resentment in the Hillary camp toward the press? I mean, here's what Bill Clinton had to say just the other day in New Hampshire. We'll put it up on the screen.

"Independent voters think you're polarizing," referring to his wife, "if someone else attacks you, even if that someone is Rush Limbaugh, even if you've been totally exonerated of every single charge ever leveled against you, which Hillary was, and some people forgot to tell you about that." "Some people," I think, meaning journalists -- John.

JOHN DICKERSON, SLATE.COM: Yes, I picked up the resentment by the ton. They have two main complaints about the press.

One is the point Bill Clinton was making, which is that everybody talks about her divisiveness as if it's a quality only she possesses, and makes no mention -- or they would say make no mention -- of the fact that Republicans have demonized her over the last many years. And the second complaint that they've been making for quite some time is that Obama is not getting the kind of scrutiny that Hillary Clinton gets. She cannot do anything without everybody jumping on her and parsing it and talking about her various problems.

And with Obama, whenever they try to present a storyline that suggests contradiction, she is called divisive for even bringing up any of these questions, and the press ignores them. That's their claim, anyway.

KURTZ: Right. Well, "The Weekly Standard" is delirious about the Iowa results. If I could hold this up, "The Fall of the House of Clinton," already.

Suzanne Malveaux, looking back, did the media make a mistake here by buying into, even indirectly, the narrative that Hillary Clinton, if not inevitable, was going to be almost impossible to beat for this nomination?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were some things that were happening. I think perhaps some people were not taking Barack Obama as seriously as they should have, and they weren't necessarily -- it was kind of hard to tell what the organization in terms of just the number of voters, young voters who were going to turn out. So I think that that was generally a surprise, because historically that just doesn't happen, they don't come out in huge numbers. We know he worked really hard for those numbers and ultimately got them.

I want to say one thing though, Howard, about this whole thing of race, because what -- in covering Obama before the Iowa caucuses here, you really did see an evolution and you did see a candidate who started to talk a little bit more about it. It wasn't just his acceptance speech.

He did talk about the fact that he was a black man, that he had the name "Barack Obama," and that running for president, that took a certain amount of courage and hope. So I think you saw a candidate who was growing on the stump, if you will, in the weeks leading up to the Iowa caucuses, and it really did kind of change the way people saw him, that he perhaps was a little bit more courageous in his delivery.

KURTZ: But you would agree, Suzanne, that that was certainly not the main emphasis of Obama's campaign on the stump? He didn't run as a Jesse Jackson or an Al Sharpton.

MALVEAUX: Oh, absolutely, he didn't run at all like that. And that's why it was so stark. That's why it was so obvious that when he started talking about overcoming -- the country overcoming slavery and the civil rights marches, you know, your ears perked up...

KURTZ: Right.

MALVEAUX: ... because you wonder, well, what is he doing here? What is he trying to do? And essentially, I think he was trying to appeal to whatever he feels is the better or the best in people. And I think that they started to respond to that.

KURTZ: All right.

Mark Halperin, let me play for you something from your former network, ABC. This was on "World News." Hillary Clinton was interviewed, and some interesting reporting that follows that.

Let's take a brief look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of these issues, it's hard to know exactly, you know, where he stands. And people need to ask that.

KATE SNOW, ABC NEWS (voice over): While the senator was vague, her campaign pointed ABC News to specific examples to show how liberal Obama's positions have been. In 2004, Obama said he would vote to abolish mandatory minimum sentences for federal crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Interesting to me. I did not know that Obama ever voted to establish or do away with those minimum sentences. And is that good journalism, what ABC did, or were they letting the Hillary campaign kind of point them in a certain direction?

HALPERIN: I think it was good journalism because I think the Clintons are right about one point. Senator Obama, although he feels highly scrutinized, because when you get in this arena you get more scrutiny than a person could ever imagine, he still has not had the kind of vetting certainly that Hillary Clinton has had, but certainly also, as I suggested before, as much as a normal front-runner has.

