The choice of Biden, I think is less of a vote for the "status quo", and more of a continuing of a declaration of political war.

Since Saddleback, Obama has gone on the offensive..I don't think this is a coincidence. I've heard reports that Obama was rather upset with how that went..I suspect that he thought that he and his ideas would get more respect than they were shown.

Biden is by far the best on the attack of all the names on the VP rumored list.

Steve,

Great post, and another reason why you have to push to get your McCain flip flops post moved to your new home.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/flipflops

You just know he had another piece, headlined "Desperate Obama Swings For Fences", in the event of some more outré choice for VP.

Whatever Obama did, it was going to be wrong.

And Good News For McCain™.

i stopped reading them.

Fournier is a Republican mouthpiece.

But what has bothered me over the past few months is not that Republicans like Fournier are being jeered at for their criticism of Obama, but that fellow Democrats who object to Obama's move to the right are also being jeered at.

Sorry, you can not canonize Obama just yet. He has made some important decisions that I object to over the past few months and drinking the kool-aid is not going to make this go away.

Biden aside, I did not vote for Obama in the primary because I wanted him to vote for the FISA bill, or was against gun control laws, or wanted to expand the death penalty.

All these Obama positions shocked me and made me re-evaluate Obama as the right choice.

I had to ask myself "were these blunders? Or is this how Obama really feels?"

I believe this is what Obama really believes -- which is why I no longer support his candidacy.

Obama can't catch a break. Salon's Joan Walsh treated him similarly during the Democratic Primary. Everything he or his most distant supporters said or did was written up as a loss or liability. The Clintons, Penn, and Ferraro were given a blank check to behave in the most craven manner. Then, after lying, smearing, and dirty politics Clinton and many of her supporters expected Obama to extend an olive branch and help payoff the debt of her mismanaged campaign.

I'm going to vote for Barack Obama, regardless of the fact Joe Biden is a professional weasel. IMHO, this was a very poor choice on Obama's part that does little if anything to advance the cause, and the fact that the news was released in the middle of a weekend night does nothing to disspell that notion.

That is just disgusting. That man should be deeply ashamed of himself. What a cad. What a fraud. Writing and publishing that article in a widely read news service and representing its content as anything other than half-baked opinion contributes to the deadening of the nation's intelligence, and this is to say nothing of the fact that the guy seems to be in the pocket of one of the candidates he's covering. Fournier's lack of professionalism and seriousness are part of the reason this country is lurching it's way towards irrelevance as a polity. I suppose it was foolish of our founders to believe their intelligence and ideals could escape history -- and the crushing vapidity of banalities like Ron Fournier.

Obama does lack confidence right now... he lack the confidence that he and many of his supporters shared that he was going to run away with this election. That confidence seems to be waining. So, they rightly shifted the strategy.

There's nothing wrong with that shift or as a journalist reporting on that shift.

It may be a shock to some of you "progressives" but I suspect the moderate majority of this country will look favorably on this pick.

Fournier is a bad joke and should be treated as such.

Fornier is a whore. He is not a journalist. He is not objective, and does not work with truth. He works like all journaliwhores, with truthiness.

You may be right JRS Jr that the rest of America may look at this pick differently than us "progressives".

But us "progressives" continue to be frustrated because we believe neither party represents our views. Many of us had hope that Obama might be the answer == but he has worked very hard to alienate us and the Biden pick will be the final straw for many (not me -- his views on the death penalty locked it in -- though the FISA vote may ultimately have been the one that did it).

My views are no longer being represented in the Democratic Party:

I want universal health care and an end to the tyranny of the insurance companies -- that means getting rid of them altogether or forcing them to become non-profits like in Switzerland. Obama will not do this

I want a return to sensible foreign policy where America does not try to defend its multi-national corporations through military intimidation. Obama's Georgia bluster shows that he and McCain share far more in common than Obama supporters would ever admit.

I want a return to the principal that there is a separation between church and state. Obama scares the hell out of me.

Privacy: is there anyone in either party that believes in this basic human right? Obama's FISA vote shows him to be want to expand the power of the presidency and again threatens the rights of Americans to be left alone, and presumed innocent instead of guilty.

The Republicans always pretend to care about their base; Democrats always deny that their base exists.

OK, maybe progressives are not going to be the base of the party anymore. But all I want to know is where do we turn?

Obama continues to demonstrate that he is smarter than his dtractors, most of whom are just stupid bystanders.

He never was a progressive. He has ALWAYS been a sensible centrist. So, the criticism by some like dicksknee that he is not a progressive is correct. He is not a progressive, and never has been. Only stupid and lazy observers think that he changed. He didn't.

For those who "no longer support him", you are supporting McDepends.

The choice of VP candidate shows Obama has a lack of confidence ... that he can hold both offices at once. That's it.

Seriously, he had to chose someone. It's just as easy to say that picking Biden shows Obama's confidence that Biden will not highlight Obama's weakness on the experience question or foreign relations. Only a strong, confidant candidate would pick someone with those strengths.

Does Biden make Obama look strong or weak? It's in the eye of the beholder. And we know who Ron Fournier wants to vote for in November.

The AP has become a subsidiary of the RNC. Just look at the folks running the service. Too bad, not long ago it was one damn good news service with the highest of ethical standards. Ron Fournier simply reflects the wishes of his managers.

