Eric Boehlert at Media Matters writes about our email campaign which generated emails to 621 papers across the country, pushing back against the Associated Press’s smears against Barack Obama’s patriotism:
Nearly 15,000 letters sent in just a matter of days in response to a single news wire article? That’s something else entirely and could mark the dawn of a new era in progressive media activism. The phenomenon has received very little mainstream media attention (journalists probably don’t want to encourage this sort of thing), but make no mistake: It was a very big deal.
In part because it’s become clear that if there’s going to be an effective media pushback during this White House run, it’s going to have to come from online. Even progressive pundits within the mainstream press corps remain reluctant to step out and criticize their colleagues in any meaningful way. That is still very much a closed Beltway club.
Also, this White House campaign is going to be the test case to see whether the more fully matured liberal blogosphere is able to alter the mainstream media landscape at all, whether it’s going to be able to knock the press off some of its favorite, predisposed biases against Democrats. From the looks of the eruption the AP created, progressives have already made enormous strides since the 2004 campaign.
Indeed, Sen. John Kerry’s former campaign aides must see this kind of rapid response and think about what might have been if they had an army of online activists ready to battle the press when reporters and pundits took cheap shots trying to defame the Democratic front-runner back in 2004. And poor Al Gore. Imagine if 15,000 letters to newspaper were dashed off the week the inventing-the-Internet fairy tale first began to take root in the press?
It is going to be a challenge, but our first efforts were really successful. So thanks to everyone who made it happen, and if you’d like to be part of our rapid response team for future actions like this, you can sign up in the box above.
In an election where we can look forward to Rush Limbaugh’s callers saying Barack Obama looks like Curious George (and Limbaugh claiming he didn’t know who Curious George was), I think we’re going to be pretty busy.
Related posts:
- Early Morning Swim: Lawrence O’Donnell and Eric Burns of Media Matters Discuss Fox News’ Agenda
- Media Complain About Media Being Too Easy On Obama
- Spin Versus Reality: Your GOP/Media Complex In Action
- Covering for Karl and Mark -or- Why I Call It “The GOP/Media Complex”
- The “Atlantic 50″ Exposes Liberal Media Influence (or Not)
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Zed!
Woo Hoo, we make our voices heard…!
…just back from signing up…
I’m in. ;)
At the moment, Michelle Bernard of the Independent Women’s Forum is commentating on MSNBC. :(
All signed up.
President Obama. Sounds kinda good. Doesn’t it.
I signed up too. I just hope I don’t end up with a bunch of junk-mail in my inbox and mailbox. I trust Jane so I suppose not to worry.
digg early, digg often!
Anyone without the (R) next to their name suits me just fine.
The FDL Firepups…puttin’ out tha fiyahs that erupt in this nation! Love it. ;-)
My senator, Obama, just told the media on his plane that he’s prepared to go on to Wyoming and Mississippi. I LOVE THAT!
Another fatal flaw of Senator Clinton…shortsightedness. She couldn’t see past 2/5/08.
I smell Rove behind this insipid business.
Yay, us!
The joy of being a FirePup is participating in these innovative programs.
Thanks Jane, The Redhead, et al.
I certainly trust Jane! Her track record is sterling…! *g*
Having worked in “da media” as a news fotog for 25 years before i got out, (just in time based on staff cuts) I can tell you AP is lazy, stupid and sheep-like.
OTOH, and not exactly off-topic, the 25-percenters are all atwitter again
They ARE insane.
he never sleeps,undead imo
ok – I signed up.
Is there an emoticon for that thing people do with their hand which means Hey Jane – “call me!”?
,)’ (?)
What to have some more fun? On the previous thread I was thinking it would be kind of fun to mess with the minds of our Representatives & Senators who are for giving the telecom companies immunity…by calling their offices and asking the intern why the Senator/Rep. said ‘this and that’ about ’so and so’ (make up something really juicy)…and then state you work for AT&T or Verizon and heard this call through the largest phone database ever created to see what reaction you’d get.
I bet immunity would be swept off the table if enough calls were made. LOL ;-)
Does anyone have any idea how many of the letters made it to print?
