Closing The Deal In ObamaWorld

Is Barack Obama about to lose the Democratic presidential nomination? Yes, he leads in the delegate count and the popular vote over Hillary Clinton. But there is this nagging suspicion that all is not well in ObamaWorld.

First, there is the Senator's former "spiritual advisor" Reverend Jeremiah Wright, who has become a thorn in his side ever since excerpts of the former pastor's sermons started showing up on the networks. After weeks of silence, Wright emerged with guns blazing, chatting with Bill Moyers on PBS, and in speeches before the NAACP and the National Press Club. He defended his post-9/11/01 "God damn America" sermon, criticized the media's portrayal of him as an attack on the black church, and continued to support Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, among other things.

Today, Obama severed ties with Wright, deploring the comments he made over the weekend. Wright already had an answer to that one, saying it was just something the Senator had to do to get elected.

Second, Obama is in danger of being seen as a self-absorbed yuppie (or whatever the term is these days), indifferent to the needs of mainstream voters. He was exposed as such during the Pennsylvania primary campaign, making comments such as the one about how small town America was using guns and religion to convey their bitterness at the way things were going. Or making references to an Iowa audience about an organic supermarket chain.

The reason Obama hasn't "closed the deal" might be that he doesn't relate very well to average people who don't drive hybrid cars or drink Chablis. Having his name linked to one of those "rabble-rousing" African-American preachers, reminding folks of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (both of whom have run for president, by the way), doesn't help in the eyes of these voters, either.

Denouncing a man who had such a huge influence on his life may not have been the easiest thing in the world for Barack Obama. But it was necessary if he wanted to maintain a little breathing room over Clinton and avoid a convention fight. Now all he has to do is to be a little more human to the folks who fly coach.

Urinal Report Upstaged by Former TV Weatherman

In a recent post, we told you that popular WCCO-TV meteorologist Paul Douglas was let go by its parent company CBS in a cost-cutting move. Everyone was baffled by the silence coming from all parties, and concern was expressed for Douglas' welfare.

On the first night of sweeps Thursday, Douglas turned up on his first Twin Cities TV station --KARE (NBC) --to discuss his reaction to the ouster, and to tell the folks watching that he's doing just fine with his new business venture, and that he might pop up on another station in the near future. (You can find the interview on kare11.com)

At about the same time on Douglas' former station, anchor Don Shelby did an I-Team report on waterless urinals, and why they are banned in Minnesota. That's right, folks. Waterless urinals. It seems that the devices save an estimated 40 thousand gallons of water a year, and is available everywhere except here. Shelby wanted to know why.

It turns out, according to the report (available on wcco.com), that the plumbers' union raised concerns about the amount of jobs that might be lost due to waterless urinals, and also how inefficient they really are. A Legislator from St. Paul, who just happens to be a plumber, wrote a bill that became part of another bill that got passed.

Later in the newscast, Shelby got a little off base in his commentary segment, whining about how he claimed to have spent six months researching the story on waterless urinals, only to have his old colleague Douglas steal his thunder (and probably ratings) on another station. That's what we call competition, Don.

After Douglas' departure, people are speculating on who is the next big name to face the CBS chopping block. Some say it could be Shelby, whose contract is up in 2010. If that happens, WCCO's ratings will really go into the toilet.

One more thing: There's a big difference between watching video on KARE's web site and WCCO's. KARE has the only news broadcast locally in high definition, which might explain the clarity of the images. Watching WCCO's video is like watching a moving postage stamp.

TV's Morning Star In Evening News Twilight

Various forms of media are reporting that Katie Couric's days as anchor of the CBS Evening News are numbered, and she might be outta there possibly by early next year.

CBS, smarting from the National Guard debacle that ended with Dan Rather leaving, offered tons of money to Couric for the opportunity to change from a giggly morning show co-host into a Serious Newscaster introducing the day's headlines for 22 minutes a night. Oh, and make a little history, besides, as the first solo female evening news anchor (although the title should really go to Elizabeth Vargas of ABC, who had to go it alone when her World News co-anchor Bob Woodruff was severely injured covering the Iraq war).

After a disastrous beginning in September 2006, with celebrity interviews, Couric showing off her legs, and guest-star commentators trying to channel Eric Sevaried, the broadcast has actually improved with a more traditional format. Not that it mattered. In an age where you can get your news in ways other than watching TV, Couric's remaining viewers have fled to Charles Gibson on ABC and Brian Williams on NBC, sponsored mainly these days by pharmaceutical companies to let us know how old we're getting.

