Friday, January 25, 2008

Heath, Huckabee and Obama …

Wednesday’s program ...


More on Heath Ledger: Jason Carroll was still reporting from the location of Ledger’s apartment building in Soho. That night’s report involved the fact that no illegal drugs had been found, although there were 6 different prescription medications in the room. The preliminary autopsy was inconclusive, and toxicology results could take between 10-14 days to be disclosed. Anderson also spoke with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about what information the toxicology tests might unveil, and the list included determination of a “toxic level” of one or more drugs, a possible fatal drug interaction, and the possibility that the cause of death may end up never being able to be determined with certainty.



Obama is a MuslimNOT: Candy Crowley reported on false e-mails being distributed throughout South Carolina – claiming that Barack Obama is a Muslim. She interviewed Kate Brighton, an Obama supporter, and included video clips in her piece showing Obama addressing the false claims.



Race vs. Gender (take 2): Randi Kaye took another look at the question posed in her original report from Monday when she interviewed Black women voters in South Carolina – seeking an answer about what factors were influencing them to favor one Democratic candidate over another.

I’m glad that Anderson interviewed Faye Wattleton (co-founder and president of the Center for Advancement of Women) and Paula McClain (co-director of the Center for the Study on Race, Ethnicity & Gender in the Social Science, and Duke University professor) about this topic. Both women presented intelligent insight and gave logical explanations as to why race and/or gender can, at least potentially, have some influence over voter preference. I’m well aware that there are many people who insist that voting should be issues-driven only, and while I agree – I’d be turning a blind eye if I didn’t at least realize that not everyone shares the importance of that criteria. And I’m also glad that I at least heard the discussion of why that isn’t always the case, as it reminded me of the additional factors that sway and influence voters – like it or not.



Huckabee money woes: John King reported from Florida about the current financial trouble for the Huckabee campaign. He discussed the possibility that Huckabee is still campaigning in order to be considered for a VP slot, which makes sense – especially if John McCain’s momentum remains strong and he ends up as the nominee. Although an apology from Chuck Norris would precede any consideration, of course ...



Anderson also asked John about the position of Rudy Giuliani, once considered a national front-runner and now polling third in Florida. And that’s after 50+ days of focused campaigning and millions of advertising dollars. Unless there’s a last minute ‘rabbit-in-a-hat’ to be pulled out, it looks as though the “Florida firewall strategy” is about to go down in flames.



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