Comments on: Why you should vote for Obama

By: Arthanyel

Arthanyel — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 18:15:06 +0000

Sigh doesn’t even begin to describe my disappointment in the Des Moines register. All based on fictitious pie in the sky promises and ridiculous assumptions.

We should be better than this.

It is a sad thing that the election is going to be so close, because while there are many things I don’t like about Obama, in a choice between him and Romney the choice should be obvious – and Obama should get a second term.

By: Iron Knee

Iron Knee — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 23:51:46 +0000

Here is their endorsement — http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20121027/OPINION03/121026026/1039/LIFE/

Sigh.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 22:50:51 +0000

And then the Register endorses Romney. Says he has a clear vision for America (did they gain access to his actual secret plans?) and can end the gridlock in Congress, as if we really want the Tea Partiers actually able to pass a lot of legislation. What a joke.

By: a regular reader

a regular reader — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 08:40:35 +0000

Wow, Iron Knee, do you even hear yourself saying ‘tomahto’ while I say ‘tomato’?

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 12:20:04 +0000

The fact that there’s nothing new in it is a good sign: most of his plan is already out there and there are few surprises. This is as it should be. That readers got to read the primary source for the editors is a boon.

Austerity now also worries me. Let’s not be blind to Europe’s massive experiment:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/opinion/the-austerity-trap.html

By: Jonah

Jonah — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:43:00 +0000

In terms of substance, Obama really didn’t say anything new. However this incident could be important thanks to the prominence the republicans attached to the interview. They made a big fuss about how Obama was hiding something and as a result a lot of undecided voters in Iowa and elsewhere probably read the transcript to see if he was actually hiding something. The interview isn’t too long and Obama summarizes his case for presidency pretty well in it. Sometimes the message gets lost in between the mentions of “Big bird” and “Romnesia” and a transcript of that message should help in convincing some undecided voters.

By: Iron Knee

Iron Knee — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 05:04:57 +0000

I think you’re missing the point. This is a newspaper in their capacity of evaluating a candidate to decide if they will give him/her an endorsement. This is not a case of journalists getting approval to report a news story — this is not news it is an evaluation, like a job interview.

The White House did not edit the interview. The newspaper asked if they could take an off-the-record interview and put it on the record verbatim, and the White House said yes.

And given how many times Obama has been misquoted (often outrageously) by the press, I can’t blame him for being a bit careful.

By: a regular reader

a regular reader — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 04:47:29 +0000

A criticism of such off-the-record chats going on-the-record is that the journalists are, in reality, succumbing to a subject’s demands for approval over what they print.