Another blow to Couric's viability came when a debate between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, which would have been televised by CBS, was called off by officials in North Carolina, where the next primary will be.

Couric isn't entirely to blame for the troubles at CBS News. Corporate cost-cutting and layoffs, its morning news program never a ratings factor, and a possible partnership with CNN have combined to make the House That Murrow and Cronkite Built start to crumble.

Here's what Couric should have done: Changed her name from Katie to Katharine, if she wanted to project a serious image. And forget this anchoring business. She should have been CBS' version of Barbara Walters, making her interview subjects cry on prime-time specials.

The lesson here is that the only place people want change is in their presidential candidates, not on the evening news. And that, as an old newscaster once put it, is the way it is.

The Race Goes On. And On.

A shocking development in the Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania. Hillary Clinton defeated Barack Obama to get the majority of that state's delegates, keeping her in the race for the time being.

According to CNN.com, the senator from New York still trails the senator from Illinois in the national delegate count, 1719 to 1586. But that doesn't matter, as long as Clinton still thinks she has a shot. She does very well in the big-state primaries, not so much in the little states and the caucuses. It's the latter that's going to be put in play next.

Which means the next "crucial" primaries will be in two weeks, when North Carolina and Indiana voters weigh in. In reality, of course, it all comes down to the "superdelegates" to make sure this thing doesn't drag into the convention come August. And even there Obama has an edge.

Obviously, Clinton is counting on Obama to deliver more screwups such as the "bitter" comments and the Reverend Wright thing to ensure that it is she who should be on the podium that final night in Denver. Unless, of course, she (or her husband Bill) delivers a few herself.

The NBA: Where Stuff Happens

The National Basketball Association's playoffs have already begun, leaving behind some issues that came up during the regular season:

• The Boston Celtics, with the addition of Kevin Garnett, had the best record of the regular season at 66-16.
• The New Orleans Hornets, exiled for two seasons in Oklahoma City because of Hurricane Katrina, returned home to become this year's Cinderella story.
• The Houston Rockets had a near-record streak of consecutive victories, made all the more remarkable by the absence of Yao Ming.
• Kobe Bryant stopped whining about getting out of Los Angeles (where else was he gonna go?) once the Lakers traded for the Memphis Grizzlies' Pau Gasol, and the team started playing well enough to win the number one seed in the Western Conference.
• Shaquille O'Neil is back in the playoffs, but he had to be traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Miami Heat in order to do it.
• Things are finally looking up for the New York Knicks, now that Isiah Thomas no longer coaches the team.
• The NBA approved the move of the Seattle Supersonics to Oklahoma City, pending the resolution of lawsuits. The Sonics leave behind an angry city that has supported them for decades with an arena the new owner deemed inadequate. Unlike Seattle, Oklahoma City has nothing going for them besides proving to the league that they can handle a pro franchise, at least on a temporary basis. Let's see how they handle a team on a full-time basis.
• TV ratings on ABC, ESPN and TNT are up. But not in Minneapolis-St. Paul, where on three Sundays, KSTP replaced ABC's network telecasts with Minnesota Wild hockey games--and drew better numbers. It's not hard to see why. When the local franchise doesn't do well, interest in the NBA suffers.
• That local franchise, the Minnesota Timberwolves, stumbled to a 22-60 record in the first season of the post-Kevin Garnett era. On the court, it was Al Jefferson (who came here in the Garnett trade, but lacks his charisma) and a bunch of journeymen plying their trade before dwindling audiences at Target Center. They do have a shot at getting a good draft pick. But given the Wolves' brain trust and their past performances, there's no guarantee that they won't screw it up.
• Everybody seems to want a Lakers-Celtics NBA final, a throwback to the Larry Bird-Magic Johnson glory days of the 1980s. Hate to disappoint you, but we see a Detroit Pistons-San Antonio Spurs final.

The Aftertaste of a Bitter Campaign Speech

There's been a lot of hoo-hah over Senator Barack Obama's comments at a San Francisco fund-raiser (no media allowed--not that it matters in the YouTube age), in which he laid out his take on the voters of small-town Pennsylvania.

For the few of you who missed it, Obama characterized the people he needs to defeat Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination as " . . . bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to express their frustrations".

Clinton and apparent GOP nominee Senator John McCain jumped all over Obama for being an "elitist" liberal who's out of touch with the rest of society. Which is ridiculous when you consider that Clinton, McCain and their sycophants aren't exactly common folk.

