Did the media dumb down the American public in order to get their man, Barack Obama elected President? A documentary takes on that question in Media Malpractice: How Obama Got Elected. Read about it here and see the video.
Barack Obama
You might do well to check out this documentary if you wonder whether or not there was media bias in the election of Barack Obama for President. A lot of people have talked about the apparent media bias, even media malpractice, in dumbing down the voting public. Many feel that’s how Obama got elected. Others think that the American public doesn’t need dumbing down because we are already there.
A documentary by www.HowObamaGotElected.com takes a hard look at the 2008 election coverage by the main stream media and whether or not that coverage had an impact on what Obama voters knew, or thought they knew, about the man they were voting for.
Obama supporters are asked a series of questions, along the lines of Jay Leno’s Jay Walking segment on The Tonight Show. The results are interesting but hardly unexpected. They were asked questions like who has been in control of Congress for the past two years and about key members of Congress. They were asked about gaffs made by different candidates. Interestingly, almost all attributed all gaffs to Sarah Palin even though most were made by Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Of course, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The upcoming documentary explores what information about which candidates was put out by the media, how it was portrayed and how it impacted voters.
Check out the results of this Zogby poll on what Obama voters knew and didn’t know about their candidate.
512 Obama Voters 11/13/08-11/15/08 MOE +/- 4.4 points
97.1% High School Graduate or higher, 55% College Graduates
Results to 12 simple Multiple Choice Questions
57.4% could NOT correctly say which party controls congress (50/50 shot just by guessing)
81.8% could NOT correctly say Joe Biden quit a previous campaign because of plagiarism (25% chance by guessing)
82.6% could NOT correctly say that Barack Obama won his first election by getting opponents kicked off the ballot (25% chance by guessing)
88.4% could NOT correctly say that Obama said his policies would likely bankrupt the coal industry and make energy rates skyrocket (25% chance by guessing)
56.1% could NOT correctly say Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).
And yet…..
Only 13.7% failed to identify Sarah Palin as the person on which their party spent $150,000 in clothes
Only 6.2% failed to identify Palin as the one with a pregnant teenage daughter
And 86.9 % thought that Palin said that she could see Russia from her “house,” even though that was Tina Fey who said that!!
Only 2.4% got at least 11 correct.
Only .5% got all of them correct. (And we “gave” one answer that was technically not Palin, but actually Tina Fey)
I realize that I pay much closer attention to these things than the average person does. Still, its amazing sometimes that people would bother to go to the polls to vote when they know so little about who they are voting for or against. It makes me think that they might not really understand the magnanimity of casting a vote. Perhaps they don’t understand what a privilege it is to be able to vote and take it for granted in a country that has had that right for so many years. I don’t know. Sometimes I think we should have to pass a competency test in order to be allowed the PRIVILEGE of voting. What do you think?
How Obama Got Elected - Video
Photo: WENN
November 18th, 2008 at 12:13 am
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November 18th, 2008 at 2:47 am
How laughable. McCain ran one of the dirtiest campaigns in history. But in your twisted world, you define media bias as the failure of the media to embrace McCain’s sleaze.
The list of things you tick off are a bunch of lies. Liars. You are all liars. If people do not believe your lies, then they are “misinformed.”
For once, the liars lost. Selah, and goodbye.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:30 am
Liar, liar pants on fire. Nana nana boo boo.
Hey Edward - even media outlets are talking about how sleazy the media has been throughout all of this.
Can you tell me in what ways McCain’s campaign was dirty or do you just stomp your feet, stick out your lower lip and call people liars?
November 18th, 2008 at 5:33 am
I’ve seen Leno’s “Jay Walking” spots several times, one done on a college campus. The ignorance is amazing.
We have to take a test to drive a car but even if you don’t know what state you’re legally residing in, you can cast your vote.
That’s why our Founding Fathers decided an electoral college was insurance against the uneducated working class.
Unfortunately, the number of uneducated voters is growing and once amnesty passes, America will be the equivalent to un Nación del Tercer Mundo.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:03 am
Of course, if the person who created that poll believed in his arguments, he wouldn’t have to manufacture the results. For instance, just like none of the candidates said they could see Alaska from their house (the fact that it is true misses the point - that it was an absurd response to national security credentials that created a popularentertainment backlash), no candidate said they were in favor of “wealth distribution” (and all 4 candidates were, unless you could tell me where between the 33 and 36 percent top marginal tax rates lies the socialism border).
