As the Economy Melts, Do One Reporter's Minor Observations Matter?

I certainly intended to ignore this simple little non-story, a minor blog entry by CBS News Reporter Dean Reynolds. Oh, I read it with amused interest, one of a dozen or more blog entries I digested this afternoon.

What caught my eye was the horrific and deranged hate replies Reynold's essay inspired.

Here's a link to the original Reynold's essay: Reporter's Notebook: Seeing How The Other Half Lives

In what seemed to me to be a harmless interest story, Reynolds compared the relaxed atmosphere, the slow pace and the meticulous organization of the McCain campaign versus the frantic, high powered and terribly disorganized management of the Obama campaign. While Reynold's was complimented the McCain campaign for helping reporters, he clearly noted that McCain, with only a single appearance most days, was not putting forth the effort one might expect from someone being clobbered in the polls.

But read what poster gizmogainous wrote in reply to the Reynold's essay. He was so enraged he (or she) posted similar entries multiple times:

Awww-poor little crybaby-no one was nice to him....... Also, if you think anyone would listen to a guy who is clearly a racist hack--did you really write that he had a stinky plane?!? What, because he is a black guy??? I guess you must be Sarah's new lover since she had to get rid of the last one. I have never been this mad about an article--you really should be fired. I would be very interested to know more about your background so maybe I could understand this ignorant excuse for journalism. You are a lowlife punk.

There are dozens more that attack the reporter over a seemingly minor story. Why? And, as an aside, aren't we tired of constant cries of racism dripping from the lips of every Obama supporter? But I digress.

Do Obama supporters fear this little blog entry might reflect a larger issue in the Obama campaign" You know the logic = If Barack Obama can't run a campaign, can he possibly run a country?

I wouldn't put too much stock in that logic. President Clinton's campaign was often similarly disorganized. It's a campaign.

More likely, Obama supporters fear this entire article reflects a change in the relationship between Obama and the press.

Dean Reynolds does complain about access to Obama: "The events are designed with a better eye, and for the simple needs of the press corps. When he is available, John McCain is friendly and loquacious. Obama holds news conferences, but seldom banters with the reporters who've been following him for thousands of miles around the country. Go figure."

Is the press corp beginning to behave like a scorned lover? They have given Obama way more love than Obama ever deserved.

Reynold's does finish his essay with: "Maybe none of this means much. Maybe a front-running campaign like Obama's that is focused solely on victory doesn't have the time to do the mundane things like print up schedules or attend to the needs of reporters.

But in politics, everything that goes around comes around."

Indeed.