And then, I thought about it. And I was in utter disbelief that McCain would actually “approve” — in those now infamous words — “this message.”

My guess — Sen. McCain probably thinks this is more funny than it is accurate. But instead, this creates a preview of the disgusting, annoying and tiring attack-ad campaigns that are to come.

So thank you, Sen. McCain. Not only for your low blow on the Democrats (cut them a little slack), but for instigating an attack worse than Sock’em Boppers to the head.

Photo by Christopher Wink, TTN.

Oops, she did it again. At least, in the media’s eyes.

In the latest “blunder” the media ate up, Sen. Hillary Clinton is charged with being disrespectful by making a comment about Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1968.

When discussing other high-ranking officials telling her to get out of the presidential race, Clinton compared her campaign to her husband’s and RFK’s.

Her exact quote:

My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle of June, right? We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June in California. I don’t understand it.

And her apology, just hours later:

Earlier today, I was discussing the Democratic primary history and in the course of that discussion mentioned the campaigns that both my husband and Sen. Kennedy waged in California in June in 1992 and 1968, and I was referencing those to make the point that we have had nominating primary contests that go into June. That’s an historic fact.

Perhaps her timing with the original comment was a little off after Sen. Ted Kennedy’s recent hospitalization, but really, there was no need for a formal apology.

Her point simply was, as she clearly stated, that RFK’s assassination occurred in June when he was in a heated battle for the Democratic nomination among Vice President Hubert Humphrey and Sen. Eugene McCarthy. What’s wrong with saying that?

I’ve already written a commentary for The Temple News that the media typically give Clinton a negative image, seeming to favor Sen. Barack Obama to win the nomination. Even after the ABC Debate blunder, my argument continues to grow.

Of course, I’m saying this as a journalist and not as a fan. Do I expect an equal amount of missteps to be reported for Obama? No, not at all. But I do expect the media to over-analyze every word he says as they do for Clinton.

Let’s just see what happens in June.

Original version from The Temple News. Photo by Christopher Wink.

CHRIS STOVER
The Temple News

She’s been compared to a monster and Rocky. High-ranking Democrats have called for her to quit the race. And the media have been ruthless in her campaign coverage, including commentary by The Temple News.

It seems that no matter what Sen. Hillary Clinton does, she’s under constant attack by the media. The other presidential candidates don’t have that pleasure.

For example, MSNBC’s David Shuster said in February that former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton was “being pimped out” by her mother. Yet no one says anything about Sen. John McCain’s traveling, blogging daughter.

Another incident occurred when President Bill Clinton recently tried to defend his wife’s misspoken words about Bosnia, saying she was tired at 11 p.m. one night and was under a lot of pressure when she gave the speech.

The media filled with glee. I remember watching the local news that night, as the anchor speculated about the contradiction between the president’s statement and the infamous “3 a.m.” Clinton commercial.

The anchor said, and I paraphrase, “Some wonder if Hillary Clinton can answer the phone at 3 a.m. if she can’t even speak clearly at 11 p.m.”

Such unfair, presumptive attacks on the senator seem like attempts by local and national media to slant their coverage toward Sen. Barack Obama. That is, until ABC’s nationally televised debate last Wednesday.

Moderators and ABC journalists Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos have been heavily criticized for their handling the debate. Many say they spent too much time on rumor control rather than hard issues and agree that the debate was slanted to Clinton’s favor.

ABC helped to give journalists – broadcast journalists, in particular – a credibility battle. First, Stephanopoulos was a staffer under President Clinton, which, to me, presents a clear conflict of interest.

It wasn’t until halfway through the debate that “real” questions began to get answered – questions on taxes and the economy, the war in Iraq. Questions that truly matter to millions of Americans.

ABC had a chance to shine with their exclusive debate, yet floundered by asking questions about not wearing U.S. flag pins or associating with an outspoken pastor.

If this was ABC’s attempt to give Clinton a larger lead in Pennsylvania’s primary polls, it nearly failed. If they tried forcefully to depict Clinton as the Rocky underdog, it could have turned voters off.

But thankfully for the democratic process, Pennsylvanians responded while ignoring the polls. Despite media reports of Obama closing the gap within percentage points, Clinton won by about 10 percent of the votes.

As journalists, it is our responsibility to find the truth. We present the objective facts and avoid speculation. It is a journalist’s duty to report all facts from all views so the audience can make its own speculations and decisions – despite personal beliefs of the New York senator.

These are fundamental rules of journalism – fundamental rules that many news organization seem to have forgotten.

But they aren’t the ones suffering here. We are.

Chris Stover can be reached at stover@temple.edu.

Content from The Temple News. See the other side of the story from LeAnne Matlach.

CHRIS STOVER
The Temple News

She has said she needed it. Tonight, she got it.

Sen. Hillary Clinton won the much-hyped Pennsylvania primary Tuesday, the first election in the past six weeks of this election cycle.

“Some people counted me out and said to drop out, but the American people don’t quit, and they deserve a president who doesn’t quit, either,” Clinton said after it was announced that she was the projected winner.

With 99 percent of the precincts reporting, Clinton has a 10-point lead over Obama, 55 percent to 45 percent. Of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, Obama only won seven, including Philadelphia, Delaware and Chester counties.

