The press 'pulling' for Obama

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By Jennifer Harper

ANALYSIS:

Republican hopefuls for the White House just can't get a break from the press -- and it's been that way for the past four election cycles.

This time around, Sen. John McCain continues to get relentless, negative coverage in news outlets both here and abroad, according to new research from several sources.

The phenomenon has not escaped the public's notice: 70 percent of voters say that the media wants Democratic Sen. Barack Obama to win the presidential election while just 9 percent said the press favored Mr. McCain, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 1,003 adults conducted Oct. 17 to 20.

Among Republican respondents, the figure was 90 percent, and even 62 percent of Democratic respondents agreed with the idea that "most journalists are pulling for Obama."

It's a tradition of sorts.

"In recent presidential campaigns, voters repeatedly have said they thought journalists favored the Democratic candidate over the Republican," the survey said.

In the 2004 presidential race, half the respondents thought the press wanted Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, to triumph over incumbent President Bush; 22 percent said journalists favored Mr. Bush. Similar trends emerged in the past four elections, according to Pew. Starting in 1992, 52 percent of the respondents said the press favored then-Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton and 17 percent said journalists favored President George H.W. Bush.

Mr. McCain shrugs the possible bias off for the most part.

"Ah, listen, I'm not going to complain about the press corps," he said in an interview with The Washington Times, although he acknowledged that journalists appear to be chummy with Mr. Obama.