Things won't get any better until newspapers start dropping AP subscriptions for a more professional competitor. Too bad UPI has fallen into such disrepair.

It's getting to the point where "progressive" really means "I'm an unreasonable moron". Politics in this country are a zero-sum game, for the intellectually challenged "progressives" out there. You vote for the D or the R, and that's what you get. You choose the MORE PROGRESSIVE, not the PROGRESSIVE. This is Politics 101 or Kindergarten Politics, and I am shocked that people are stupid enough not to realize this.

We are not going to have single payer right away, much as I would like it. We can get more progressive health care, but cannot get single-payer. NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

Obama will pull us out of Iraq, in 16 months. Not right away, little babies. In 16 months.

Obama is as progressive as we can get at the national level.

Fournier needs to be fired. He is an advocate in wire-service clothing. He does not deserve any further mention or reading.

I don't mind Biden as long as he keeps his foot out of his mouth. He's going to be a great mouthpiece against the scum the Goopers will be slinging.

And dicksknee, if you don't like Obama, think about voting for Barr or Nader. Or write in Ron Paul. McCain is the LAST thing our country needs right now.

This particular article by Fournier may have an anti-Obama spin, but I assure you that most conservatives are very unhappy with the political coverage of the Associated Press in general, and Nedra Pickler in particular.

Truth is, AP is becoming much more opinonated these days, and mostly to the Democrat's advantage.

Taking over the news media is the only way the Republicans have a chance in the near future.

While I am not crazy about Obama (he has my vote), what I see on tv is a consistent denigration of the man. It is more subtle than what they did to Senator Clinton, but it is still obvious.

I think the selection of Biden may reflect Obama's real intelligence at work. Biden has been a critic of Obama, and real intelligence wants that kind of criticism--not a yes-man--to bounce off of. We already know how Bush couldn't stand real opposition from those close to him, and look where that's gotten us.

I actually like some of Biden's foot and mouth disease symptoms. You sort of know where he stands...but at the same time you know he is open to new evidence and can learn.

Fournier should be banished. The one thing Obama does not lack is confidence. In fact he has so much confidence in his own ability (JUDGMENT given the facts) that he is willing to gather people with opposing viewpoints around him to ensure that he DOES get nothing but all the facts ma'am.

Mitch, you write:

most conservatives are very unhappy with the political coverage of the Associated Press in general, and Nedra Pickler in particular [...] AP is becoming much more opinonated these days, and mostly to the Democrat's advantage

This was news to me, since I've been very aware of the bias against Obama in the many AP articles Steve linked to above. Certainly Fournier says that what he wants in the AP is more opinion in general, and not of a particular kind, but from where I'm sitting it's looked like a very particular kind indeed: Republican.

But I know I am hardly a neutral observer, so this is a genuine question: do you know of anywhere where there's evidence gathered of the kind of slant that's demonstrated in Steve's links, only in the other direction?

I appreciate that you've stayed on this AP/Fournier story as it unfolds, Steve.

POed Lib is right, dicksknee. It's never been any kind of a secret that Obama's not particularly progressive; many of us have been saying so for years now and have been ignored by people intent on finding something that isn't there. That you insisted on investing him with mythical qualities and now are disappointed is more a reflection of your misreading of the situation than it is of any bait-and-switch on Obama's part.

No one wishes more than I do that we could get a real progressive elected president in this country. It ain't happening right now. Please make your choices accordingly from the real options that are available to you in November.

I am sure Fournier will write the McCain lacks confidence in his economic policies when he picks Romney...

Don't be fooled people...Obama is fighting against a four legged stool, McCain, the Media, and the Clintons, and stereotypes

if we wins it is going to be a d**n miracle...he is and will be the underdog until Nov 4th

Steve, don't buy the line that Fournier doesn't deserve reading or further mention. He is widely read and influential.

Keep calling him out.

The Propagandazation of "news" continues. When will we get to the point where published or broadcast material requires a truth in labeling statement? "The content of this article/program is the opinion of the author and in no way constitutes unbiased fact."

God damn Ron Fournier.

You choose the MORE PROGRESSIVE, not the PROGRESSIVE... Obama is as progressive as we can get at the national level. -- POed Lib

Right you are. I'm mostly progressive when it comes to what ought to be; when it comes to what is, this is a conservative country whose greatness is largely the results of a few progressive/liberal episodes in it's history. That's the context American politics works within. Shit has to hit the fan for anything other than conservatism to rule, and then, only for a brief time.

So, the way to achieve progressive/liberal goals is to take advantage of rare opportunities in time -- and this is one. Vote Democrat or vote anti-Republican, but don't think we're going to achieve some progressive/liberal utopia in anything other than an evolutionary timeline.

Mitch, please.

Nedra Pickler is the second worst offender guilty of conservative bias behind Fournier.

Just keep repeating 'liberal bias' to yourself, though. Maybe you'll will it into existence.

There seem to be a new wing of the Democratic Party: the conformist wing.

