Obama Campaign Accused of Fake European Reporting.
Veteran news reporter Andrea Mitchell has cried foul on the Obama campaign for staging fake interviews and footage from his European tour.
Like everyone, I’ve watched the video of Barack Obama meeting troops expecting that it was shot by the mainstream media covering the event. Turns out that the images we are seeing are carefully staged campaign theatrics. No reporters were present.
Said Andrea Mitchell on the Hardball with Chris Matthews program:
Let me just say something about the message management. He didn’t have reporters with him, he didn’t have a press pool, he didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in. You’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they’re not interviews from a journalist. So, there’s a real press issue here. Politically it’s smart as can be. But we’ve not seen a presidential candidate do this, in my recollection, ever before.
Being a reporter who was not present in any of those situations, I just cannot report on what was edited out, what was, you know, on the sidelines. That’s my issue. We don’t know what we are seeing.
Mitchell makes the point that nobody knows how many outtakes it took to make a basketball hoop and nobody knows if he was heckled elsewhere. Matthews wonders why most of the faces in the crowd shots are black. In reality most of the troops in Afghanistan are white. Read the entire transcript here.
What kind of reception did Obama really get? Our information is that the troops gave him a chilly reception minus the staged basketball chicanery.
You can see what Andrea Mitchell calls the “faked” videos below.
Obama Afghanistan Videos – Faked?
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:13 am
you are an idiot. firstly, it is not a campaign stop, so his staff has no control over this. the photos were taken by members of the military– the one that bush is commander in chief of. Also, there are more blacks in the military than whites, per US household. Therefore its very reasonable that more blacks would show up to the event– traditionally, repubs add more blacks for photo ops and dems add more whites all to attract the non-base middle-ground constituants. if anything obamas campaign (if it were in charge) would try and limit the appearance of minorities in order to attract the working white class
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:29 am
idiot, thy name is mick.
does not obambi want to be commander in chief? yes. is not obambi traveling with no less then 200+ reporters? yes. is not obambi traveling overseas to increase his foreign policy gravitas? yes. is not obambi an inexperienced arrogant egotistical juvenile who wants it all without working for it? yes.
so sit down. thanks.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
Mick;
” Also, there are more blacks in the military than whites, per US household. ”
Really ?
http://www.prb.org/Articles/2005/AmericasMilitaryPopulation.aspx
“Some 16 percent of female officers and 34 percent of enlisted women are black, compared with 9 percent of male officers and 20 percent of enlisted men.”
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/06/national/main1372407.shtml
Despite the declines, the percentage of blacks in the military continues to exceed the percentage in the U.S. population. Nineteen percent of the military’s active-duty enlisted force is black, compared to 13 percent of the country’s population.
Mick;
“traditionally, repubs add more blacks for photo ops ”
Waht the f*** ?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:05 am
According to what you posted, Mitchell says the footage was taken by the military.
So are they part of this conspiracy?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:07 am
Mick, you don’t understand, the military gave Obama a chilly reception according to our ace reporter MCCAIN. And, according to what he posted, the military took the footage that aired, showing wildly enthusiastic crowds.
Obviously what must have happened here is that secret Obama moles within the military got ahold of the tape and doctored it. Or, perhaps they intercepted the signal as it left Iraq, changed it, and sent it back. Maybe Muslim Chinese Communist agents aligned with the Obama campaign have hacked the global satellite transmission system?
MCCAIN, you aren’t even trying any more are you?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:17 am
I almost feel sorry for mccain. Come on mccain you can do better than this…. you finally get the courage to actually show the clip… now you got to find some way to “whine” about it ??
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:30 am
I just want to add that “Obambi” is the dumbest attempt at coming up with an insulting nickname that I have ever heard. Trying to twist his name so it sounds feminine? You guys voted for a guy named BUSH fercrissakes!!
Further, its really funny that you people are complaining about Obama supposedly managing his message and using US troops as props. USS Abraham Lincoln ring any bells?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
Sounds like Rove and Bush in New Orleans.
Maybe not that blatant.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:01 pm
socialist jew
there is a huge difference in using military… bush IS the president and commander in chief. he has every right to use the USS Abraham Lincoln. but one of you guys need to break it to obambi gently so as not to crush him, that he ISN’T the president — we have only one at a time in this country — and let just a bit of air outta his head.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Mitchell doesn’t know who took the images. She was simply guessing the military. My understanding is the Obama campaign shot the footage and edited it all together for public consumption, which is why the MSM was not present. Just like a campaign commercial except in this case your federal tax dollars are paying for it.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Re: Obambi – his camp HAS said he would be the first female president.
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
He not only has 200+ reporters traveling with him, he has a huge staff. I might see if I can find out how huge. I read recently that his foreign policy staff was over 300 people who constantly update and educate him re: issues.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Blogger McCain, your understanding is false. The images were taken by the military and released by the military. The supposed “fake” interview was also conducted by the military, which has its own PR and press organization. The military chose to release this to the public. Candidate McCain has gotten similar treatment while on his tours.
Plus, Obama has given interviews to the press, and had a press conference. Stop whining!
On the bright side, I just googled “Obama footage taken by military” and Rightpundits came up on the top of the list. With success like that, I cannot understand why you whine so often and so emotively.
