The Media & Obama: Good Intentions Paving a Rough Road

by Damozel and D. Cupples  |  We at BN-Politics have been worried about this for weeks -- a possible backlash from Hillary Clinton's supporters against pro-Obama (or anti-Hillary) media outlets and the passive-aggressive bashing of Hillary that appears to be approved by the Obama campaign.

Apparently, the backlash is already gathering hurricane force -- if a recent Pew poll is anywhere close to reflecting voters' opinions.

The poll suggests that 25% of pro-Hillary Dems plan to vote for John McCain if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee.  About 10% of Obama's supporters plan to vote for McCain if Hillary wins the nomination, according to the poll.

This should gravely concern Obama and the super-delegates, because 25% of the Dems who support Hillary represents millions of votes. That and many voters  perceive McCain as a liberal Republican -- i.e., a palatable alternative.

Taylor Marsh, who has received hundreds of emails from Hillary supporters, expressed similar concerns about a backlash:

"The media, Obama and his supporters are underestimating the hardness now solidifying among many Clinton supporters who are saying they will never vote for Barack Obama. There have been grumblings since Obama made the statement that he could get Clinton voters, but she couldn't get his voters [video below]....

"Obama's campaign race baiting made it worse. It was added on to the media bias against Clinton....

"But calling her campaign and supporters racist, which was further aided by MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, was a final straw...."

Why are millions of Hillary supporters finding Obama unpalatable?  I can only speculate about the offensiveness (i.e., divisiveness) of some Obama-campaign tactics.

I see why millions of middle-aged and older folks might be turned off by Obama's message that voters must choose between "change" and "experience" -- which aren't mutually exclusive terms. 

The media made a bad more worse by bizarrely chanting that message after the Iowa caucus.

I can see why millions of voters are turned off by strong implications that Obama's hands are clean but Hillary's are tainted -- especially given the evidence suggesting that Obama has been pretty good at playing old-style politics (e.g., Exelon, Rezko, the 1996 election).

I can see why "hypocrisy" would come to voters' minds after the Obama campaign sent a fund-raising email that accused Hillary of attacking Obama's supporters.  Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh similarly convinced millions of Americans that anyone criticizing George Bush was also insulting his fans (and their mamas).

Obama's email was as divisive as it was factually questionable --  and hypocritical, given Obama's speeches against "divisive," old-style politics.

Some media outlets have ignored such telling campaign tactics and instead simply attacked Hillary like frenzied campaign volunteers (e.g., Olbermann's recent attack).

Even some Obama supporters are disgusted by the media's campaign coverage.  And it goes without saying that Republicans (who will campaign and vote in November) are highly resentful of many media's nonobjective, pro-Obama campaigning.

Lastly, I can see why voters might be turned off by the apparent presumptuousness that Sen. Obama exhibited when implying that he would get most Hillary supporters' votes in November if he were the nominee but she might not get many of his (video clip below).

Sen. Obama's statement was made worse when campaign surrogate Michele Obama publicly said in February that she might not support the Dem nominee if it were Hillary.  Sen. Obama and Hillary have not publicly said that about each other. 

A few days ago, incidentally, Hillary publicly said that she would "expect" her supporters to support Obama if he's the nominee (Associated Press).  It's a significant statement, but I haven't seen much media coverage of it.

Thanks to media amplification (or creation) of campaign-related hostility, if Obama becomes the nominee, many Dems would have sour stomachs over his victory.  That's a bad way to go into a general election -- except from the perspective of McCain supporters.

Memeorandum has commentary.

Related BN-Politics Posts:

* Olbermann's Hillary Comments about Ferraro, Pro-Obama

* Studies Suggest Pro-Obama (or Anti-Hillary) Media Bias

* Hillary Clinton (Candidates' Positives, Part I)

* Obama: Because I Remember (Candidate Positives, Pt. II)

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Comments

[Pug]

"The poll suggests that 25% of pro-Hillary Dems plan to vote for John McCain if Barack Obama becomes the Democratic nominee. About 10% of Obama's supporters plan to vote for McCain if Hillary wins the nomination, according to the poll."

Perhaps this is because so many of Obama's supporters are African Americans, the most loyal Democratic constituency in existence, and so many of Hillary's supporters are so-called Reagan Democrats.

There is a reason they are called Reagan Democrats. They are the least loyal Democrats. So the plan should be this: throw the most loyal Democratic contituency under the bus and assiduosly court the least loyal Democrats.

Good plan.

[D. Cupples]

Pub,

You sound offended. Why?

I think we can read all sorts of things into Pew's poll (assuming it's accurate).

It may NOT be the only factor, but I do think that many Hillary supporters are upset with Obama's passively-aggressive negative campaigning. I think they are upset with the inherent hypocrisy in some of his campaigning.

That's NOT a swipe at his supporters -- they don't control what the campaign staff does.

[D. Cupples]

Pug,

Regarding party loyalty: as posted above (with link), Sen. Obama's wife was the first to publicly state (about 6 weeks ago, in front of her husband's supporters, God, and other ABC viewers) that supporting the Dem nominee in November was NOT a given.

That was before Hillary's poorly worded comments on McCain's experience, which some have twisted into an endorsement of McCain but could easily be interpreted as a stupidly worded attempt to say, "Hey, Barack's gonna have trouble going up against McCain's experience in November, but I wouldn't because I have experience too."

And just a few days ago (also linked above) Hillary publicly stated that HER supporters should support Obama if he's the nominee.

Which candidate is more loyal to the party?

[tazzz]

is there a pro-hillary media? i've wondered why ted kennedy and john kerry haven't endorsed hillary since she won mass. primary and if there are other instances like this.

[D. Cupples]

Tazzz,

Some bloggers are pro-Hillary, and some media seem to try to report somewhat objectively, but I don't see a whole lot of pro-Hill media.

Hillary won the New Mexico caucus, but NM governor Bill Richardson endorsed Obama today.

I think Kennedy and Kerry endorsed before the MA primary. Maybe they thought their endorsements would help Obama win that state.

If so, they were wrong.

[D. Dickey]

Count me as another Hillary supporter who will vote for John McCain if the Democratic nominee is Barack Obama. Our nation is in a dangerous situation right now, and I do not believe Obama has the experience needed to lead our country. The media has forced him on the public for some reason and has done everything they could to knock Hillary out of the race. She has the experience and the wisdom to guide our country through these troubled times. If she is not the nominee, I am sure there will be many more than 25% of her supporters voting for John McCain.

[D. Cupples]

D. Dickey,

I suspect you're right about the percentage being higher than 25 -- especially with certain media outlets again trying to bully Hillary into quitting (even before Pennsylvania).

Her supporters won't take kindly to any of this, and many will likely see it as an effort by Obama.

[tazzz]

i will also vote for john mccain if obama is the dem nominee. to use one of his favorite words, i think most whites voting for him are being bamboozled.

[D. Cupples]

Tazzz,

Again, many other Dems feel the same way. Myself, I don't know how I'll feel in November, but my perception of Obama (and his campaign) is a lot more negative than it was a few months ago.

In fact, I had no negative perceptions of Obama until January. Since then, they've only grown -- largely because of Axelrod's tactics.