The platform is the following:
• Anyone who criticizes the leader is a troll or an idiot
• Never criticize the leader: they know what they are doing, and although no one can understand what the hell they are doing, they are by definition doing the right thing
• Lost elections are stolen, not the result of stupid decisions like "I'm John Kerry reporting for duty", or reversing primary positions in the general and thereby alienating the same voters who originally supported you.
• Always check the leader's web site to know what position to take -- it might have changed. Quickly forget what your original position was -- it might cause a headache
• When searching for the enemy always look to your left.
• Never actually expect the leader to do what they say they will -- it's "unrealistic". Expect nothing, and never be disappointed. That is for trolls and "progressives".

Did I mention how much I hate driving in Miami where every road has 4 route numbers and/or names? It's a conspiracy of unchecked stupidity, although the weather is fantastic.

I am a progressive. I am not an idiot.

There are two types of Democrats. Morons and Progressives.

Progressives:

1) support the leader during the election, because we are not morons like pretend progressives.
2) value WINNING A FUCKING ELECTION, NOT MAKING A POINT OR WINNING AN ARGUMENT. I want to WIN THE FUCKING ELECTION, NOT THE LEADERSHIP OF THE LOCAL WING OF THE LEFT-WING wackos club.
3) did I mention that I want to win the election?
4) understand the electorate, not the Wobbly bill of rights.

As a progressive, I do not want to sit out the next 4 years whining and bitching and moaning like the "progressives". Real progressives win elections. Fake progressives are good at bitching, moaning and whining.

How do you hold the Associated Press accountable?

Obviously if a certain newspaper publishes trash like this, I can call up their advertisers and let them know that I don't patronize pro-Republican companies. But what about the AP? Their customers are the papers themselves, right? So it seems like I'd need to boycott newspapers, and don't the large majority of them take AP stories?

Maybe I should just target the papers that are passing along the Fournier claptrap.

Fournier missed the most salient point: Biden is not an ex-POW. Did you know McCain is an ex-POW?

Wow with progressives like POedLib, who needs Republicans. Save your venom for the other side dude.

One final test for the difference between an actual progressive like myself and a fake progressive like dicksknee.

Real progressives want to win elections. Our motto is "just win, baby"

Fake progressive want to score points. Their motto is "Ralph Nader is right, and this is what he says."

Real progressives are realistic. They will take what they can get. Just win, baby.

Fake progressives don't want to win. They want to score points. Losing is more important to a fake progressive, because you score more points, and you are cleaner and more pure.

Finally, real progressives occassionally shit. Fake progressives do not shit, and they value only politicians who do not shit.

On progressivism:
The problem with a lot of the criticism of Obama from the left is that it accuses him of moving right from a place he never was (FISA's a big exception to this). He certainly emphasized the more progressive elements of his positions during a primary, and is doing the opposite now. Duh. But the reason he's a better choice than just "the lesser of two evils" is that his flexibility on positions isn't just a willingness to betray his ideals; it's evidence of the fact that ideals are actually less important to him than finding workable compromises. That may sound pretty uninspiring, but imagine what would happen if the president actually started promoting bipartisanship in government. Best case scenario: We'd get legislation and foreign policy including a good deal of what progressives want, though not enough, and more for conservatives than we would have liked. We'd get a Congress that could actually accomplish things, and it's a Congress that's going to be Democratic for a while and will only get more so if it actually starts doing its job. The runaway Executive would be checked, and while the Supreme Court wouldn't change much at all, there would be some federal judgeships to fill with decent people. I would argue that this is a lot better than electing a more progressive president who remains mired in Washington's current dysfunction. It's also the ideal setup for the election of a truly progressive president; right now, both parties' failures to show what good government might look like has produced an electorate that isn't willing to back one ideology strongly over another. But a successful presidency that is credited to the Democrats could change that, and make way for real progress. I think we need to show that government can work before any progressive is going to get elected on the promise to make it work primarily in the service of our goals.

Yeah, with CB's reporting as my source, I previously wrote the public editor of my local paper (the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) to complain about the AP's coverage of the presidential contest and other areas. She responded by saying that she'd take it up with the paper's national editor and the local AP contact.

I hate to cancel my subscription to my local paper, but if we let our locals know that we're not happy with the AP's news coverage, they might pay closer attention and do some appropriate editing of the AP stories before printing (which they're allowed to do) or switch to the AP's competitors (e.g. the AJC also prints national and international news from the Washington Post and the New York Times).

Anyway...food for thought.

Ron Fournier can take a flying f23k at a sprinkled donut.

Dale

The AP is a service that newspapers patronize to save money. They are not the only newswire service or source for news in the world. This whole thing boils down to cost/benefit. If enough readers complain to editorial boards and vote with their wallets using other sources for their news, the cost of using AP as opposed to the benefit of staffing bureaus, sending their own reporters, or using another service like Reuters will force a "market correction."

Who needs the AP when there are so many wise bloggers that offer much superior analysis. The news wires should stick to reporting facts as they happen and leave the analysis to bloggers.

Fourni-cate-er is a cheap-trick, roll-in-the-hay tool for the McBush masturbating machine---a leaky condom with batteries not included and a couple of STDs thrown in for good measure. I truly look forward to next year, when an Obama presidency and a strong Dem majority on both sides of the Hill makes that flippant floozie politically obsolete....