It’s also untrue that “Obama started his political career at the home of two former members of the Weather Underground (25% chance by guessing).” Unless you wildly distort the facts, of course, and the meaning of the terms “start” and “political career.” But how many people who got that wrong knew who Bill Ayers was, but didn’t accurately remember GOP false allegations, or the technical term of the domestic terrorist group he belonged to?
Likewise, Obama didn’t say that he would bankrupt the coal industry, just that coal companies would have to go clean or they would face bankruptcy, based on policies that both he and McCain supported.
Basically, you’ve proved that Obama supporters are less likely to know or believe mostly untrue smears about Obama, and more likely to know a combination of true and untrue smears about Sarah Palin (who wasn’t running for President). Maybe if McCain tried to make the campaign about him instead of a relative unknown celebrity, maybe the media wouldn’t have spent the period people began paying attention trying to figure out who she was. If you don’t like the answer, maybe blaming Tina Fey isn’t the best place to start.
November 18th, 2008 at 7:08 am
I completely understand where you are going with this… but isn’t this how most officials are elected… I am going to poll you and your readers… How many Government officials are elected that the media dislikes?
I don’t know the exact answer but I bet the %points are in the single digits…
November 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Justin and Edward,
You guys really should be in the media because you sound like the nightly news. None of us really know anything about Obama. He is either what he and his supporters claim or he is a big fraud.
At this point we know this. There is no change coming. Obama is surrounding himself with Clinton’s people. 31 of 37 appointments are from the Clinton White House. Now, that being said, I know you guys are having a Obamaganism but what happened to the change he promised. It is the same old crowd with the same old worn out ideas and promises. I predict you will have voters remorse within 6 to 10 months.
The backlash will be jobs lost not gained. The Stock market has drop 15% since Nov 4. Obama was elected because conservatives tried to be moderates and liberals and because there are people in this country that are uneducated when it comes to our election process. They owe it to themselves to find out who is running, what they have done, what they say they will do, and what they are doing now.
Obama is leasing the Clinton cabinet. Real change would be fresh new faces with some real new ideas. But no can’t have that. He must have leftovers and congress rejects around him.
Congratulations on the big win. Enjoy it while it last because it will not last long. You soon will feel like the kid that ate the whole cake because it looked and tasted so good, but now is sick to his stomach. Obama was a do nothing state senator, U S Senator and community organizer. He is full of words and phrases but no action. You see to be a liberal, all you to have is intentions that make people feel good. That is why New York State elected Hillary. Just another attorney, first lady, done nothing but talk and talk.
November 18th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
George, how anything in your rant is relevant to my point is beyond me. In any event, 538.com has more
November 18th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Hm. Formatting fail.
along the lines that I pointed out:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/zogby-engages-in-apparent-push-polling.html
November 18th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Yep. And I got attacked by a big black man when I was at the ATM. He carved a big backwards “B” on my face after he saw that I supported McCain.
November 18th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
The application of simple ratios to the results of this poll suggests that the majority of democratic party supporters are dumb and/or ignorant people.
Just because someone doesn’t agree with the outcome of the poll, doesn’t make the results wrong or manufactured. That approach is the typical diversion tactic used by shallow individuals who find themselves in a weak position; they don’t like the outcome so they change the subject or try to discredit it or the messenger. This is the typical approach of weak, shallow and either ignorant or deceitful people.
November 18th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
justin and allen you are a prime example of illiterate voters. you know nothing about the man you voted including if he was legally allowed to run for the office of presidency! show us his birth certificate, the man was elected because he could convince people he was something he is or was not. the facts were there you ingnored them. now you want to rant about some off the wall web site you pertake in. his redistribute the wealth had people voting that thought they were going to be receiveing money taken from more well off people by him you people are a joke, wakeup america, we were founded by hard work not give me your money. and his create jobs from the bottom up. when have you ever worked for a poor man that couldn’t pay you. you work your way up from the bottom you. you don’t create jobs as lowman on the totem pole. get real obamanizers.
November 18th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Thank you, Tony! “…create jobs from the bottom up. When have you ever worked for a poor man that couldn’t pay you?” Well said.
I actually saw a woman on CNN say, “I’m voting for Obama because he’s gonna gimme free gas and pay my mortgage!” Please. Get some chlorine for your gene pool.
Wake up, sheeple. Sheep get eaten! You’ve been sold a bunch of garbage. When will America actually use the news to critically think and make decisions and not rely on drama?