I am beside myself with anticipation of the debates between Obama or Clinton and McCain. Seriously.
Mrs. Greenspan seems to be in good spirits tonight, even though it looks like Hillary could have a big night…
WooHoo … that’s a lot of letters!
Thank you Jane!
It’s nice to be able to push back.
i love it reminds me of…the OLD SNL
This is excellent, I’m in.
Expect a dirty, dirty election, firepups. The only chance the GOP has is to make Obama the most hated man in America. I expect to see a large number of trial balloons from swiftboaters and whichever ones stick are going to get MILLIONS of dollars of airtime. McBush will generally keep his hands clean, except to keep the issue on the air.
It’s already been pointed out to me that Obama is black, and has a weird name. Not that there’s anything racist about that…but did you know that he helped drug dealers when he was helping on the street? And that his socialized medicine will have us all taxed to support illegal immigrants?
I’m sick of it already.
Boxturtle (President Obama sounds good to me too)
what color leather is she wrapped tight in?
i was just wondering the very same thing. perhaps those pups whose letters made it to print could start a count here at fdl somehow. it also would be good to know in which papers. for da future, listed by state.
Ditto, kiddo! McBatshitCrazySaint will need some No-Doz to keep up. Maybe Mrs. McBatshitCrazySaint can supply him with the good stuff ;)
Apparently, there’ll be no Countdown with KO already on the air, and 45 mins till the Ohio polls close… BTW, I assume Rachel will be on tap with KO since she’s not on AA today…! *g*
you can rely upon that
You’ve already started swooning over Rachel, havencha? *g*
fascists love dem their mind altering drugs
Lord I love it. The Republicans are faced with the prospect (probability) of a self-made man or a woman as the next president of the United States.
Yep, Rachel has already appeared. She’ll be back.
boooooooooooooooooooootsraps hoooooooooooray
I love it!
what color leather is she wrapped tight in?
I don’t think that Mrs. Greenspan has ever been accused of being wrapped too tight.
No black leather cat-suit for Noron tonight – dammit.
Keith just said Bill Clinton went on Rush this afternoon.
What is it with these R wives and drugs anyway? Must be a horrible endeavor to stand beside those guys. Eeewww!
First Exit Polls from HuffPo:
VT Obama – 67, Clinton – 33
OH Obama – 51, Clinton – 49
TX Obama – 50, Clinton – 49
RI Obama – 49, Clinton – 49
Anyone knows how accurate these Exit Polls are ?
Do they make preggo black leather catsuits?
But of course! I listen to her heavenly voice every chance I get…! *g*
btw here are links to the original FDL AP ACTION articles:
ACTION: Tell AP Papers to Stop Smearing Obama’s Patriotism
Action Help: AP Pushback Needs Another Push
I never believe any exit polls until I see the hard numbers on which they are based. Verify, don’t trust. *g*
he is BATSHIT,can you imagine living with him?
And Karl Rove, we are going to flush you down the toilet come November.
Ewww … thanks for the image … *g*
Are we going to have to bring out the smelling salts?
Exit polls? WTF? The polls don’t close here in Texas for more than an hour. What the fuck are they already printing exit polls for? Did I say I hate that?
If Cindy McCain gets any thinner as the campaign goes on she is going to have to go on the Dr. Phil show.
another little winger in the oven?
In two words, HELLLLLLL NO!
spit up my beer!
i hope we all have MANY laughs tonite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve already got them nearby! ;-)
Can she botox her shoulders and thighs?
So, if we get on board to help defend obama (will it only be obama?) will we, internet activists, be thanked for our support with favorable policy or will we be denounced and rejected?
intervenous?
Do they make preggo black leather catsuits?
Huh?
Well, preggers or not, she had one on a few weeks ago, and it not only kept my attention quite nicely, it also relieved the annoying task of having to keep looking at the teevee from one side to the other to keep track of both her eyes…
We have to work tomorrow so we can’t stay up late and watch the happenings. But when me and my lady retire upstairs we will feel good. Because one way or the other we are seeing the next president of the United States of America. And I am not here speaking of John McCain. John McCain: a politician for yesterday.