This has gone beyond the mere appearance of impropriety or vague allegations of bias. It's time to start asking openly and loudly if Fournier actually accepted his earlier job offer and is currently being paid by McCain's campaign, the RNC or some other organization.

"We are, after all, talking about a journalist who, as recently as last year, considered working for the McCain campaign."

You miss the main point. He took the job!

I'd think like to propose a new group called "Uppity Negro Men for Fournier ", or does that show a lack of confidence?

Boy, the percentage of trolls and 'fake' dems on this site is going to take some getting used to. Steve, you are SURE you can't do both gigs?... I thought not.

Obama is showing a 'lack of confidence' in the current (mis)administration and the status quo of torturing people, relegating the Geneva Convention to 'quaint' status, spying on law-abiding and patriotic American citizens, a government that hides behind secrecy and deceit while it wraps itself in a phoney American flag, and a presidunce that thinks he can ignore the rule of law with signing statements and bogus claims 'executive privilege'. Obama presumes that he can talk to American voters as if they have a brain, and shows no confidence in the Repig logical fallacy of reducing most everything to us vs. them and black/white dichotomies. Fournier, do us all a favor, and write your fake news and Rethug framing of issues on used toilet paper, where it belongs.

Is CB still CB now that he's here? Will noobs get the reference?

I'm not sure how smart it is for Hon. Sen. McCain to say that he lacks confidence when Hon. Sen. Obama taps someone with comparable experience to Senator McCain who realized the error of his original assessment and became critical of the US adventure in Iraq; while Mr. McCain stubbornly refused—for years—to even admit that there might be a problem, then transitioned to a more of the same, times two, position. Hon. Sen. Biden can stand with a sizable, bipartisan group of greybeards who came to realize that Senator Obama was right and they were wrong. Mr. McCain lacked the maturity to admit his judgment had failed him.

Ron Fournier is a pestilence. He showed his true colors with the wet kiss email he sent Karl Rove. Fournier is an absolute disgrace to journalism. The Associated Press is gradually morphing into a cousin of the Fox News Channel.

POed Lib wrote:

3) did I mention that I want to win the election?

I agree to a point. But the thing about tacking right, (and I don't think Obama really has tacked right excepting his inexplicable support for the FISA Bush/Cheney/Addington Protection Act,) is that it must gain you more votes than it loses in order for it to work as a tactic for winning elections. And personally I think that the Democratic leadership consistently overestimates the gains to be had by moving to the right.

Now I've been inclined to vote for Obama for a while, but he really made my day when he pointed to Clarence Thomas as a justice that he wouldn't have appointed. Old "no difference" Nader can go to hell as far as I'm concerned for not valuing the Supreme Court issue as much as I do. But that's his right and it makes no more sense for me to get more pissed at someone who voted Nader in 2000 than I get at some centrist who voted for Bush.

Any tactical positioning needs to take the left flank into account as well as the right, or you end up not winning elections.

But I suspect all of this is beside the point in the long run. What I hope Biden brings to the table is some bare-knuckled politics. Bring back Wes Clark. Define Thurston Howell McCain III. Kick the Republicans while they're down. That, my friend, is how you win elections. Seriously.

I think this article highlights why many Dems are upset with Obama...no matter what he does, NO one was going to be happy.

Let's take Biden for example. Personally, I would have preferred anyone but Hillary, but ultimately, its not like he flipped a coin. He spent months thinking this through. And while many of his so called supporters are bemoaning the pick, ultimately, I think it is the right one. We face major issues on the national security front in the next couple of years with the withdrawal from Iraq, build up of troops in Afghanistan, problems with Iran, and now Russia. Why not pick someone who can bring something to the table in that area, as well as complement your strengths?

And for this whole progressive thing, did I miss something? I think this is exactly what happens when you try to project your beliefs onto someone else. Obama has never been "progressive." So to accuse him of betraying "progressive" ideals is a stretch. As someone pointed out already, he highlighted the areas that he was progressive in during the Dem primary, and now he is highlighting the areas where he is more moderate, or at least willing to make compromises. I guess I'm not as disturbed by this trend as others, because I read his book, where he clearly says that he is not an ideologue, and he is more concerned about solutions than partisanship.

As far as the AP, should we really be surprised? Repubs wail and complain about this love story the media is having with Obama, when the reality is he is receiving more negative coverage than McCain. I tend to read several sources to get a full view of what is going on, because I think everybody has their own ideological slant.

Are Marc Halperin and Ron Fournier the same person? Why are these 40 something media males so angry at Barack Obama? I think these so-called media smartboys kinda thought they had created the Obama superstar by writing about him. They made the mistake of believing they were the creaters of his charisma and his smarts. When they decided they had enough, they started the build him up to bring him down part and it didn't work. So now they are having these jags of doing absolutely stupid stuff with regard to the Obama campaign. Just when they thought they were going to be the big guns in the media, the internet pulled the rug from under them and Obama's smart campaign added insult to injury by proving they were not needed to drive his campaign. Fournier is being a very small man in all the ways that can be applied to his real nasty demeanor toward a candidate for President of the United States. Back at your Fournier!