In a clumsy way, Obama may have a point about how the rank-and-file feel about the country these days. They do have reasons to be bitter.

Bitter is . . . being played for fools by both parties who promise more than they deliver, and then refusing to compromise..

Bitter is . . . listening to another dog-and-pony show with General David Petraeus making excuses before the three presidential candidates as to why American soldiers should continue to fight a losing battle in Iraq.

Bitter is . . . yet another televised debate (this one on ABC from Philadelphia) between Obama and Clinton, where the most important questions are why Obama doesn't wear a flag lapel pin, why Clinton "misspoke" about what really happened on that tarmac in Bosnia ten years ago, and whether one candidate would take the other as a running mate if they won the nomination.

Bitter is . . . an economy with high gas prices (which affects the price of everything else), people losing their homes and jobs, and the lack of affordable health insurance.

Bitter is . . . no real policy on combating climate change, other than hoping for a break in the weather.

There's lots more, but you get the idea. Now all America needs is for someone to "cling" to for a better future.

So Much For The "Hometown Airline"

As had been rumored for several months, two of the nation's largest air carriers--Delta and Northwest--plan to come together to create the biggest.

The basic facts of the proposed merger: Delta would be the combined airline's name, flying to 400 cities in 1400 planes. Headquarters would be in Atlanta. All hubs, including the ones in Atlanta and Minneapolis-St. Paul, would remain. The Justice Department would have to approve the deal.

Here's why they're doing it: High fuel prices. The continued hangover from the events of 9/11/01 that has nearly bankrupted the travel industry. The lousy economy in general. Not to mention the sense that they'd better do this now while a Republican is still in the White House

Northwest (sometimes called Northworst by its detractors), with its corporate headquarters in Eagan, has had a rocky relationship with the state of Minnesota. They threatened to leave the state once (in 1992), holding their breaths until the Legislature ponied up over $200 million in incentives, including a promise to stay put.

And what have they done for us? Constant labor strife (the pilots' union is opposed to the merger), bad customer service, and one of the worst on-time takeoff and arrival records in the business. (Of course, you could say that about most of the other airlines) It was all presided over by a management that knew it was running a virtual monopoly at MSP International, then got out with as much money as they could.

With the proposed merger, Northwest's Eagan headquarters would be closed, jobs would be cut, and airport traffic would suffer. There is also no guarantee the Twin Cities would remain a hub. But weep not for management. Those who aren't making the move to Atlanta would still get some nice compensation.

The local politicians, from Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) to the state's Congressional delegation--including Rep. James Oberstar (D), who is chairman of the powerful House Transportation committee--can bleat all they want about the damage a merger would do to Minnesota. But there's not much they can do, beyond hoping that the new Delta cuts them a nice check (preferably $245 million) and promises more jobs.

When and if the merger is approved (and right now that's a big if), all of the problems Northwest Airlines has caused over the years will be history. And so will the airline. Don't let the cabin door hit you in the backside.

Torch-y Situation

With the Summer Olympics in Beijing a few months away, the Olympic Torch Relay is being run in cities around the world. The torch is supposed to represent peace through sportsmanship. But what happens when some people believe the symbol represents an endorsement of the host country's refusal to play nice with the rest of the world?

People who oppose China's heavy-handed treatment of Tibetians who wanted autonomy for themselves (among other things) have been disrupting the torch run in Paris and London, to the point of accosting the runner and snuffing out the flame.

The city of San Francisco, which hosted the American leg of the run, took measures to make sure the same thing didn't happen. In a scene that could have taken place in Beijing, officials changed the original route, ringing the runners with heavy security through empty streets, and moving the closing ceremonies to a secluded area of San Francisco International Airport. (The Chinese government, according to KGO-TV's web site, suggested the move.) There may have been fewer arrests and incidences of violence, but what they ended up doing was denying folks the chance to see the torch, unless they were watching overhead shots on TV.

The International Olympic Committee made the mistake of awarding the Summer Games to Beijing in the first place, knowing full well China's history of political repression. But this isn't the first time politics has insinuated itself into the Olympics. There was Nazi Germany in 1936, Moscow in 1980 (which the U.S. boycotted over the USSR's invasion of Afghanistan), Los Angeles in 1984 (in which the Soviets and their Eastern Bloc neighbors returned the favor), among others. South Africa was banned for years because of their apartheid policies. So tell me again about how the Olympics transcend politics?

