Inside the Beltway

IGNORING REPUBLICANS

Oh, those dastardly Republicans. Why, they’re behind all this debt ceiling nonsense, right? Powerful broadcasters would have it so, and have dutifully cast the Grand Old Party as the villain of the debt debate, and one deemed unworthy of meaningful coverage.

“The media coverage of the battle has often portrayed President Obama as the grown-up, the compromiser — despite his unwavering insistence that tax increases be in any sort of agreement. The GOP has been painted as the ‘party of no’ ,” says Julia Seymour, an analyst with the Business & Media Institute.

ABC, CBS and NBC “treated the GOP plan as a waste of time by barely mentioning it in their reports,” she says, revealing that out of 112 recent network accounts on the debt ceiling, less than 10 percent even mentioned the proposal by name.

“The GOP’s ‘Cut, Cap and Balance’ was mostly just cut by the media,” Ms. Seymour observes.

FROM THE GREAT BEYOND

“I predict that the U.S. will not default. This is all fun-and-games politics taking place right now. President Obama has painted himself into a corner. Only by going to the very edge will he be made to blink,” notes Blair Robertson, an Arizona-based psychic who has shared his impressions with Inside the Beltway on occasion.

“It’s scary stuff. And, yes, the credit rating will be downgraded,” Mr. Robertson adds. “A crisis will be averted. And as I said when he was elected, Mr. Obama will be a one-term president.”

THE HUMBLE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Yes, there’s endless, bombastic political theater on Capitol Hill. But in case anyone’s wondering, it’s humble business as usual for presidential hopefuls Jon Huntsman Jr. and Newt Gingrich. They’ve got to be lovingly local. Mr. Huntsman will spend all next week on an eight-town tour of New Hampshire, the star of house parties on country lanes and Chamber of Commerce meetings.

Mr. Gingrich is headed for Iowa. The former House speaker journeys to Decorah — population 8,000 — for the “Take a Liking to a Viking” Nordic Fest. He’ll attend an all-you-can eat pancake breakfast at a firehouse, then march with the Winneshiek County GOP in the festival parade before visiting the Mitchell County Fair as a guest of Iowa State Rep. Josh Byrnes.

And that’s just Saturday.

THE CONNIVING PRESS

“In the wake of a British media scandal involving illegal phone hacking, high percentages of likely U.S. voters believe reporters in the United States sometimes use illegal methods to learn personal information,” says Corry Schiermeyer, an analyst for IBOPE Zogby International.

Uh-oh. How much? The pollsters plumbed public opinion on the phenomenon to find 80 percent of the respondents say the American press can get shady in their zeal for a scoop. We’re talking phone hacking here. Just 8 percent say such practices are limited to Great Britain, Zogby found.

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