Bob McCarty Writes

News media coverage of last night’s Democrat presidential candidates’ debate in Philadelphia seemed to focus on Barack Obama’s recent “bitter” comments in much the same way as DDonar’s cartoon above does.

Slate sized it up this way:

In yesterday’s debate, Obama, the party’s clear front-runner, found himself constantly on the defensive for the first part of the debate as the moderators hit him with question after question relating to his past associations and gaffes. The NYT says that the ABC moderators “presented a mirror image of earlier debates in which two NBC moderators … repeatedly pressed Mrs. Clinton with tough and provocative questions.” Obama had to field questions about his “bitter” remarks, his former pastor, why he doesn’t wear an American flag pin, and his association with members of the Weather Underground.

The Poughkeepsie Journal wrote this:

Clinton again went after Obama, calling his statement earlier this month that poor, rural Americans “cling to” religion, guns and xenophobic politics because they are “bitter” as elitist. She also attacked him for sitting on a community board with a former member of the Weather Underground and said she would not be a member of Obama’s Chicago church because of its former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Newsday summed up its account in true journalistic fashion, using its lead paragraph this way:

Hillary Rodham Clinton hammered away at Barack Obama during the first Democratic debate in over a month, while an annoyed Obama accused her of turning off voters by pouncing on gaffes instead of discussing grave problems like the economy and Iraq.

The Wall Street Journal carried this blog post under the headline, Democrats Spar Over ‘Bitter’ Remarks:

Sen. Barack Obama attempted to offer greater clarity this evening over controversial remarks he made recently describing small-town America.

“There’s no doubt how I can see people were offended,” Obama conceded at the presidential debate in Philadelphia, but the Illinois senator didn’t back away from his earlier comments.

A few paragraphs later, WSJ blogger Susan Davis added:

Sen. Hillary Clinton offered a measured but sharp response, suggesting her opponent has a “fundamental misunderstanding of the role of religion.” Clinton further added that “I similarly don’t believe that people cling to their guns.”

To see how I summed up the debate in a post last night, click here.