Don't Go There, Barack!

Barack Obama isn't handling his latest press flap as smoothly as he might. Before the holiday weekend, we talked about how Obama's statement on withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq had been skewed by a press corps more interested in scoring points with McCain than in reporting the news. Now, Obama's admitting that he's "puzzled" about how his words were so misinterpreted. There's nothing puzzling at all. It's because journalists are looking to cook up controversy and make their stories more exciting. Obama said he was willing to "refine" his withdrawal policy. Refine means change, and change means flip-flop. It's no more confusing than that. The press would also much rather cover a horse race than a landslide, so it's worth their while to shake things up a little bit. As I wrote on Thursday, Obama should have no expectation of receiving objective coverage of his campaign. If he thinks that the press doesn't take sides, he should take a closer look at the 2000 and 2004 elections.