November 19th, 2008 at 7:01 am
[...] RightPundits.com [...]
November 19th, 2008 at 7:52 am
you guys can say what you want but the brightest Man won and that was President Obama!John McShame graduated 894 out of 899 and u repubs know its true whereas President Obama graduated number 1 from Harvard. now lets chat about Bush (what a ahole)he was a c average student u repubs need to get someone with some brains duh
November 19th, 2008 at 8:34 am
Justin;
“no candidate said they were in favor of “wealth distributionâ€? (and all 4 candidates were, unless you could tell me where between the 33 and 36 percent top marginal tax rates lies the socialism border).”
Obama basically said he favored wealth redistribution to Joe the plumber and in his interview with Oreilly.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,419703,00.html
Its not the level of taxation Justin, its how its distributed that determines socialism
November 19th, 2008 at 8:39 am
So Carla, by your logic, an idiot can win as well as the “brightest Man”
When Bush wins and is re elected, hes an idiot.
When Obama wins with no record hes the “brightest man”?
What has he ever done to make him the brightest one ? Aside from his campaign, which had enlisted the help of many maybe brighter than him ?
One of these days you guys are going to learn that academics do not always point to intelligence.
November 19th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Justin, you are just a laugh riot. My rant, as you said, was to point out the fact that you guys all just repeat the talking points and never dig for yourselves.
You voted for Obama because you wanted change. Well pal that is what you will have in your pocket. No folding money just change.
Obama is leasing the Clinton administration. He is not bringing anyone or anything new (CHANGE) to Washington.
As for Bush, why do you all hate so much. You are like the bully in school. You are jealous of others and because you have nothing to offer, you can only call people names. Grow up and find out the truth. It is in books, films and even the internet.
You Obamanites will have voters remorse very soon. I can’t to see you all turn on him. It will be worth him being elected.
December 25th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I have said all along Obama was a media creation shepared by Axelrod’s strategy and I can distinctly remember how he managed to get little blurbs on obama into every 24 hour media cycle well over a year ago and they dutifully found their way into all the chief news outlets net sites as well. It just amazed me and I can remember myself thinking “they are going to elect this man president”. It was so obvious it just dumbfounded me. Still mccain’s handlers were abysmal in their efforts and what they focused on.
January 9th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Justin and Allen,
I understand that you wish to see your candidate in the best light but lets get real. You’ve heard all about Sarah Palin’s daughter, troopergate, all her other “scandalous” activities and her supposed malapropisms. How much reporting have you heard about Barack Obama’s scandals: William Ayers, Reverend Wright, Tony Rezco, drug use, etc? The media had to be dragged kicking and screaming into reporting anything on any of those topics. They have given Obama and Biden generous leeway for their misstatements (see 57 states, spread the wealth, and paying taxes is patriotic. Those are not malapropisms but a revealing look at their philosophy on the wealthy (other than their own or their cronies). They dropped the story at the earliest opportunity and downplayed its significance unless it sheds a bad light on Obama. The media, in fact, crucified anyone who either criticize or exposed flaws in their messiah (see Joe the Plumber). The documentary is less about Obama than it is an indictment of the media.
You two are prime examples of the product of media bias.
February 2nd, 2009 at 9:43 am
i did notice how the media treated obama and how the press didnt say any thing wrong about the man. his campaign seemed practiced before he opened his mouth. obama also didnt present himself good at all during the campaigning times. it took famous people like the kennedys to support him openly in order to get any attention for him. hilery clinton wasnt convincing to me when she said she supported obama in public, she lite up like a christmas tree when she talked about herself.all anyone could say about obama was he is black or the kids like him so the parents said. the public in dayton ohio had no idea what the man would do for them or if they did they didnt say on camera. mccain and paline, hilery clinton both stood on thier own and didnt need anyone to really boast thier name in the media. people just liked them for who they were and the experience. all that could be said about obama was about change but not what changes we would have with him really. the man said one thing then contradicted himself the next to the other crowds.for a man who does not support the war why is he trying to get military to go to the middle east desert and needing more soldiers now. anyone who is military or a spouse of one knows how the war has already only given them 6 months to recover at home and 15 months being gone.i want obama to wear the american flag on his suit now that he is representing us as americans.he owes us that big time!
