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MSNBC: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (Vaulted)


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Damn. Bring Olbermann back, if he promises to take his meds It was talked about last fall.

 

I know he was anti-Hillary in 2008, curious to see what his take would be now. And he'd have buckets o'fun with Adolf Trumpler

 

He discussed it before, he was a Clinton supporter until her campaign made moves he found disingenuous and plain wrong, like those comments that were criticized as race-baiting and siding with McCain on a gas tax holiday being a solution to high gas prices (IIRC he savaged McCain for the position before Clinton took it, so it was a major disappointment). His criticisms of Clinton was always very substantive. They were also bitterly disappointed because I don't think he expected Clinton to pull some of the things she did once Obama started winning.

 

Thankfully, Clinton has mostly avoided repeating those mistakes.

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Oh, Lord.  Keithie was funny a long time ago when he first had his MSNBC show (especially his wars with O'Reaaaally, complete with organ music).  Yeah...if he'd take some *prescribed* meds and get back on as even a keel as possible, maybe he could do a show again and be fun for a change (instead of all that anger...let O'Donnell rant and rave with the anger).

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(edited)

 

Steve Kornacki hosted "Hardball" Friday night -- were all of his clothes stolen recently?  I keep seeing him in the same grey sweater (looks like a sweatshirt), no tie, casual shirt under the sweater,

 

 

It feels like he's doubling down on his style ever since BriWi mocked him on air.

 

I think he considers the sweaters his "thing" now.

 

Speaking of BriWi, how did Chris Matthews get the anchor chair to himself tonight?  

Edited by vb68

What's the deal with Thomas Roberts?  He's gone from his regular two hours at mid-day, and they've pulled Chris Jansing from White House duties.

 

They need to stop with the "election" music every damn day as well.

Roberts was reporting from Pensacola Beach today. He met the infamous George Scarborough, the most powerful Trump supporter in Pensacola!. Thomas had to go for a swim in the water today because he got over 1,000 likes on instagram.

Chris asked the same inside-the-Beltway questions and would not listen to any of Bernie's answers because they weren't what Chris the inside-the-Beltway-bias machine wanted to hear.  Did Chris ask what might happen if the Democrats get back control of the Senate?  No.  He just wanted to play gotcha so people could dismiss Bernie's ideas as impossible and bunkum and pie-in-the-sky.  

 

Yup, that's bias.  

 

Chris wants Hillary to endorse his wife who is running for Congress in a safe seat in Maryland for the Democrats.  I used to watch Chris a decade ago when he was more reasonable. His attack on Hillary in 2008 for only winning a Senate seat in 2000 because Bill was "messing around" was absurd. He is a loose cannon.

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(edited)

Speaking of BriWi, how did Chris Matthews get the anchor chair to himself tonight?  

 

I'm not sure but I was grateful.  I still flipped to CNN a lot, I have a soft spot for Begala, and Nia-Malika Henderson is on their team and I'm getting to a point where I appreciate her analysis more than Joy Reid's.  Maybe it's just Reid's obvious ass-kissing with Matthews?  I'm not sure, I have a love-hate thing going on with Matthews, go figure.

 

It is pretty noticeable how many former MNSBC analysts have landed on CNN.  And I think that's part of the problem, the team on MSNBC is greatly diminished and being replaced with distasteful GOPCons, see: Rick Tyler and Ben Ginsberg.  At least on CNN when they add a Con they add a liberal.  The deeper bench at CNN makes for a more diverse analysis, this election season.

Edited by NextIteration
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The ratings for all of the news networks will go down after the election, but I have a feeling that MSNBC will absolutely crater.

 

They slowly abandoned their liberal perspective and have replaced it with Trump coverage. In the short run, they probably increased their ratings (I know Morning Joe did), but once Trump is done, CNN will still be known for breaking news, Fox will  have their legion of conservative watchers and MSNBC will have what?

It's surprising how quickly MSNBC has been abandoning it's progressive agenda. They got rid of Shultz, MHP, Toure,Farrow ,Wagner etc. Why would they be willing to abandon 50% of the viewers that vote for the Demoratic party?

Al Sharpton has been relegated to Sunday mornings.  There have been rumours of expanding Morning Joe to 4 hours a day.

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I'm really disgusted with MSNBC.  All they ever ask anybody who isn't Trump, is how can you justify staying in the race when the delegate math doesn't add up.  Why don't they ask how does your tax plan differ from the other candidates.  How are you going to fix illegal immigration.  What is your jobs plan. Everything is polls, polls, polls.  It just ensures that the front runner remains the front runner.  I'm sick of it.  The only coverage worth watching is Rachel and Lawrence.  And of course, they pre-empted Lawrence tonight so we could watch Rubio twice.  I'm so sick of their coverage.

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So Ben Ginsberg, Steve Schmidt, Rick Tyler and some other conservative blowhard are on MSNBC every time I turn it on. (I don't mind Michael Steele so much as he always looks so embarrassed by the whole thing.)  Add in Halperin and Heilbrun (I know the latter is supposed to be liberal, but I don't see it) and Matthews with his conviction that Trump is some kind of new spokesman for the white working class man and MSNBC has taken a horrible turn to the right throughout most of the day.

 

I do appreciate Lawrence and Chris Hayes (Rachel is usually too mild for my taste when it comes to Trump). Sad that MSNBC has no liberal voices left during the daytime.