The crowd counted down at 7:59 p.m. to the statewide close of the polls at 8 p.m. In a scene reminiscent of New Year’s Eve, those supporters in attendance at the Bellevue Hotel cheered for their candidate.

“Keystone State, Hillary ’08,” the crowd chanted enthusiastically.

But the loudest cheers of the night came at 9:05 p.m., when CNN officially projected Clinton to win the long-awaited primary.

“Today, here in Pennsylvania, you’ve made your voices heard,” Clinton said on stage, joined with her husband, President Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea. “And because of you, the tide is turning.”

After the polls closed, U.S. Reps. Allyson Schwartz and Joe Sestak spoke to the crowd of about 200, congratulating them on helping Clinton’s campaign.

“I can’t wait until next January,” Sestak said. “I just can’t wait to have Sen. Clinton be not just the next president of the United States of America, but also, I believe, one of the greatest commanders in chief we will ever have.”

Schwartz echoed Sestak’s response.

“As Pennsylvanians, I heard you say you wanted to be heard,” Schwartz said. “You wanted your vote counted. That’s what democracy is all about. Look how we were heard. We are going to take that message to the next nine contests.”

The senator was introduced by two of her biggest endorsers in Pennsylvania, Mayor Michael Nutter and Gov. Ed Rendell.

“Tomorrow, there’ll be all this discussion about how much and margins,” Nutter said. “All I can tell you is when I grew up in West Philadelphia, they said a win is a win, and that’s all that matters.”

The governor approached the podium with cell phone in hand as he addressed the crowd.

“Hold on, I need to take this. It’s a news station,” Rendell said. “They’ve just reported a major earthquake in Pennsylvania that’s going to shake up American politics.”

Throughout the day, horns honked in Center City from City Hall down to Locust Street, but generally not for the Clinton campaign. Obama supporters filled the median on South Broad Street as drivers showed their support through honks.

Clinton supporters gathered on the west side of City Hall, chanting and cheering to the passing cars hours before the polls closed. The senator thanked all of her supporters throughout the state for their continued enthusiasm.

“I might stumble, and I might get knocked down, but as long as you stand with me, I will always get right back up,” she said.

After the post-primary party concluded, a throng of people remained outside the Bellevue, waiting to catch one last glimpse of the Clintons. Some traveled across the country just to show their support.

“I think a win is a win,” said Dali Schroedel, a native of San Francisco. “I think she’s won all the states she needs to beat Obama. No one should try to minimize this win.”

Mali Kigasari, from Oakland, Calif., took five months off from her job to follow Clinton around the country and support her favorite candidate.

“I think she’s a great candidate,” Kigsari said. “There’s no way Sen. Obama can win.”

However, seven primary elections remain, and many superdelegates are undecided. Either candidate still has a chance of winning the nomination. But Kigsari said she fears the divide that the election cycle has created thus far.

“Whoever wins this nomination is only going to win by 51 percent,” she said. “We need to bring the party together.”

Both Democratic candidates will be campaigning heavily for the next round of primaries to be held May 6 in North Carolina and Indiana.

“We still have a lot of work ahead of us,” Clinton said. “But if you’re ready, I’m ready.”

Chris Stover can be reached at stover@temple.edu.

CNN, which is being projected on the walls of the ballroom the press is shoved into, just aired a countdown to the close of the polls, and a Times-Squaresque scene occurred with the few Hillary supporters currently in the room. Cheers emerged as the countdown neared zero.

The latest exit polls showed Clinton had a 16-point lead over Obama throughout the state, 58 percent to 42 percent.

The music just started at the Bellevue as the mood shifts from anxiously waiting to cautiously partying. Fellow political reporter LeAnne Matlach and I will be posting articles on temple-news.com following the results of the night, whenever they may come. Stay tuned.

Maybe they know I can’t vote. Maybe I look too busy. Maybe they’re discriminating. Who knows? But I really don’t mind.

All these people are Obama supporters and volunteers. I haven’t seen one person decked out in Hillary pins and posters asking people to vote. You’d think she’d have the people out in Philadelphia, since this will probably be her biggest challenge.

I’ll be at Hillary’s election party tonight – and as I mentioned before, I’m hoping for a victory. I’ll deliver the latest from the event through here and broadandcecil.com. Keep checkin’.

After six weeks of build up, the Pennsylvania primary is finally here.

I will not be able to vote tomorrow, but would I be able to, my vote would be for Sen. Hillary Clinton.  This may come as a shock to many.  But, it’s true.

I previously vowed to leave the country with my cousin should Hillary become the next president.  The world’s only psychic twins – Temple alumnae – say I should start packing my bags.  But after stalking the Clinton family for the past six weeks for The Temple News, I’m beginning to sway.

When it comes down to it, Sen. Barack Obama scares me.  I don’t trust him.  Or Michelle.  And I know people say the same about Hillary.  But there’s a certain charisma – the one Obama possesses – that just irks me.

But I’ll let Pennsylvania decide – I have no other option.  I can only hope.

Photo from National Constitution Center debate on ABC, courtesy Michael Bryant, Philadelphia Inquirer