He is now the most likely next president of the United States. The Obama campaign has argued that the things that were pointed out by that ABC report are misleading or not representative, whatever. But I think the larger point, which certainly is animating Bill Clinton and his famous temper these days, that Obama simply has not gotten the kind of scrutiny someone on the precipice of being the Democratic nominee normally gets, is accurate.

KURTZ: All right. John Dickerson, we've now got the tape of Halperin saying that Obama is the most likely next president of the United States after one state has voted. So we'll save that just in case it doesn't turn out to be the case.

HALPERIN: Howard, I didn't predict that he would.

KURTZ: You said he's most likely.

HALPERIN: I said as a snapshot of right now, he is the most likely. If he loses the New Hampshire primary, I won't think that's true anymore.

KURTZ: All right.

John Dickerson, you touched on this before, but why is it -- where is the fierce scrutiny that all of these investigative reporters and all of these big news organizations like to inflict on anybody who is perceived as a front-runner, or at least equal to another candidate in the polls? Is there a certain skittishness about going after Barack Obama?

DICKERSON: There might be. Some of these stories have actually been covered, but they are little blips. And Mark's right, they haven't been covered with -- in the sheer numbers that you see for other candidates and other front-runners.

I think also what happens is the Obama as phenomenon story is a little bit easier, it's bigger, flashier, it's a phenomenon. And so that kind of crowds out the other stories about his record, which tend to be, you know, full of details that either journalists or perhaps readers don't follow as much as they follow the kind of grand, sweeping American narrative that Obama is now seen as a part of because of his extraordinary rise.

KURTZ: And just to underscore your point, yesterday, front page photos in "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" -- we've put those up -- showing a kind of triumphant Obama. A "New York Times" story declared -- likened Barack Obama to JFK and Martin Luther King in one paragraph, I believe. And here comes the cover of "Newsweek," "Our Time for Change has Come," a quote from the Illinois senator, if we could put that up. And he is described in this piece, which is a very favorable piece, as being tall, handsome and blessed with a weighty baritone.

So that's what you call riding a media wave, folks.

Let me turn now to the Republican contest.

Mike Huckabee didn't get a lot of coverage, as I said at the top, for most of 2007. The day after he won Iowa, by a surprising easy margin over Mitt Romney, he did seven morning shows. Here's one of them on "The Today Show."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT LAUER, NBC NEWS: Let me take you back a couple of months. You were polling in the low single digits in Iowa. A lot of people were joking, "What's a Huckabee?"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: John Dickerson, I mean, this guy was blown off by most of the press for 10 or 11 months, except on a couple of the cable shows. He was always on as a guest because he was endlessly available because he needed the free media exposure.

In retrospect, with the benefit of hindsight, wasn't that a blunder?

DICKERSON: Well, I'm not sure. Sure, let's say it was a blunder. But you've got to remember that the Republican field had at least three, if not four, incredibly serious candidates in McCain, Giuliani, Romney and Thompson, and they had all of the trappings, both in most of those cases the experience, plus they had money, they had name recognition, all of which may get overplayed in the press sometimes, but those are not unimportant qualities.

Huckabee had none of that, and for a long time also there was the question in the press -- and in Republican circles -- about the power of evangelical voters. There was a split in that group, and the fact that evangelical voters who had been so powerful in the Republican Party had not torn down Rudy Giuliani for a long time -- the press was predicting they would and they didn't -- there was reasonable evidence to conclude that the evangelical voter was at sea and was not the power that it once was. And so, therefore, the evangelical voters' ability to bring Mike Huckabee up was perhaps in question.

So, with all of those variables out there, there is some evidence that the press didn't miss it wildly. However, you know, clearly Huckabee's rise was not something that a lot of people were predicting.

KURTZ: Suzanne Malveaux, I mean, obviously journalists can't know this in advance, who is going to emerge, what kind of dark horse might get a lot of traction, but it does seem to me that we decide in advance who we think the front-runners are, and every four years it turns out, at least on one candidate, that we are wrong.

MALVEAUX: That usually is the case. But you know, I mean, being out here on the trail, obviously there is a certain amount of buzz that you get before things happen.