Who said it would just be for Obama? Jane didn’t. It’s whomever is getting the shitty end of the Wurlitzer stick or the inaccurate media reportage where we find it.
Dem presidential nominee, any of our Blue America folks, crappy media narrative on liberals…what-have-you.
Hah, Repugs are only 10% of the primary voters in Ohio… Bwahahaha…! 8-)
Denounced and rejected in the beginning, for sure. If we stick with it, cheered and revered.
same disease as Michelle Malalalaladingdong
I’ll bet it did! *g* Animal!
Kudos, Jane! You rock!
Thanks for making FDL the place where good stuff happens!
Bob in HI
where has MM been…kind of low profile,no?
Did I say yesterday that KO always played it straight on the election shows? One of Hillary’s flacks said “Obama didn’t have to vote on the resolution to authorize military action against Iraq”. KO said, “He didn’t have to read the report either”! zingarooo
MM also equals Mystery Man
Animal!
hey – just representin’ for the small (in numbers, dammit!) straight male contingent here at FDL… *g*
I heard that too, R. LOL! Tweety didn’t look pleased. Awww, too bad hack!
Vermont is in da bag.
hahahahahaha
i know none
I’ll vote for dat!
we need a drinking game,im edgy
Vermont is already called for Obama…
Very good then.
KEIF is tehhh quick
With respect to Christy’s post, how do we make these bastards understand that voting for the Telecomm immunity will cost them their precious jobs? Is something like that even possible? I can’t imagine anything else that will or could get their attention other than their being voted out of their cushy barely-make-work fucking jobs.
They will of the people no longer matters, the will of corporate America does. Fascism by any other name is …. Fascism.
Ya’ll commence with the drinkin’. I’ll watch. :)
Apparently, Ben and Jerry have swayed the voters…! ;-)
Blitzer: We don’t want to belittle the voters in Vermont … much more important is what happens in Ohio … nicely done, WhiteBeard !!!
That is why I asked. My impression was that it was for obama yet I didn’t see that specifically stated. Thanks for clarifying.
Well I thought I was going to be able to watch MSGOP, but since I don’t drink I think it’s best for me to find something else to view and rely on fire pups to let me know what’s happening.
I don’t drink
lol, good one :)
I can’t imagine anything else that will or could get their attention other than their being voted out of their cushy barely-make-work fucking job….
they are pampered beyond belief,never pay for dinners or ANYTHING else….airports..ha
we need a drinking game,im edgy
Want to stay pretty sober? -> magic word is “Huckabee”.
Wanna get plowed? -> magic word is “momentum”.
I don’t drink….well *g*
ok well heres lookin atchooooo kid!
Well, I’m off to caucus and work at my precinct caucus here in Austin. I’ll be signing up delegates and alternates for Obama for the next level of caucus. Our precinct sends 103 delegates to our state senatorial district convention in Austin March 29. After that comes the state convention June 6-7 also in Austin. We’ve got a very large precinct and there’s hardly a Republican to be found in it. I like my neighbors.
The lines have been long all day (I worked all morning educating people on line about the caucus process and why it’s important to caucus – in a nutshell, two-thirds of the votes approximately are delegated by the primary and most of the other third is delegated by the caucuses plus a few go to super delegates). So even tho the polls close at 7:00 and we could theoretically open the caucus at 7:15, anyone who’s in line at 7:00 can vote. And we can’t begin caucusing til the last person has voted.
I’ll report back when I get home.
i really feel the preasure like in 2004
s’ok, no jesus, no higher power, just gave it up
Heh, that’s why I don’t watch Wolfie, I much rather watch KO and my sweetie, Rachel…! *g*
i maybe drink 10 days/nights per year……you can imagine,im nervous!
Awesome job, GW! Good luck at the caucus…! 8-)
well i could always do ice cream instead…or mebbe both,frozen concoction to help me hang on
Kudos to ya. I embarrassed myself so badly, I had no other choice. I blame it on the BP medicine, but if truth be known, I’ve become a lightweight with age. Not mad about that at all. I feel great!
agreed!
With a little salt and lime, perhaps?