The United States can't afford not to show up in Beijing, considering that the American economy is billions of dollars in hock to the Chinese. And companies continue to flock there in search of more customers and revenues, while they stiff their own people at home.

Don't expect athletes to take a powder on the Olympics, either. They earn too much money, and are beholden to too many sponsors to even consider having a conscience.

Everyone involved in this incident should be embarrassed: The Chinese and American governments, the city of San Francisco, the IOC and its corporate partners. The most liberal city in America had turned into a police state. Or was it just another day in President George W. Bush's America?

Let The Playoffs Begin

With the 2007-08 National Hockey League regular season in the books, it's time to assess some trends as the Stanley Cup playoffs commence.

• Two Original Six franchises--the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings--wound up with the best records in their respective conferences. The Canadiens used to be a perennial Stanley Cup contender until they fell on hard times (they haven't won the Cup since 1993). The Red Wings are usually in it every year, so this was no big surprise.
• The league got what it wanted when two of its biggest young stars--Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals--made the playoffs.
• After the success of the New Year's Day outdoor game in Buffalo between the Sabres and Penguins, the NHL is planning another one. It's not confirmed yet, but Yankee Stadium in New York might get the next one.
• NBC, in presumably the last year of its no-fee deal with the NHL, chose a Game of the Week format with a 'flex' schedule similar to its Sunday night NFL package. What they ended up with was scheduling the same teams--the Red Wings, Penguins and New York Rangers--into an early-afternoon slot dictated by the network's golf coverage. That's like scheduling the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and New York Giants every Sunday night. Doesn't leave much to showcase the other teams.
• Oh yes, Versus will continue to be the official cable home of the NHL through 2011. So no more whining about why they're not on ESPN.

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The Minnesota Wild survived the Northwest Division, the toughest in the NHL, and won it. They did it with big (and injury-free) years from Marian Gaborik, Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Brian Rolston, along with the goaltending of Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom. They could have used another veteran scorer. Instead, they got Chris Simon from the New York Islanders, who got a major suspension last season for injuring a Rangers player. He joins the team's other designated goon, Derek Boogaard.

Now the Wild will face the Colorado Avalanche in the first round, a potentially tough series that became even more so with two defensemen unable to play. Kurtis Foster busted his leg in a game at San Jose, and Nick Schultz had his appendix removed. Even with that challenge, the Wild should get through the first round before losing in the second.

And now our long-range forecast on who will be playing for the Stanley Cup when the only ice outside the arena will be in your drinks: Detroit vs. Pittsburgh.

Cloudy Skies in TV's Forecast

Whether you want to call the current economic slowdown a recession or not, it has hit the TV news business. They, like their counterparts in the print world, are fighting a losing battle with the Internet, resulting in fewer viewers and ad revenue.

At CBS, one hundred positions have so far been cut at their local TV division, which included well-known personalities such as news anchors at their stations in Chicago and San Francisco. ABC and NBC had their own layoffs.

At WCCO-TV, one of CBS' premier performers in Minneapolis-St. Paul, longtime meteorologist Paul Douglas and weekend anchor John Reger were among those let go.

In the most recent TV ratings report, every Twin Cities network affiliates' newscasts (with the exception of Fox station KMSP) has reported double-digit losses in viewers. Blame that on the Internet and the recently-settled writers strike, if you like. But there might be something else going on. Could it be that TV news itself is driving viewers away?

In the chase for younger, more female viewers, local TV news has become too dependent on two things: touchy-feely stories (which NBC affiliate KARE excels at) and "if it bleeds, it leads" breaking-news coverage (the province of ABC station KSTP). If you don't like either approach, there's always The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. That's where most people are getting their news these days.

As for Douglas, his "I'm just the messenger" schtick has worn well with local audiences since he began at KARE in the 1980s, then a short stint in Chicago at CBS' WBBM-TV before coming back to town at WCCO in 1997. He has also been the only local weatherperson in town who advocated the possibility of global climate change. That might have been one factor contributing to his dismissal, if conservative debunkers complained loudly enough to CBS and WCCO.

But Douglas doesn't really need the TV gig financially. The Star Tribune reports that last year he sold Digital Cyclone, his weather information business, to Garmin for $45 million. So he could well afford to live in the gated community in Eden Prairie, and at that cabin up north he used to talk about on TV.

Douglas says he wants to stay in Minnesota. But can he, if he wants to remain in television? Dave Dahl at KSTP and Belinda Jensen at KARE aren't going to let go of their personal fiefdoms any time soon. And whoever becomes the new chief meteorologist at WCCO will presumably be working for less money.

