Playing favorites?
It's hard to argue with Hillary Clinton's complaint that the press is "overly, and overtly" pro-Obama, said Mike Madden in Salon. But her awkward complaint in the last debate before next week's crucial primaries still made her seem like a "
What happened
Hillary Clinton complained that reporters were being harder on her than on Barack Obama as the rival Democrats clashed in their final debate before crucial primaries in Ohio and Texas next week. Clinton accused Obama of using “misleading and discredited information” to turn voters against her plan for universal health insurance coverage, and Obama pushed back just as aggressively, saying Clinton had bombarded him with “negative attacks” but he hadn’t “whined about it.” (The Washington Post, free registration)
What the commentators said
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It’s hard to argue with Clinton’s complaint that “everyone in the press” is being “overly, and overtly, pro-Obama,” said Mike Madden in Salon. But Clinton blew a chance to score some sympathy by complaining about the bias before the MSNBC moderators had the chance to lob softballs at Obama, which made her come across as a “whiny grouch” instead of a “beleaguered victim.”
Clinton’s “peevish” gripe was a weak way to open such an important debate, said Katharine Q. Seelye in The New York Times’ The Caucus blog. “Her campaign believes that the media has given her a tougher time while going easier on Obama,” fair enough. But her “specific complaint” -- that she always gets the first question in the debates -- was a clumsy way to make the point. And she really went off the rails when she illustrated the problem by referring to a “Saturday Night Live” skit, instead of saying how having to answer first puts her at a disadvantage.
“All in all, it was a rather ignominious, belittling way to almost certainly close out the Clinton Era,” said Marc Cooper in The Huffington Post. Clinton’s campaign is in freefall after, “if we are to believe her campaign rhetoric,” 35 years of “selfless public service,” and all she has to offer is “a torrent of peevish, petty, picayune, and intellectually dishonest bickering and parsing”?
The media have certainly been quick to write off Clinton’s chances, said Jim Geraghty in National Review Online’s The Campaign Spot blog. But Clinton has shown she’s “a fighter” by tearing into Obama, and anyone who saw the debate now knows that “Obama may break his word on public financing and spending limits, that he's ranked the most liberal senator, that he didn't have much to say about Putin's successor, and is supported by Louis Farrakhan.” Obama has been “floating on a cloud since Iowa,” and Clinton’s just trying to bring him down to earth.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
The World War Two experiments that made D-Day possible
Under The Radar Scientists performed gruelling tests on themselves paving the way for the iconic invasion
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
Is the Supreme Court about to criminalize homelessness?
Talking Points The court will decide if bans on outdoor camping are 'cruel and unusual'
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Fall into the groove at these delightful record stores
The Week Recommends Each one strikes its own chord
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published