Some Speakers on Media Influence ~ Accuracy in Media

At the Accuracy in Media conference, “ObamaNation: A Day of Truth,” former congressman and Federal prosecutor Artur Davis had high praise for former President Ronald Reagan, saying that “Reagan took liberty and freedom, which are very imaginative concepts, and he gave them a power they had never had before.”

Davis is a four-term member of the House of Representatives from Alabama, where he represented the 7th District as a Democrat from 2003-2010. He was viewed as a rising star in the House, and named in 2008 by Esquire magazine as one of the “Ten Best Congressmen in America.” He was the first congressman to endorse Barack Obama for president, and even seconded his nomination in 2008. But he has since switched to the Republican Party, and even spoke at their convention in August. Davis is now a columnist and commentator across a wide media spectrum: He contributes to Politico and National Review, among others. He is a Current Fellow at Harvard’s prestigious Institute of Politics, and is an attorney in Washington, D.C.

In recent remarks to an AIM conference, “ObamaNation: A Day of Truth,” former Democratic pollster and analyst Pat Caddell said, “I think we’re at the most dangerous time in our political history in terms of the balance of power in the role that the media plays in whether or not we maintain a free democracy.” Caddell noted that while First Amendment protections were originally provided to the press so they would protect the liberty and freedom of the public from “organized governmental power,” they had clearly relinquished the role of impartial news providers.
Nowhere was this more evident than during the tragic death of a U.S. ambassador in Libya that was lied about for nine days, because the press and the administration did not want to admit it was a terrorist attack.

“We’ve had nine days of lies over what happened because they can’t dare say it’s a terrorist attack, and the press won’t push this,” said Caddell. “Yesterday there was not a single piece in The New York Times over the question of Libya. Twenty American embassies, yesterday, are under attack. None of that is on the national news. None of it is being pressed in the papers.”

Caddell added that it is one thing for the news to have a biased view, but “It is another thing to specifically decide that you will not tell the American people information they have a right to know.”

At the AIM conference in September, “ObamaNation: A Day of Truth, Richard Benedetto gave a speech titled “How the Media are Impacting the Election”.

Benedetto is a former White House correspondent, USA TODAY, political columnist, and adjunct professor at American University.

“If you’ve got a cause, go to work for the cause; don’t go to work in the newspaper business.”

Major Democrat[s] Switches Parties

Via HotAir:

He’s not just any Democrat. This is a guy who gave a seconding speech for O’s nomination four years ago at the convention and was the southern regional co-chair for the DCCC. With those credentials, the PR value to the GOP of having him dump his old party to become a Republican would be huge under any circumstances. Factor in the symbolism of a young black Harvard-trained pol abandoning the Dems in the middle of Obama’s reelection campaign and you’ve got a GOP folk hero in the making. From his blog post announcing his party switch:

Remember these stories… well this trend has continued! For example:

7 local elected officials switch to GOP

A sheriff in central Mississippi said Wednesday he’s switching from Democrat to Republican because of President Barack Obama’s support of same-sex marriage.

During a news conference at the state Republican headquarters in Jackson, Leake County Sheriff Greg Waggoner said he has run as a Democrat since 1999 but voted for Republicans for president and governor. He said he has nothing against local Democrats, but he decided to switch parties after Obama and Vice President Joe Biden recently said, within days of each other, that they support same-sex marriage.

“In the past few years, as we have heard and as we know, the Democratic Party has taken an extreme left turn – and the things that have come out the last few weeks when our national Democratic leaders have endorsed same-sex marriage,” Waggoner said. “I’m Christian, and my first allegiance is to Jesus Christ. There comes a time when you have to stand on what you believe in. And I can no longer have any connection with the Democratic Party if that’s the route that they’re going to take.”

Several people at the news conference said “Amen” as Waggoner spoke. Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, House Speaker Philip Gunn and Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann were among those who applauded the sheriff’s statement.

Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, who’s seeking re-election this year, said after the news conference that he agreed with Waggoner’s criticism of Obama on same-sex marriage.

“I think that the sheriff today represented grass-roots America in what he said,” Wicker said.

State Republican Party chairman Joe Nosef announced during the news conference that Waggoner and Newton County Sheriff Jackie Knight are among seven local officials switching to the GOP. The others were a Justice Court judge and a constable from Jones County and the coroner, a supervisor and a Justice Court judge from Leake County.

…read more…

The Daily Caller has this:

Penn. Democratic leader defects to GOP, cites Catholic faith as reason

The defection of a prominent Pennsylvania Democrat to the Republican Party is raising some eyebrows.

Jo Ann Nardelli, a state committeewoman and founding president of the Blair County Federation of Democratic Women, has switched her political affiliation to the GOP, citing her Catholic faith and President Obama’s embrace of gay marriage as reasons.

During a press conference last week, Nardelli cited President Obama’s recent announcement in support of gay marriage as a central reason for her defection, endorsed Mitt Romney for president and changed her party registration to Republican, The Altoona Mirror reported.

“As the Democratic Party has taken the stand for same-sex marriage, then I must make a stand on my faith that marriage is between a man and a woman. God’s principles for life never change. His guidelines, given in Scripture, produce fruitful lives when you follow them,” Nardelli, a pro-life Democrat for more than 40 years, said at the Blair County Courthouse.

[….]

In an interview with the National Catholic Register, Nardelli claimed to not know any Republicans. She asserted, like the party-switching Ronald Reagan in 1962, that the Democratic Party had strayed from values with which she could agree.

“I thought I could make a difference to change our party. It didn’t work,” she said. “I noticed that it’s been going more and more to the left. This is not my father’s party. I did not leave the party; the party left me.”

…read more…