Careful, GW, ya might get sucked into service, I ended up as my precinct’s treasurer…! ;-)
oo thanks for the idea, I want a purple popsicle
Who is older, Twiggy or Cindy McCain?
Twiggy: born Sept. 19, 1949
Cindy McCain: April 1. 1954 (April fool’s day)
Many, many thanks for your work. You set a great example.
thanks, ct. i had a blast earlier. so many people didn’t know how it worked, even people who’ve been voting every election for years. we haven’t been in play before. usually we have maybe 20-40 people at our caucuses.
i think at least 40 – 50 of the people who wanted to hear how it worked from me are coming tonight who weren’t originally planning to. it’s exciting.
Wanna stay stone cold sober? -> magic word is “progressive.”
Thanks not only for what you’re doing, but also for your regular updates. They’re both appreciated.
i was right there with you that night, congratulating you. your post is what has me prepared for a really big turnout tonight.
I think we need an FDL contest for “most complicated way to choose delegates” when this campaign is over. Everyone who has participated in one of these odd two-step processes can explain it again, and we’ll vote for the most complicated (and most difficult to understand).
So far, though, I think Texas is in the lead.
As an alternative, you could watch Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz on the Young Turks tonight:
http://www.theyoungturks.com/
Ron Paul might upset McCain in Texas….I’ve seen tons of Ron Paul signs all over Texas, but I haven’t seen one McCain sign. That is, if you don’t consider the Diebold effect.
Is Gwen Ifill one of the people on TV or what? I remember wishing CBS would’ve been brave and gave Gwen the anchor slot instead of Legz Couric.
I had to turn Tweety on mute.
Why wouldnt they have someone from Obama’s campaign?
Its all Hillary again.
Not Michigan and Florida?
thanks, boo. it’s a dream job for me. i really like getting people excited about politics.
wow, talk about making a difference! Way to go gw!
add “best people…”
lol!!
Gwen Ifill is a Beltway-sipping cocktail-wienie-loving establishment journalist.
I believe Limbaugh. Mainly because he admits he was a very strange child, uninterested in both the things his peers were interested in…but also completed isolated from a normal adult experience.
Very strange child…very strange adult (especially the stuff about seagulls).
Maybe, but I’ve seen her slap down the foolishness of her counterparts many, many times.
Well, yes, that remains to be seen, should either one have a do-over.
Florida’s not-gay governor seems intent on messing with the Democrats’ heads; I read somewhere that he’s now “not opposed” to a do-over for the Dems.
When people were horrified, mad or laughing their asses off, I always just said, “Trust me, this was NOT my idea. I’m just explaining it.”
Right on! It was certainly a memorable night… Enjoy the moment! *g*
Been helping with homework, so I missed this earlier.
I happen to know someone that could use help fighting media bias… :)
I’ve been thinking that is a real possibility all week. Ron Paul could do very well in Texas tonight which is his home state.
Russert: “White ethnic women”….what is that?
Agreed about the signs. We don’t have Diebold or the Diebold effect here in Texas. Something to be thankful for.
hey – there has been a Timmeh sighting…
Umm Timmeh, what is a “white ethnic woman” that you just mentioned as being valuable?
non wasps
I don’t think that Timmeh even listens to himself …
I just actually reread what you said. LOL
The Iraq War is a huge issue with voters.
Hey gang:
Late coming to the thread…i’m stranded at the airport in Cincinnati,missed my connection to Minneapolis from Paris–my flight is at 9 PM ET (Cincinnati is on ET)…What’s happening–with Obama Clinton? Or are you gonna make me read the whole thread to find out? Have a heart, gang…*g*
Cinnamonape,
Got a link for that? Thanks.
Thank goddess!! Great job GW…you go lady!!
Maybe by default, eg, but by sheer process I think Texas wins it hands down! 8-)
mebbe “not protestant”?
zinnzinaty?
NAFTA is nasty.
Are you on a time-out for bad behavior or do you secretly like her? /s
Looks like Obama wins Vermont 51-42
Is that anything like McBatshitCrazySaint slipping that he was a liberal conservative??