February 2nd, 2009 at 11:38 am
i like Obama a lot as a person, if Osama binladen wanted to become president,&said he was a democrat& schmoozed the people, who are
entertainers&also in the public view anyone could like him tooI CANNOT BELIEVE THE AMERICAN POPLE ARE SO (stupid)
I have so much to say about this whole mess we have got ourselves in!!!
Dosent ANYONE REMEMBER Osama Binladen said on one of his TAPED MESSAGES HE IS GOING TO GET ALL OF US AMERICANS he will hit us where it hurts!!WAKE UP AMERICA!!! he is doing exactly WHAT HE SAID he would do!!
he is succeding AGAIN!! WE ARE BEING BOMBED ALL OVER AGAIN,it not just NEW YORK it is the WHOLE US.(he bombed our pocketbooks.
My theory is he is very CLEVER&HE WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO GET TO AMERICANS & we are letting him IF YOU NOTICE THE PEOPLE THAT VOTED FOR OBAMA WERE NOT REALISTIC PEOPLE nor did they know why they were voting!!THEY WERE TOLD TO GET OUT & vote they had no clue about what this meant BRUCE SP./MOVIE STARS Glitzey PEOPLE IN THE LIMELITE. TOLD THESE PEOPLE TO VOTE,SO THEY DID! THE Media people actors singers ETC do NOT LIVE IN A REAL WORLD!!!
MY OPINION—here it is I think OSAMS BINLADEN
vowed to get us americans/ he could of groomed
OBAMA SO WELL that for all we know,he could be a product of BinLaden AFTER ALL THE MONSTER OUTSMARTED US SO WELL!!! on 9 11 This is just a theory, HOW long has Obama been around here?
NEVER HEARD OF HIM before this past yr.
he was being Groomed to schmooze the US.INTO
having the young & black people,who know NOTHING ABOUT POLITICS think he is so cute, nice,great personality,pretty wife, nice kids
handles himself Very Well,Very Young.
these nieve people live in dream world, look at the movie media also actors TELLING people to vote for someone who lives in MOVIE STAR LAND JUST LIKE THEY DO
This is what i call a screwed up SYSTEM.
SOMEONE out there had better change this system
before it is to late!!!
For all you dreamers out there you got that man into the white house (YOU CAN MARK MY WORDS
YOU WILL WISH YOU had faced reality,before all of this is over!!
Iam a very very concerned citizen who does not look thru ROSE COLORED GLASSES like ALL liberals do.
February 2nd, 2009 at 2:23 pm
> Obama won because, take a good look at his opponent.
>Palin was laughed at because of HER!!! The woman couldn’t answer one single question without looking like a deer caught in headlights!
She was not at all prepared to spar with the big boys!
Since when has media ever been gentle on anyone??? NEVER!!! The media cannot wait to get their hands on someone and treat them like s***!
Why should she be of an exception? She was the perfect target because the woman is f***ing moron!!!
She did not know what she was getting herself into, which only shows how ignorant she is of the mainland!!!
So the reason why Obama won is because we did not want to see 8 more years of continued horrible policies! And McCain was ready to do exactly that!!!
Look who he choose as his running mate!!! What other horrible decisions was he going to spring upon us???
Get real people,,,,there is no conspiracy against palin, and Obama is no God. He’s just a clearly better candidate!!
February 2nd, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Suzy.
If you believe that the media has never been soft on anyone then that should explain why the rest of your post is about as disconnected from common sense and intelligence as it gets.
Your post is also an example of the idiocy that put Obama in office.
I wont even bother going into just how easy it is to chew up and spit out everything you said.
Oh, by the way, did you hear the news ?
Obama won, so hes no longer a candidate.
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Of course the media’s biased. No brainer. If we can’t see beyond Couric’s bland appeals to our softer side or Bortz’a appeal to our libertarian side ad infinitum, we’re the fools.
Why not encourage a little research? If you really want to find out what the middle east is thinking, read Al-Jazeera; if you want to find out what the Asian business community’s thinking, check out he Straits Times. It’s fundamentally a failure of American intellectual curiosity.
Folks that get out and about a bit read both the New Republic and the Weekly Standard. And reads both critically.
Folks that are passive receptors for information are just plain stupid. So when we blame our paucity of decent information, we blame ourselves by not seeking out all the information we can and then filtering it for political agendas.
We can’t blame our stupidity on media bias; we have to blame it on our intellectual laziness.
We deserve what we’ve got, and blaming things on media biasis a red herring.