What WCCO (and CBS) did may have done wonders for its bottom line. But it becomes a public relations nightmare when the cuts you do make ends up alienating the very viewers you're trying to keep from going elsewhere.

College Basketball: The Final Bore?

In San Antonio's Alamodome this weekend, four of the nation's top men's basketball programs--Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis--compete for the NCAA championship. For the first time ever, all four teams are number one seeds.

So why aren't people more excited? TV ratings for the tournament are the lowest they've ever been, mainly because most of the games have been blowouts. No Cinderellas either, though Davidson College came close before losing to Kansas in the regional final.

(On a side note, we find it interesting that on the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, a team from Memphis is playing for the championship. Discuss among yourselves how relevant this really is.)

But there have been more fundamental problems affecting the popularity of college basketball. One of them is the National Basketball Association's rule allowing players as young as 19 to enter the league's draft, resulting in so-called student-athletes spending a year or two in school before deciding to turn pro. How can you develop any sort of continuity if you treat the team you're on as if you're in community college?

Another is the schedule, in which conferences have post-season tournaments to help determine who gets into the NCAAs. The regular season is rendered meaningless, leading folks to check out until March.

We're not ignoring the women, who are having their own NCAA championship in Tampa, Florida this weekend. They have their own problems.

Two of the four teams competing--Tennessee and Conneticut--have won most of the national titles for the last decade or so. (The other two, in case you're wondering, are Stanford and Louisiana State) If you're one of the top players such as Candace Parker and Maya Moore, wouldn't you want to be on a consistent winner, too? That's why coaches like Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt have the pick of the crop, and everyone else gets the scraps.

And because the distribution of talent is so lopsided, games are seldom competitive.

People complain that the women's tournament doesn't get as much attention as the men's tournament does. They're correct. So how come the women's championship final is played in an arena instead of a domed stadium, shown on cable instead of broadcast TV, and the results are too late to make it into that week's issue of Sports Illustrated?

Amidst all the carping we've done, we can just sit back in front of the big screen and watch the games unfold. Who knows? We could be watching the greatest games in the history of the human race. Or not.

One more thing: UCLA will win the men's title, while Tennessee takes home another women's trophy.

Clinton vs. Obama: The Thrill Is Gone

Three weeks before the next Democratic presidential primary in Pennsylvania, the long-running Punch and Judy show starring Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama is getting stale. If this were an actual sitcom, the networks would have canceled it by now.

Trailing Obama in the delegate count (according to most media figures), Clinton has vowed to stay in the race until at least June, even though she keeps losing money, support and credibility. Surprisingly, Obama agrees with her.

Clinton is counting on so-called "superdelegates" to put her over the top when all else fails. If so, then the strategy's not working. The latest to jump to the Obama side of the fence is Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar.

What's also not helping Clinton's case is her recollection of a visit to war-torn Bosnia as First Lady a decade ago with daughter Chelsea. She claimed to have been dodging sniper fire during a stopover to get to some ceremony. But footage taken by CBS News, among others, showed the Clintons actually being greeted by a little girl bearing flowers--who in today's post-9/11 environment, might have been frisked by officials looking for bombs before they ever let her get near the First Lady. Reminded of this inconvenient fact, Clinton said she "misspoke".

Clinton has also been accused of tearing down Obama to make herself look good, especially over his lack of experience and his relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, hurting the Democrats' chances in November in the process. Some believe her strategy is to let Republican John McCain win the general election, so she could run against him in 2012.

Chelsea Clinton has been going to college campuses talking up her mother's campaign and taking questions from students, but not the news media. Recently, she responded to one student (who may or may not have been a plant) who asked about her reaction to her father's involvement with Monica Lewinsky. Her answer was along the lines of "none of your business". Excuse me, but if the President of the United States risked being removed from office because he allegedly fooled around with an intern, it is our business. And Chelsea may have inadvertently hurt her mother's campaign because of the answer she gave.

Which is not to say that Obama is infallible. What does it say about his campaign when he's not able to clinch the nomination because he can't convince folks he's more than a novelty candidate?

Hillary Clinton has every right to continue her campaign until the bitter end. But she needs to understand when enough's enough. The longer the senator stays in, the more she risks embarrassing herself and her party with her tactless, classless attacks on Obama.

In other words, folks, it's time to bring down the curtain on the Punch and Judy show.