Newsweek: Putting On Their Game Face
The news media bias continues in this Newsweek story on the Campaign which focuses mostly on Hillary vs Obama and then throws this in about Edwards in passing and quotes only its own poll. Other polls, such as the one I've included at the end of this blog entry, shows Edwards gaining the most in the last few weeks.
Yeah, you're right, Edwards is a formidable opponent who cannot be written off yet.
Voters still haven't figured out whom they want to win. Polls paint a confusing picture. Among Democrats nationwide, Clinton holds a big lead over Obama and is still perceived as the candidate most likely to win in November. But that advantage evaporates when the two are matched up against leading Republicans. In surveys of voters from both parties, Clinton has a narrow, four-point lead over Rudy Giuliani in a recent NEWSWEEK POLL; Obama has a three-point lead. But against other Republicans, Obama comes out ahead, leading Mitt Romney by 16 and Fred Thompson by 13, compared with four points for Clinton in both scenarios.
One name rarely figures in the Obama and Clinton strategy: John Edwards. Both campaigns seem to believe his effort will fade. "I don't spend a lot of time thinking about Edwards," a Clinton adviser, who didn't want to be named discussing strategy, says. That could be a mistake. Edwards, who came in second in Iowa in 2004, is polling a close third in the state. By focusing on each other, Obama and Clinton risk missing a late Edwards surge that could remake the conventional wisdom of who looks like a winner. After all, it's tough to argue you're "electable" if your name isn't on the ballot in November.
A few weeks ago the Project for Excellence in Journalism and the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University released a study showing that the media's coverage of the campaign has been highly skewed to favor Clinton and Obama. This non-partisan, independent study demonstrated that while both Hillary and Barack received extensive and generally favorable coverage, John's issues-based campaign was largely ignored. More recently, the New York Times' own public editor found this same bias in their coverage of the race.
Sadly, we see it continuing in recent coverage. The race in Iowa is a statistical dead heat among Edwards, Obama and Clinton.
And recent polls show EDWARDS, not Obama, gaining the most ground. For example, here are the changes in the American Research Groups' state-wide polls since October:
Iowa: EDWARDS +8; Obama +5; Clinton -7
New Hampshire: EDWARDS +7; Obama +1; Clinton -6