Americans catching the U.S. election coverage on BBC/World on Wednesday night found a typical dose of leftish European bias. While Katty Kay reported the Republicans were dismayed by a supposed teenage "dating game" of disappointment with candidates like Romney and Huckabee, Matt Frei had a warmer take on Hillary Clinton: "Her stump speech sounds as soothing as a bedtime story and her big selling point, experience." Hillary even claimed a role in the Irish peace process during Bill’s presidency.
MRC’s Michelle Humphrey found and transcribed these snippets of Brit bias:
MATT FREI, BBC: Hillary Clinton's people chose a Methodist church in Indianola for one of her last campaign events here. At this late, desperate stage in the Iowa campaign, every bit helps including a sprinkling of Hollywood star dust, hence the appearance on stage of actress Mary Steenburgen and her husband Ted Danson. Then its time for the real star. Daughter and mother in tow. Is Chelsea learning the family business, one wonders?
HILLARY CLINTON: Long before I was ever followed around by all these cameras.
FREI: Hillary is trying so hard to not sound shrill that her voice as been toned down to a virtual whisper. Her stump speech sounds as soothing as a bed-time story and her big selling point, experience.
CLINTON: I was very involved in the Northern Ireland peace process. I actually went to Northern Ireland more times than my husband because I saw it part of my responsibility to bring people together who could support what was happening among the leaders of the various factions.
FREI: For the last Iowa caucuses the turnout was less than ten percent. So Hillary, like all the other candidates, needs to plead for turnout.
CLINTON: So please, put on your coats, warm up the car, call your friends, pick up a buddy, come out to caucus tomorrow night and together we will make history. Thank you all so much and God bless you.
FREI: At her headquarters in Des Moines the ground war is cranking up for the grand finish. Volunteers are ringing phones off the hooks, surrogates are pumping out the media message and the campaign is laying on free mass babysitting for voters who otherwise couldn't spend the two hours needed to attend the caucus at 7:00 P.M. But some minds will not be easily so mobilized. Roger Keuhl is a veteran Democrat that remains unconvinced by Hillary.
KEUHL: I don't think Hillary is the person to bring the country together and she doesn't have the foreign relations experience I'm looking for. That’s a, that’s a very big thing. If she's elected I fear she'll be polarizing with the Republicans.
FREI: She’ll divide the country.
KEUHL: Divide it and we’ll be in gridlock longer. We've been in gridlock too long.
FREI: Back in Indianola, the candidate is preparing to leave. Mother Hillary with thermos in hand in an attempt, it turns out, to sweeten the mood of the traveling press marooned on the bus.
FREI [to Hillary]: Are you confident about tomorrow?
CLINTON: I feel really good. You know, we have a lot of work to do between now and then.
FREI: Indeed there is. Hilary has so much security she's already almost as well protected as the president. For the next few days and weeks will decide whether she'll continue to need all this attention.
From there, then it’s Katty Kay’s gloomy report on the GOP:
KATTY KAY, BBC: Peggy Herman has been a Republican activist for 20 years. With so little time left she studies maps and works the phones. Isn't she just a little disappointed with this election’s field?
HERMAN: Well there are a few of us that are really excited and the ones that have met Mike Huckabee we feel like we have our candidate. So I think you know, as these primaries go on we'll see him coming up in the polls more and more a then you'll see across the nation people going for him. That's where I believe the excitement will come.
KAY: So here we are at the start of 2008. And this feels increasingly like the Democrats' moment. The arrival of the New Year hasn’t brought any new excitement for the Republican field. Is Mitt Romney really electable? Is Mike Huckabee really electable? As Iowa’s Republicans prepare to caucus, those are the daunting questions hanging over their choices. You know, it's a little like a teen-aged dating game. Republicans were really never happy with Mitt Romney so they flirted with Mike Huckabee and now they're back taking another look at the suitor they were never really attracted to in the first place. Matt, you know what, this is not a very happy party.
