Mainstream Guilt

The networks appear to have been embarrassed into making sure that they give McCain a fair shot at some coverage in the midst of their Obama-fest in the Middle East - so much so, that McCain ended up getting the best of things on CBS. First, Katie was aggressive in challenging Barack on his claim that the surge was a mistake. His only recourse was to bob and weave, without making much sense.



Did you notice how Obama kept crediting the troops for making things better in Iraq, but not the surge itself?

Then, McCain got a chance, in a satellite interview with Katie in the Middle East and him in New Hampshire, to tear into Barack for his willingness to sell out the war in order to win the election.

Barack did a little better on ABC, where for the second night in a row, they seemed delighted to report about McCain from the perspective of his attempts to break through the media's love affair with Barack. Gibson gets his interview with Barack on Thursday.

The email promo for the ABC newscast left McCain out of the equation:

This evening ABC's Charles Gibson reports from Israel as presidential hopeful Barack Obama continues his tour through the Middle East. World News will broadcast live from Jerusalem tonight.

No mention of the Republican candidate.