Change you can believe in: message management
Chris Matthews: “Andrea, I want to get ethnic a little bit here …”
Andrea Mitchell: “This is message [management] … “
Chris Matthews: “Yeah, go ahead, please.”
Andrea Mitchell: “Let me just say something about the MESSAGE MANAGEMENT. HE DIDN’T HAVE REPORTERS WITH HIM, HE DIDN’T HAVE A PRESS POOL, HE DIDN’T DO A PRESS CONFERENCE WHILE HE WAS ON ON THE GROUND IN EITHER AFGHANISTAN OR IRAQ. What you’re seeing is not reporters brought in. You’re seeing SELECTED PICTURES taken by the military, questions by the military, and WHAT SOME WOULD CALL FAKE INTERVIEWS, because they’re not interviews from a journalist. So, there’s a real press issue here. Politically, it’s smart as can be. BUT WE’VE NOT SEEN A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE DO THIS, IN MY RECOLLECTION, EVER BEFORE.”
[Change you can believe in!]
Chris Matthews: “Let me ask you about access to the troops, Andrea. A lot of African-American faces over there, very happy, delighted faces. Is that a representation of the percentage of servicepeople who are African-American, or did they all choose to join someone they like, apparently? What’s the story?
Andrea Mitchell: “I can’t really say that. Being a reporter who was not present in any of those situations, I JUST CANNOT REPORT ON WHAT WAS EDITED OUT, what was, you know, on the sidelines. That’s my issue. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE ARE SEEING.”