Media Matters: Seeking scandal, but lacking evidence of wrongdoing, media "raise questions" about Obama

Excerpt:
"In Roll Call's April 9 "Heard on the Hill" column (subscription required), staff writer Emily Heil claimed that an April 1 photo that appeared in The New York Times Magazine of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) talking in his Senate office with David Axelrod, the Obama 2008 presidential campaign chief media and political adviser, was the "equivalent of a paparazzi gotcha of a disheveled Lindsay Lohan leaving a Los Angeles hotel with her latest crush" because "Congressional ethics rules forbid the use of federal office space for political and campaign activity." However, in the very next sentence, Heil explained that the photo is not "evidence of any wrongdoing" and noted that "Ken Gross, an election law expert, said that while ethics rules are very specific that fundraising activities using federal resources is a no-no, there is no law per se that prohibits talking shop." She then cited an unnamed Democratic strategist saying the photo "does raise some flags" and "could be viewed as a rookie mistake" -- echoing a phrase The Politico used to describe some of Obama's admittedly "trivial" inconsistencies."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200704100014

Alex

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