AP is a media hound for the Clinton's. They have supported this couple and Ferraro all while taking Rove's advice. AP is really not something that is of value to anyone anymore....sorry..your history

The fact that the AP has been hi jacked by neo cons is sad. It occurred to me recently while traveling on Lufthansa to Germany & seeing some real International news, that our news has morphed in to State run propoganda consisting of infotainment & radically slanted opinion. It's happened slowly but seeing it in contrast to what news used to look like here & should still, is completely SHOCKING. The intention must be to destroy the industry & thereby all credibility.
Like Biden said in his speech today "this may be our last chance to turn this Country around".

Time to send an email to info@ap.org everyone and demand that Ron Fournier be removed.

I agree that many projected onto Obama without truly educating themselves by reading his books for example. Many of his so called flip flops were articulated in these books. So they were not flip flops. It is also clear in these books that it is not really in him to be deceptive or pandering in a skillful way.

Whatever questionable interactions Obama had in political context of Chicago they do not compare to the very personal sustained schmoozing the McCain family had with Charles Keating.

Why does the AP put up with this? They, more than any other news organization, are supposed to be objective.

When I studied journalism in high school, it was believed that there is a difference between news and opinion. The AP Washington bureau chief clearly has crossed that line. I wish he had not. It clearly undermines any credibility he has to serving the public interest and not just his own.

Classless AP Takes Cheap Shots at Just-Passed Tony Snow
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blumer/2008/07/12/classless-ap-takes-cheap-shots-just-passed-snow

AP: 'McCain, Nearly 72, Can Be Fuzzy And Forgetful'

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/michael-m-bates/2008/08/21/ap-mccain-nearly-72-can-be-fuzzy-forgetful

This website has a lot of examples of liberal bias of the Associated Press.

Fournier argues, "By choosing Biden, Barack Obama is showing a "lack of confidence," and is siding with "the status quo."

The netroots are getting just as bad as the MSM in creating their narrative and making all facts fit it. I think Fournier speaks the truth on this one. What's the point of shooting the messanger. Obama has compromised his Change message and his Iraq message by putting at McCain twin on the Democratic ticket. Sad, true, deal with it.

Fournier is a whore. He should get a job with Fox News.

One more objection to Fournier's piece. He writes:

A senior Obama adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity, said his boss has expressed impatience with what he calls a "reverence" inside his campaign for his message of change and new politics. In other words, Obama is willing--even eager--to risk what got him this far if it gets him to the White House.

Can anyone see how what follows "in other words" is in any way related to what precedes it? It should actually read: "in a new and totally unsubstantiated statement I will now make because it's what I already thought." It's a small point, but it stands in for the larger one: when you deceptively label "opinion" as "analysis" as Fournier has, you make a deal with the devil that results in your no longer being able to distinguish between the information you're reporting and the preconceptions through which you filter it. The piece is not just biased; its bias leads it to be, by any journalistic standard, truly bad.

Fournier is a whore. He should get a job with Fox News.

Is there no such thing as 'journalism' anymore???

Please write directly to the AP to protest this type of partisan interpretation of the facts. America deserves better.

Michael Oreskes, AP Managing Editor, mOreskes@ap.org
Ron Fournier, AP reporter and Washington D.C. Bureau Chief, rfournier@ap.org

Is there no such thing as 'journalism' anymore???

Please write directly to the AP to protest this type of partisan interpretation of the facts. America deserves better.

Michael Oreskes, AP Managing Editor, mOreskes@ap.org
Ron Fournier, AP reporter and Washington D.C. Bureau Chief, rfournier@ap.org

Is there no such thing as 'journalism' anymore???

Please write directly to the AP to protest this type of partisan interpretation of the facts. America deserves better.

Michael Oreskes, AP Managing Editor, mOreskes@ap.org
Ron Fournier, AP reporter and Washington D.C. Bureau Chief, rfournier@ap.org

Fournier is a t*rd. However:

For that matter, "the status quo" in Washington has been conservative Republican rule. Biden may be an old pro and a DC insider, but he's anything but "the status quo."

If "status quo" by definition means conservative Republicans and therefore cannot apply to Democratic pros and insiders, it's a bit odd that Obama continually dissed Hillary as a representative thereof.

Fortunately, it doesn't matter what Fournier thinks. It only matters what the voters think.

If Obama had picked Kaine, he would have been criticized by the Right for the lack of experience in the team. If he had picked Sebelius, he would have been criticized for not picking Clinton. If he had picked Bayh he would have been criticized for picking someone so non-descript. IT DID NOT MATTER WHO OBAMA PICKED. HE WAS GOING TO GET CRITICIZED. The Right goaded him into a overseas trip. Then criticized him when he went.

I hope the American people will see that no matter what Obama does, no matter what his strengths, no matter what his vision, the Right will attempt to throw cold water on it. This is politics as usual and speaks a ton of negatives about Republican strategy.