Exit polls are as good as the sampling methods are of the precincts they derive from….and the honesty of respondants.
I’d say take ‘em with a grain of salt if they are very close, since they have to extrapolate to lots of little communities as well as big ones, and be multiplied up by some calculated measure. They may be a little better than “phone surveys” which do the same thing…as people have already decided…and it’s right on the day of the election. But remember that in Texas, especially, many people voted in the weeks before the polling.
Well, he described me, over 60, working, earns under $50,000, so I guess it’s blue-eyed working white women?
CAFTA is crazy.
Thanks c’ape … my buddy CT told me as much …
I’m really proud of you, greenwarrior, and all the pups who’ve participated this year. I hope you don’t think I’m devaluing your participation — far from it! I think it’s amazing the barriers that have been put in our way, and how we’ve blasted right through them, in state after state.
No matter how difficult “they” made it to play, we just played. Way to go.
That sucks Biodun, however, at least you’re at ground zero for the Ohio primary…! ;-)
707!
You do realize that NAFTA guarantees American access to Canadian oil, gas, and electricity? And without NAFTA we could just up and sell oil to China or whoever?
Which is why no American president is likely to scrap it, whatever they say in Ohio.
Hmmm… Using my name in vain… eh? *g*
I realize several things about NAFTA. ;0)
I bristled at Hillary’s suggestion that somehow Canada & Mexico negotiated an unfair trade deal when in fact it was wholly written by American Corporations …
Hey there, Biodun! As you can see things stateside are the same as you left them…kinda f’d up! Welcome home and be careful out there.
Lahoma and I are pleased.
The whole world is watching and rooting for the Dems!
I never took that comment as devaluing my participation, just that you were noticing the bizarreness of the system. Au contraire, I got all your atta girls and really appreciate them!
This is just how bizarre our current system is:
Indeed.
Oops, sorry … that was Christy @ 46, not CT …
Woof… 1968 flashback…. okay, better now…!
Heh, the Athabascan Tar Sands has more oil in it than the Saudi fields, just more expensive and destructive to extract it…! 8-(
We’re cool, then.
Signed up and Dugg.
Outsourcing is not good for America.
Ohio too close to call…!
Please don’t persist with this. I beg you…
McCain must be allowed to spend all of his remaining years in Arizona.
National Geographic says the Tar Sands contain more Oil than all other known reservoirs in the world … the issue is extracting it … there is no Peak Oil, even though people on the Left recite that meme as much as those on the Right …
haha, I just got an email from MoveOn with the subject line:
Immediately, I thought this email was some bizarre Eli Pariser plea to Barack and Hillary to stay in the race. But no, it’s about the PAA/FISA fight. Still, I had a laugh and wanted to share it here.
Obama declared winner in Vermont as expected. Ohio polls just closed; too close to call. Other states later. And welcome back.
Sorry Christy, I was just being silly with jayt … please delete 170 if it is offensive in any way …
Not a link to that specifically but
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..us-george/
It’s not sustainable – and the limiting factor will be access to water for refining.
sorry here too.
I will say that they one result that really surprises me is the Rhode Island numbers. Clinton was supposed to win that race easily and perhaps pick up substantial delegates there to balance losses in Vermont.
In addition the Vermont outcome might be a bit worse since Obama may pick up much larger delegate counts there if he is over 2/3rds in some districts.
The Ohio and Texas votes are as expected. The problem in Texas for Clinton will be how these votes are distributed. Texas distributes delegates by State legislative districts and the number was based on the number of Democrats who actually voted in the last two general elections. In those elections more Democrats turned out (or voted for Democratic candidates) in areas like Houston, Ft. Worth-Dallas, and Austin than they did in San Antonio, El Paso, etc. Part of the reason is that many Tejanos voted for Republicans in the past (particularly Republicans recruited because of their Hispanic descent). Thus the delegate races are less importnat in the Rio Grande Valley and really more important elsewhere.
Remember that Clinton supposedly had Texas, Ohio, and RI wrapped up a month ago. She was hoping to “win big” as a counter to ignoring all the elections in February. Now she’s claiming that if she barely wins one of those races, that’s enough to keep campaigning. She and her campaign have set the bar so low that it’s riduculous.
