Tuned InTelevision
One of them spoke on cable news and one on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon. One reminded America of its entrepreneurial roots and one jammed on stage with The Roots. Mitt Romney and Barack Obama both took the spotlight last night, the former to launch his general-election message in a primary-victory speech and the latter to pitch his …
Tuned InNews Media
There was a lot of attention over the weekend to the remarks Mitt Romney made at a fundraiser in which he let slip some details about which government programs he might cut to fund his tax-cut plans. But at least an equally revealing comment was an insight into his media strategy as the general election begins: Fox News, he told his …
The writer-director of ‘Miss Representation’ — on DVD today — spoke to TIME about the Hollywood boys’ club, the ‘war on women’ and the future of documentaries.
Tuned InNews Media
The Mitt Romney presidential campaign has been unusually full of sitcom analogies this election season. Earlier, Romney compared opponent Newt Gingrich to Lucy in the candy factory from I Love Lucy, and characterized Gingrich as “zany,” a la a sitcom neighbor. In a recent debate, Romney alluded to the wisdom of Seinfeld’s George …
Tuned InTelevision
Here’s an easy way to tell when a political side realizes it’s on the bad end of a public controversy: rather than defend itself, or whichever of its allies is in trouble, it starts mentioning, loudly and frequently, examples of …
Tuned InNews Media
That sound you heard after 10 pm ET last night? It was the sound of all hell not breaking loose in the Republican primary. Mitt Romney was declared the winner of the Michigan primary, sparing us–or depriving us, depending on your tastes–a weeklong (at least) orgy of speculation on the political shows of whether Romney was in a …
Tuned InTelevision
It’s got to be challenging right now to be a conservative pundit looking for things to scare the audience about, in the current moment of culture-war one-upmanship. I mean, once Rick Santorum has gotten to the point of warning against college education as a scheme of liberal indoctrination, where do you go from there?
For Lou Dobbs, …
Tuned InTelevision
The four remaining Republican Presidential candidates debated on CNN from Mesa, Ariz., last night, and God help us, it may actually have been the last debate of this GOP primary, ever again, for now. (There are no more debates presently scheduled,* after a planned face-off next week was scrapped, but as the New York Times reports this …
Tuned InMusic
Watching a screener of PBS’ very good American Experience documentary, Clinton, which airs next week, I was reminded of watching Bill Clinton’s acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic Convention. When Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop” swelled up at the end of the speech, I remember thinking, That’s it. He’s going to win the election. Now, …
Tuned InTelevision
The Trump primary is over. Thursday in Las Vegas, Donald Trump took to the podium to endorse Mitt Romney, who just over a month ago made headlines by spurning a debate that Trump planned to moderate in Iowa. With Trump’s backing of his “tough, smart sharp” fellow businessman, we are probably done—fortunately or unfortunately—with the …
Tuned InNews Media
One of the running narratives of Barack Obama’s administration has been how much it should mirror, or avoid, the acts of the last Democratic administration, Bill Clinton’s. In his State of the Union address last night, at least, Barack Obama became a Clintonian, at least in style. Like Clinton’s SOTU speeches, Obama’s was long (just over …
Tuned InNews Media
In the first umpteen Republican debates of this primary season, the crowds watching had as much of an active role as the participants, driving the energy of the debates and sometimes the day-after discussion. Whether it was booing a gay soldier or cheering the death penalty or going hog-wild over Newt Gingrich’s lambasting of CNN’s John …
Tuned InTelevision
I’ve never been to Charleston, S.C., but I’m pretty sure that, for this afternoon at least, Randolph Hall at the College of Charleston was located at the intersection of Reality and Satire. There it was that Stephen Colbert and Herman Cain, unlikely ballotfellows, held a funny, serious and seriously funny rally to promote Colbert’s bid …