First Fournier, is phoney ay. A political wannabe hack. Note: I am always suspicious of people who comment more than once their opinion on why they are not voting for a person on a site that is to the contrary. I find it funny, why not go to the right/left site/blog where your dissent will be welcomed and one can wallow as one big happy party on why you as of lately don't support your former choice? I am led to believe, most folks are Republicans trying to sway and Democrats trying to sway in these forums when there are plenty of blogs expressing their views (like-kind) to visit and can feign and comment on their outrage etc. ~ONE HOUSE ONE SPOUSE~ ~TWO HOUSES TWO SPOUSES~ O'BIDEN 08

First Fournier, is phoney ay. A political wannabe hack. Note: I am always suspicious of people who comment more than once their opinion on why they are not voting for a person on a site that is to the contrary. I find it funny, why not go to the right/left site/blog where your dissent will be welcomed and one can wallow as one big happy party on why you as of lately don't support your former choice? I am led to believe, most folks are Republicans trying to sway and Democrats trying to sway in these forums when there are plenty of blogs expressing their views (like-kind) to visit and can feign and comment on their outrage etc. ~ONE HOUSE ONE SPOUSE~ ~TWO HOUSES TWO SPOUSES~ O'BIDEN 08

AP: the new Fox News

I agree with Fournier... Biden is clearly Obama's version of Dick Cheney.

When I saw the title of this article I was nervous. Until I got to the part that said he considered working for the McCain Campaign. Its nothing to get worked up over although I'm sure the McCain group will get plenty of mileage out of it with the media.

Fournier is apart of the McCain wolves that are out to defeat Obama. One should realize that these people will fight to the last breath to retain power. It is over--the people will have the last word. You can rest assure of that.

I am going to vote for Obama in November. I do not care about the Polls, The News, The T.V. the Youtubes or what else they want to throw at Obama I am going to be like that old tree at the river of the water, I shall not be moved. I will stick with him till the end.

Now we have identified the REAL whiners is the nation...just look to the right. Now matter how they try to spin it they are WHINING,WHINING,WHINING, WHINING! LOL!

When I got up this morning to look at my email, on Yahoo.com I was totally shocked to see four AP articles all with negative headlines about Obama-Biden. There was not one positive headline.

About an hour later I went to show my husband because I was so angry about it, but the news had changed to the Olympics (and still no positive article for Obama).

I was really upset with AP for being so pro McCain, but equally upset with Yahoo for such bias on their site. In fact, what's up with that?

Ass, sorry, as for Associated Press they have lost all credibility. Joe Biden is perfect and his right to the point attitude makes the Republican's unhappy. Biden is the salt of the earth and knows what the working man and woman is all about. Not that senile McCain unable to remember how many house's, what he voted on, his position on immigration and abortion, and on and on ad nauseum.

If McCain picks Romney, can we look forward to Ron F***er writing a hit piece on McCain saying McCain's pick shows a lack of confidence in McCain's ability to understand the economy? No, I didn't think so.

If McCain picks Romney, can we look forward to Fournier writing a hit piece on McCain stating that his pick shows his lack of confidence in his ability to understand the economy? Nah, probably not.

Hey hey hey...how's the water here guys from CBR?

Dicksknee above had an excellent response but to answer "where do we (progressives) go"...well according to the results of a few pew polls we dominate the party...not centrists and not conservative DINOs. On every issue Dicksknee listed above (national health care, privacy, foreign policy not run by corporate lobbyists etc) a majority (65-75%) polled taking a progressive stand so don't be fooled by these centrist (who cannot even define the position of a 'centrist') trying to convince us they are the majority...they aren't. Progressives are. What progressives lack is media power (Olbermann and Maddow our two best public voices so far) and buying power.

Conservatives have pushed the country so far right that any dissent is categorized as leftist. People don't know what term to call themselves as conservatives try to push the idea that they are the majority. But on the issues when polled a majority of the country shows themselves to be progressives (so by technical definition progressives are centrist compared to the far right conservatives and the so called centrists are the old republicans).

Obama is dealing with a far right wing press who defines any attempt to be progressive/centrist as far left wing radical. Think about it...what the hell is far left? You can never be too far right now days. Obama wants to be progressive/centrist but is dealing with a total right wing corporate media and a money party. It's a tight rope he's walking now and Biden has been brought in to bark loudly, hopefully as a distraction while Obama attempts to dismantle the money party leadership.

I support Obama and will vote for him but will never stop calling him out when he falls in with the profiteering power grabbing corporate establishment who demand immunization for their agenda These are not kings or monarchs we elect but representatives and we must keep their ears open to what the people demand. We are the progressives that will restore America's democracy and Obama has jumped in front of our parade...the 65-75% of us who are making ourselves heard..(thanks to the internet). Leftists-smeftists...we are just the majority of Americans...period.

To TRW:

Don't know you but you must be reading my mind..totally agree with everything you said. Change will not happen overnight, but we have a chance this time to get change started. If Obama is indeed able to bring the parties together to accomplish issues for all Americans, you will see things change in the kind of people elected. We already see Republicans tying their coattails to Obama and supporting him. This a first step toward a no-party system. That is what I would really like to see, mainly because so many Republicans vote party rather than issues.

To TRW:

Don't know you but you must be reading my mind..totally agree with everything you said. Change will not happen overnight, but we have a chance this time to get change started. If Obama is indeed able to bring the parties together to accomplish issues for all Americans, you will see things change in the kind of people elected. We already see Republicans tying their coattails to Obama and supporting him. This a first step toward a no-party system. That is what I would really like to see, mainly because so many Republicans vote party rather than issues.

'If' this story is true, I would tend to think in the big scheme of things, it's only fair a little bit...

With the AP so liberally biased in general, combined with NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, etc., a little bias for McCain would only be fair.