I remember at least it seemed it started off Hillary Clinton had a lot of buzz, lot of excitement. Then it turned to John Edwards just a couple days before the Iowa caucuses, there was a lot of talk about how he was going to emerge. And then -- and then really the days leading up, if not the day before, the buzz was all about Barack Obama.

So, I know that you kind of -- you get a sense, a feel, for the way people come out of these events, what are they saying, what are they feeling, what are they talking about. But sometimes obviously our predictions are wrong.

KURTZ: And since you mentioned Obama, Suzanne, I mean, just briefly, do you have a sense that journalists who cover the senator are somewhat sympathetic to his candidacy because it does have this sort of uplifting and historic nature?

MALVEAUX: Well, I think people -- they seem to come away with a sense that this is a simple message, it's an easy message, it's an inspirational message that people are responding to.

On the Hillary camp, you know, talking to aides, I mean, clearly, just yesterday what happened, there were some lessons that were learned from Iowa that they've already started to incorporate. Two hours of answering questions from audience members.

KURTZ: Right.

MALVEAUX: Hillary Clinton telling Chelsea, move the barriers, move the chairs, get these folks in here. I want to prove that I'm the one who really has the substance here. And we heard a lot in terms of what she was saying yesterday...

KURTZ: Right. Right.

MALVEAUX: ... about false hope and that kind of attack. So, you know, clearly they're reacting.

KURTZ: Mark Halperin, on your book cover you have a bunch of presidential candidates. I don't see Huckabee on there.

You know, the question that viewers I think are asking is, who elected the press to anoint the front-runners in advance, you know, months and months before anybody has voted?

HALPERIN: Howie, I love my job but there's some things I hate about it. And you raised during this show two of those things.

One is I'm embarrassed about the way we treated Mike Huckabee. I include myself. I gave a speech in Arkansas several months ago, and I completely dismissed his chances when asked about him on his home turf. I'm embarrassed personally about that and I'm embarrassed for our profession.

I'm also embarrassed at the way, as we talked about in the beginning of the show, the way we careen back and forth between inevitable and dead. You know, you talked about it in the context of Hillary Clinton. Look at the coverage of John McCain.

People just want to write his obituary for no good reason, not look at his ideas, not look at the possibility of a comeback. It happens all the time in politics, and yet we careen back and forth. And again, I find it embarrassing that we do it.

KURTZ: Absolutely. And I appreciate your candor...

KURTZ: Is there a reluctance in the press to criticize Barack Obama too harshly because he represents this uplifting tale of racial reconciliation?

CLARENCE PAGE, "CHICAGO TRIBUNE": I don't think there is that reluctance. In fact, now that he's a front-runner, viewed as a front-runner, I expect to see the coverage get tougher no matter who it is.

KURTZ: Why hasn't it happened yet? Why hasn't it happened yet?

PAGE: Because he hasn't been really perceived as the front- runner until, bango (ph), he actually won Iowa. And there's no denying it now. Actual votes or caucus votes have been cast.

But I think that, you know, for African-Americans, there's also been a healthy skepticism up until now, and a lot of folks who aren't as closely familiar with the political scene as some of us who have felt, well, is he just another symbolic figure, like a Jesse Jackson who runs to make a point, and not to actually score a victory. The fact that he's actually scored a victory in Iowa has caused black talk radio and the bloggers and every other -- barber shops and beauty parlors -- critical places. You know, people are taking notice now.

(CROSSTALK)

KURTZ: Amy Holmes said on this program last week if Obama started rolling toward the nomination the next day the headline would be, is America ready for a black president? We haven't seen that. Will we?

AMANDA CARPENTER, TOWNHALL.COM: I think people are just very -- they're surprised. And it's a feel-good story. And I think we're still kind of seeing the ruminations from that.

I mean, his victory speech was outstanding. You know, I'm a conservative and I thought, wow, this is something that really promotes unity, and it's something to feel good about. And they may be talking he is the self-esteem candidate now.

KURTZ: Conservatives seem to at least respect the guy, if not like some of his positions.

All right...