NYT Attacks Obama

After the New York Times published a scathing piece attacking John McCain entitled For McCain, Self-Confidence on Ethics Poses Its Own Risk (February 21, 2008; see story here), I knew that it would only be a matter of time until the Times published a story critical of Senator Barack Obama in an attempt to appear fair. The outburst of anger from many Americans over what they saw as a political cheap shop at Senator McCain would motivate the Times to work toward appearing fair and balanced. When I looked at the New York Times' website yesterday afternoon, I noticed the paper had just released that story--one of the first negative pieces on Senator Obama from the New York Times. Entitled Obama in Senate: Star Power, Minor Role, the story is not nearly as accusatory and inflammatory as the story that attacked Senator McCain. Nevertheless, the story does add to the perception that Obama lacks experience and, as Senator Clinton has argued, is about "speeches not solutions."

As I read through this piece, I was struck by the seeming inaccuracy of some of the charges made. This was somewhat confirmed when I visited Senator Obama's website. Consider the following examples:

• "He was cautious — even on the Iraq war, which he had opposed as a Senate candidate. He voted against the withdrawal of troops and proposed legislation calling for a drawdown only after he was running for president and polls showed voters favoring it." [NY Times]
• However, in a speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations on November 22, 2005, Senator Obama said: "First and foremost, after the December 15 elections and during the course of next year, we need to focus our attention on how reduce the U.S. military footprint in Iraq." (source)
• "While some senators spent hours in closed-door meetings over immigration reform in early 2007, he dropped in only occasionally, prompting complaints that he was something of a dilettante."
• However, in a statement released on 5/26/2006, Senator McCain said, "I also want to thank Senators Brownback, Lieberman, Graham, Salazar, Martinez, Obama, and Dewine for their shared commitment to this issue, and working to ensure this bill moved successfully intact through the legislative process." (source)
  

What persuasive effect do these hit-job pieces have? I suppose only time will tell.