Of course, the best thing would be for the MSM to be Professional and to start reporting in a straight & fair manner - NO Bias.

Fournier is a disappointment.
There is a serious groin infection known as Fournier's Gangrene. Terrible.

"I support Obama and will vote for him but will never stop calling him out when he falls in with the profiteering power grabbing corporate establishment who demand immunization for their agenda These are not kings or monarchs we elect but representatives and we must keep their ears open to what the people demand. We are the progressives that will restore America's democracy and Obama has jumped in front of our parade...the 65-75% of us who are making ourselves heard..(thanks to the internet). Leftists-smeftists...we are just the majority of Americans...period."

Look, buddy, do whatever you want. BUT WE NEED TO WIN THE ELECTION FIRST. NO PROGRESSIVE IS GONNA WIN THE ELECTION BY CALLING FOR MORE PROGRESSIVISM. We need to sneak in, and then do the progressive thing.

Just win, baby.

To TRW:

Don't know you but you must be reading my mind..totally agree with everything you said. Change will not happen overnight, but we have a chance this time to get change started. If Obama is indeed able to bring the parties together to accomplish issues for all Americans, you will see things change in the kind of people elected. We already see Republicans tying their coattails to Obama and supporting him. This a first step toward a no-party system. That is what I would really like to see, mainly because so many Republicans vote party rather than issues.

Why does the AP hate America?

Some "journalists" will never see anything positive about anything Senator Obama says or does. They will never make or let a positive statement about Senator Obama stand. They have subscribed to the Republican narrative that Senator Obama is not American enough, not like the rest of us, exotic, different, unfamiliar, risky and the list goes on an on. This is the foundation and justification for their smug and uninformed opinions that Senator Obama's judgement is fundamentally unsound. They gleefully attribute all kinds of deficiencies with Senator Obama that they would never associate with any of the other presidential candidates. It is a self-important superiority complex that prevents low-information journalists like Fournier from seeing and reporting the truth. Low-information voters have already damned America with Bush/Cheney. Now it is time for God to damn Ron Fournier, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and every other coward who wields a pen or a microphone to spread misinformation stemming from their birthright of malicious ignorance and hate. It is time for human decency and integrity to be returned to American politics and Obama/Biden is the team to bring it.

Who says that Ron turned down the job from the McCain campaign?

The once proud, dependable and truthful AP is becoming something of a joke. It's sad to see such a cornerstone of journalistic standards and history turn into a partisan mouthpiece.

If this coverage were anymore negative, I would swear that this guy is a Republican dressed up like some wise and intelligent press agent. It is amazing what being a member of the the press can do for your mouth...truth as YOU see it.

"...OK, maybe progressives are not going to be the base of the party anymore. But all I want to know is where do we turn?..."
Posted by: Dicksknee

I also question if progressives were ever "the base of the party." Progressives have to give up the stubborn 'all or nothing' attitude and adopt some pragmatism. I'm supporting Obama, not because I idolize this candidate, but because at the end of the day we'll be closer to what is needed than we were at the start.

Boycott AP. Fournier is nothing but a four-letter like f ck. He's been bought by the 8-house $500 shoe McCain. AP has been bought and therefore news emanating from AP DC is PROPAGANDA FOR MCCAIN.

Please sent your complaints to kcarrol@ap.org and let them know that AP can no longer be trusted and we will spread the word that AP now work for NRC.

It's not just Fournier, but his new reporter from Alabama, Brett Blackledge.

Former Birmingham News Reporter Discusses Pulitzer

The AP is owned by Reverend Sun Myung Moon's very questionable "church", Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.

Through THOUSANDS of shell organizations and companies, this group has gathered power in our very own Capitol - he even had himself CROWNED in place of JESUS as the head of the Christian church - with the ASSISTANCE OF SOME OF OUR ELECTED OFFICIALS.

So, who to believe?
A former great PRESS SERVICE-now controlled by a group that OPERATES BUSINESSES IN NORTH KOREA and covers both gun running and dealing with their shell corporations....

If you KNOW THE TRUTH - you would NOT GO NEAR AP for anything close to 'the truth, justice, and the American Way.'

You guys in the PRESS know.
Now, LET THE PUBLIC IN ON THIS CRIMINAL ACTIVITY.

Come on - if a little old lady with a google can plot these criminals -

Shorter Washington Monthly "Waaaaaa, somebody told the truth". Really, you guys are embarrassing yourself.

From by Jonathan Singer, Sat Aug 23, 2008 "Contact the Associated Press (updated)... Kathleen Carroll (Fournier's boss) at kcarroll@ap.org or (212) 621-1500. Be POLITE, but be FIRM. Let them know that you don't want to see them serve as stenographers and amplifiers for pure spin by the McCain campaign."

My letter:
Ms. Carroll,

I will forevermore consider AP reporting akin to Fox News unless something is done to restore objectivity regarding the presidential campaign. Perhaps the talented, but partisan, Mr. Fournier could serve somewhere besides Washington, D.C.

Thank you,

Anyone who doesn't vote for Obama may as well go ahead and vote for McCain. I don't agree with everything Obama does for sure but my chidren do not deserve what is going to happen to this country if McInsane is elected. I'm sick of people saying they can't support Obama because of a few issues without looking at the bigger picture. Do you f'ing like the way things have gone in the past 8 years, because McInsane is going to do that on steroids. Wake the hell up people.