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Fine, but that’s false. The first Obama Afghanistan video was taken by Obama campaign. You might be able to Google that tomorrow too so you have the correct information. Expect the same is true of the second.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Hey what do you guys know – the Iraqi government approved the al-Maliki interview transcript before it was published.
Another lie exposed:
http://www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/hanging_by_the_telephone.php
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
MCCAIN, maybe you don’t even bother reading what YOU post?
—
He didn’t have reporters with him, he didn’t have a press pool, he didn’t do a press conference while he was on the ground in either Afghanistan or Iraq. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in. You’re seeing selected pictures taken by the military, questions by the military, and what some would call fake interviews, because they’re not interviews from a journalist
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Oh sure I read what I write. Are you trying to make a point of some kind or merely agree with my article?
Re al-Maliki, you are lost down a one-way street. The Iraqis have already made their position known both before and after the interview, which is consistent with a conclusion that the interview was poorly translated. Regardless it doesn’t matter if there was a slip of the tongue or slip of the pen, since we know the Iraqi’s position. It is is more like McCain’s than the naivety of Obama’s. And double-regardless of all that, the best interest of the USA matters as well, something our liberal friends forget. Military bases are a good thing which is why we will have them just as McCain has said and just as Obama is finally starting to hint about. Don’t focus on the leaf in the forest, Obamaheads. Case closed.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:52 pm
The Iraqis have already made their position known both before and after the interview, which is consistent with a conclusion that the interview was poorly translated.
If you tell a lie often enough…..
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Stop lying Bob. That isn’t allowed here. The Iraqis already made their official position known regardless of what some German magazine thinks they heard. Case is closed on that chapter of Obamamania.
Regardless, why do you feel it is so important for a Muslim leader to validate an Obama idea that is against American interests? Seems to me that feeds into the worst stereotypes. Why would Obama supporters hang their hat on this translation?
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Blogger McCain seems to be getting all of his info from the FoxNews network, which continues to blather about the alleged “mistranslation” in der Spiegel, which Fox anchor Steve Busey appeared to confuse on Monday morning with the old U.S. catalogue Spiegel’s. (Oddly, FoxNews has not undertaken to translate the comments themselves, but the New Times did – not much different than the original version.)
But there is no need to rely on translations: after al Maliki met with Obama over the weekend, al Maliki’s spokesman said, in English, that his government wants U.S troops out by the end of 2010, and used the word “timeline” to describe this demand.
I am curious how you think the U.S. should respond to a demand by an elected Iraqi government that we leave. John McCain has previously said that in such a case, the U.S. should of course leave.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 pm
No no, consider us a network which writes our own news stories. Don’t give anyone else the credit.
To answer your serious question, we would respond in the same way if such a request came from the Emperor of Japan in 1945. We would diplomatically say thank you very much for your opinion, let’s work together on that. I mean, you don’t really believe that a Muslim leader favoring Obama should count for a lot, right?
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Its been clear to me for two years now obama has some very smart media people with some really good connections and they know how to do it so well you hardly hear a squeak, till now. Just like Kennedy was the first charismatic television age persident, obama(who is not kennedy) is the first multimedia/net-age president. Thank Dean’s prior experience in leveraging the web and now they have mastered meltding tv, press, the net, and working smoothly through the big networks, and other players like time warner and its aol. Everytime I sign on aol I must see obama’s face dozens of times on various greeting pages, popups, even ads on Yahoo, and most of them portray him as a smiling affable guy except for the more pensive network photo’s showing him as a deep in thought leader posing for us already.
Someone could write a brilliant PhD on just the media leg of obama’s campaign. Obama is coming across a little too full of himself way too early which makes him seem a little out of touch and potentially control freakish. Outside of being a politician nobody really seems to know the man and I haven’t a clue as to who he really is.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:17 pm
hmmm… Blogger McCain’s last comment seems to have missed the bit about handing sovereignty over to the Iraqi government years ago, and the bit about the UN mandate for U.S. troops in Iraq expiring at the end of this year.
How is that situation analogous to U.S./Japan relations in 1945 after Japan’s unconditional surrender to the U.S. and imposition of an occupation government?
We used to have a magnificent navel base in the Philippines (Subic Bay). But the Filipino government told us to leave and we did. And today we have great relations with the Philippines… much better than if we had remained illegally in Subic Bay against the wishes of the Filipino people and their government.
(…and don’t imagine that we will remain in Guantanimo much longer once a democratic government takes over in Cuba.)
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Goodness me, are Obamaheads really comparing Iraq with the Phillipines. We could have a lot of fun with that one but I think you would rather go to bed, no? Try again tomorrow.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Philippines and Iraq? Both sovereign governments, both demanding that we leave. Seems similar from a legal point of view. Please explain the difference that would cause us to go to war with the democraticly elected Iraqi government in case they ever ask us to leave (as you appear to envision).
Blogger McCain, I think it would be more fun to have a discussion around your comparison of current Iraq (years after the handover of sovereignty to the locals), with Japan immediately after sovereignty was taken away from the locals. In the first case, we are guests of the government, while in the second, we *are* the government.
Go to war with the democratic Iraqi state over keeping permanent U.S. bases in Iraq? There is no wonder why the radical and fanatic Republicans will get trounced in this election.