I hear ya, my dad worked for GCOS(Great Canadian Oil Sands), and my sister was born in Ft. MacMurray… *g*
i just got that one too. … do you know how we can let them know about the big typo in their email?
yep–as I told you: Thursday you should get something….have the shit right here in my bag–well, that bag is its way to Minneapolis right now without me…That bag better trun up whe I get there around 11:00 PM CT or so, otherwise I;’m up shit creek–OK Raven: Is this aversion of the cat ate my homework? Delta-Air France ate my bag, so nothing for Raven?
Fineman sez Clinton was “Machiavellian” and “Nixonian” in answering Steve Croft’s question about Obama’s faith on 60 Minutes Sunday.
Good gawd! What a freak that man is. I don’t believe a word he’s saying at all. He knew all the characters and names of shows, but yet, he had no idea that Curious George was a monkey? What a liar.
Guaranteed he spent his whole childhood watching cartoons to get out of reality. This is why he’s so far removed from it today. He lives in a bubble still.
Well a Hannity caller called Hillary a cockroach this afternoon and neither of these examples of excellence in broadcasting are surprising.
Amen, start fighting…!
Mods, please remove my comment @ 168 as well …
Thanks very much.
Can we take up a collection to buy Rachael a 2nd outfit to wear on tv?
I might be misremembering ;-) but I think I remember reading a few years ago that in Colorado that they wanted to use low yield nukes to jigger the oil loose from the tar sands and then pump in steam to work it out of the rocks
Any readers in Colorado who know more, correct me if I’m wrong
I knew that they wanted to inject steam in the shale to make the Oil aqueous and pump it out of the ground but I did not know about the “Nuke” angle …
That is one of the things I like about her.
A bizarre system indeed. Biut it actually makes sense when you have to distill % down into dispensing whole number delegates that each states Democratic delegation is assigned.At some %ile one delegate goes from Hillary’s column over to Obamas. It’s really easy to calculate since the deleagtes and %ages are Statewide.
But look at Texas…or many other States that assign delegates by “Districts” (and have anywhere between 1 and 8 delegates in those disticts depending on either Democratic registration, participation in previous elections, or other measures). ASFAIK no State or District is assigned “extra” delegates based upon higher turnouts. Thus an area with either massive turnout because of a suddenly and newly energized group of supporters gets no more assigned to it because of that upswing, and may have the same number of delegates as another district in which the voter turnout is not enthused and whose voters show up at below average numbers.
It may surprise people but in most districts the individual with 42% of the vote gets the same delegates as one with 58%. But in others someone with 63% may get almost twice as many as the one with 37%.
So in Texas, especially, the “game” is not in winning the majority of the vote. It’s not even in winning districts. The game is in crossing certain threshholds points in “high delegate” districts. And lemme bet that the Obama people understand that reality quite well (given that they are supposed to be highly educated nerds). Most of Obama’s strengths are in high delegate districts.
And then about 1/3rd of the delegates will be distributed in caucuses. Here, too, the critical ones are mainly in areas that might be seen as favoring Obama. Here, more than ever the influence of enthusiasm may result in voters swinging one way or another. In addition…I know the Obama campaign made a major phone-bank effort this weekend to communicating to people that even if they voted early they could also come to a caucus and “vote again”…in a caucus. That may not be something that many Clinton voters were aware of.
Greenwarrior? Are they going to allow people to move to larger venues if the Caucus crowd gets too large. I read somewhere that this was something that Clinton was asking to be blocked. I’m not sure what she, and her campaign wants? People to pack into places and have the fire-marshall shut it down? Or people be turned away at the doors?
Maybe her campaign plans to get everyone there extra early, hoping that the doors will be barred to other arrivals further back in line?
Or perhaps the goal is to force shutdowns, resulting in chaos…so they can challenge the “fairness” of the caucus (as a result of the chaos which they instigated).
I’ve also heard that they are going to challenge caucus’ in which officials are “Obama supporters.” Notice they are not challenge ANYONE associated with a campaign? Are they gonna ask Republicans to run it? Sheesh?