AP is already going after Biden. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iB0gIetK2UavkimpYfuHTo325W6AD92O8EIG0
I had no idea they were so biased! I thought they were only a conduit for news agencies. And owned by Moon?!

You have to be kidding. Since when is being smart means hiring or selecting people less qualified than you? I take it this means McCain is going to hire dumb people? Biden is not an average Republican war warrior and oil dog. He is one of the few real politicians left in Washington who works for the people! I take it you misunderstood Obama's change Washington comment. Did you actually thought he meant CHANGE EVERYONE cause they are all CROOKED? Unbelievable!

One House, One Spouse, Obama/Biden 08 (http://www.cafepress.com/politics2go)

I think the answer to 'where do we turn" is 'out of the box that defines ordinary people's proper political place is to vote once and forever hold your peace.'
Elections are clearly the biggest real-world lever we hoi polloi have--but it sure as hell isn't the only one. And an election won't get Ron Fournier fired.
We have to hold our officials' feet to the fire whether they're D's or R's--because elected officials will always try to placate the powerful if they think they can get away with it. And that's if th unpowerful just take it--whether they just ignore it or say things like 'The American Democratic Experiment is Over" in blog comment threads.
We fight. We fight for our principals, fight for our candidates to get them elected, and fight to make them more progressive.

And I'm sorry--despite Obama's FISA vote and Biden's bankruptcy vote, I don't see how anybody can look at what's sitting over there streaming out of Minas Morgul and not do everything within their power to defeat them

Ron Fournier is just another Republican fournier-cator...opening wide to take the latest lying Republican talking point...spewing it out over the airwaves...and then smoking a cigarette afterward.

No Presiedent runs the country alone. McCain will need someone to help him to understand the needs of the middle class and that their are thousands of people in this country that do not have health care and that most people don't fly around their cities in private jets.

McCain wont "need someone to help him understand" if he's not elected. Problem solved, and the country in a heck of a lot better shape.

Wow! I didn't know that AP was owned by Moon. What a revelation. Now it all makes sense. Moon is the King of America---Obama and Biden would present a threat to his rule and his influence.

The AP is owned by Reverend Sun Myung Moon's very questionable "church", Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity.

Actually that's UP (United Press?) that's now owned by Moon, but the AP might as well be.

Dale

Fournier is to journalism what syphilis is to romance.

Yeah, it's UPI that's owned by Moon. But it should say alot about what's happened to AP that someone like me who isn't exactly a news junkie read the headline of that piece and immediately said "ooh, I bet Ron Fournier wrote this," and was right.

No matter who Obama picked some wouldn't like him/her and some would. He picked someone who would complement him. Someone who will echo his ideas and has the passion to put them across to the voters. The fact that he is a white man will soothe the ones who don't like that Obama is black. Maybe..

Wow.. in just a few months Obama went from "too cocky" to showing a "lack of confidence".

This guy should work for FOX, not the AP.

OMG If this is all the Benen I'm going to get in a day, and none on weekends, I'm going to have to go into a program for political junkies.

Fournier is such a moron and an idiot. Who cares what this loser has to say.

Weeeeel, Obama's no panacea, harbinger of utopia or whatever, and he WILL NOT be a "progressive's progressive." I surely hope he doesn't help screw the country further, domestically and internationally. Of course he's the best available choice. Same basic sentiments go for Biden (I think). Now me, I'm a left-winger, see. Obama ain't. But I'm absolutely gonna vote for Obama & Co. because, as others have put it more eloquently, you can't do anything unless you're in the White House. Abraham Lincoln only moved to free the slaves when he felt he had enough popular support for it - along with strong Union armies rolling into the Confederacy. Let's hope Obama's cut from the same cloth.

Does seem that Fournier is indeed working for McCain, as a thinly disguised "mole" in the oft-maligned "liberal" press.

One wonders how McCain has promised to pay him, and how Fournier ever collect when this latest evidence of McCain's shoddy tactics as the "straight talker" becomes better known.

Thanks for this article - I can just skip AP's coverage from here on out, in good conscience.

Well to my mind any reporter that is willing to work 'for' the McCain camp is supporting a man who should NOT be president. He is NO Reagan. He used to be someone I admired but he has changed and he has always been hot tempered. He makes so many mistakes and errors in judgement, forgets things etc. and his camp says it's because he is a POW. They don't realize that by doing so they have made the case for why he MUST NOT be president... he has issues that could be a threat to our country

John McCain '08
Less jobs. More wars.

I wrote to AP slamming them for the biased coverage and promoting McCain. I said I knew of the connection to McCain and believed it colored their reporting.
I also said it is obvious that the donuts and coffee thing while giggling like shcoolgirls giving an apple to teacher makes their ability to cover the campaign a questionable thing.
I said that AP used to be a reliable service for fair reporting but, it's obvious this has deteriorated badly and what a pity for all the people who care about real news rather then propaganda promoting one side.

POlib wrote: Obama continues to demonstrate that he is smarter than his dtractors, most of whom are just stupid bystanders.

this is true and so is the part about people thinking Obama is wedded to any ideology. he is