 

Oh, and the idea that Brian W. has to be brought in to takeover in studio for Andrea Mitchel because Obama is having a significant meeting/press conference with Trudeau that requires someone of BW's stature to anchor it really really annoys me.  Andrea Mitchell?  C'mon, she's got FAR more journalistic cred than he does (and has she ever faked a story? Just saying.)  That was so insulting with him anchoring and talking as if she was doing a remote commentary when she was a few feet away, bumped off her own program by him.

 

Dear MSNBC, please stop trying to make BW's rebirth happen.  Or, if you must rehabilitate him, at least have him doing a remote report from some stormy hellhole while Luke Russert is subbing at the anchor desk.  Bumping Andrea Mitchell to make way for his "greatness" was just insulting to her and the audience.

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What the hell??? How far down the rabbit hole has Chris Matthews gone? I've got the MSNBC post Republican debate coverage on in the background as white noise and I hear Matthews agreeing with Carly Fiorina about Ted Cruz' policies? They're having a mutual love in and he's telling her how right she is about taxes and power and how evil Hillary Clinton is. Unbelievable.

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He is indeed. Tomorrow 1-4.

Okay, I loathe him.  Andrea Mitchell--a friend of Nancy Reagan--was having a nice program at the library, doing interviews, sharing memories, then ... bam.  Maybe it was "on the hour" or maybe Williams arrived in the studio, but without any acknowledgment or transition, it was BW who was in charge of the coverage--his dry, pompous voice droning on and on about "their relationship".

 

Chris Matthews had been sharing memories with Andrea.  Now, it was Williams asking him questions, getting stores (and not responding to them much--or to the ones various biographers shared).  Not that I've been a huge Andrea Mitchell fan, but she had been doing such a great job--warm, gracious, letting people share their interesting memories.

 

Brian Williams ruined the tone, the event, and I actually HATE his monotonous whiny voice, not to mention that he seems to love the sound of it even while taking time from others who have genuinely interesting things to say.  Please MSNBC make him go away.

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Loved how BriWi points out that Michelle Obama is one of the living current and former First Ladies who are attending Nancy Reagan's funeral.  Really??  You mean they didn't dig up Jackie Kennedy, Pat Nixon, and others?  Shouldn't there be a Breaking News banner for this announcement? 

 

One thing about events like this that is always such a jolt - the aging of kids from Frist Families.  I remember watching Pat Nixon's funeral, and the shock of realizing Julie and Tricia weren't in their 20s anymore.  I'm having that same sense about Patti Davis = she's not in her 30s, but she's in her mid 60s.  These people are making me feel old!

 

 

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Once again, Chris Hayes isn't on during his timeslot.  A Trump rally got canceled after some protesters and supporters got into it.  Apparently, this is more important news than anything else that is happening in the world, because it's been non-stop, breathless coverage.  First Chris Matthews stayed on after his timeslot ended, and now Rachel has taken over hosting duties of showing the same three clips of people shoving each other from at least an hour ago.

 

I really feel bad for Chris Hayes.  I also feel bad for anyone who was curious to see anything other than Trump-related coverage.

 

And just now, as I am typing this, Rachel said her show canceled all their planned stories to talk about Trump tonight, even before this happened.

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I thought Rachel's speculation--that Trump had set his rally up to be a clash of supporters and opponents (particularly minorities) was a little far-fetched at first. But then, given the odd choice of location--university campus in downtown Chicago--and his apparent lie about cancelling it because of police advice, I thought she might have been right.

 

It's funny how much he loathes the media since from my point of view they are giving him the attention that he wants the vast majority of the time.

Edited by Padma
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I thought Rachel's speculation--that Trump had set his rally up to be a clash of supporters and opponents (particularly minorities) was a little far-fetched at first. But then, given the odd choice of location--university campus in downtown Chicago--and his apparent lie about cancelling it because of police advice, I thought she might have been right.

What convinced me was her interview with the political reporter from the Chicago radio station, who said that a) no Republican candidate had ever had a rally in downtown Chicago and b) this crowd was a 60/40 ratio of protesters to supporters and hadn't been vetted like the crowds at other Trump rallies. Rachel made a very good case that it was a setup from the getgo.

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I am happy that Rachel finally went there.  After weeks of increasing violence at tRumps events, the writing is on the wall.

 

tRump has been fomenting and inciting this crap, and now this morning he's whining about "thugs" not allowing him his free speech at rallies.

 

Strongman tactics in full bloom.

 

And quite frankly, now that the protests seem to be getting large enough, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy - the anarchists seem to be attracted to successful protests like moths to the light.

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MSNBC was supposed to show a town hall With John Kasich on Friday night, but it ended up being preempted because of the Trump mess. They ended up showing it at 11 pm. It wasn't bad and I'm hoping that they'll replay it a few times over the weekend to make up for the fact that it didn't get the prime time airing that it was supposed to get.

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MSNBC was supposed to show a town hall With John Kasich on Friday night, but it ended up being preempted because of the Trump mess. They ended up showing it at 11 pm. It wasn't bad and I'm hoping that they'll replay it a few times over the weekend to make up for the fact that it didn't get the prime time airing that it was supposed to get.

You know, it wouldn't surprise me--knowing how strategic Trump is about upcoming primaries--if the no-show at his rally was planned to also upstage Kasich, taking away the chance for him to get a free hour in primetime and perhaps even make news on a key weekend. (Also, of course, to remind conservative white voters in Ohio, "I'm your guy".)  Unlike the others, Trump is always thinking ahead to how to hurt his strongest upcoming opponent.  His reality game show experience seems to have been excellent training for politics.

 

I'm frustrated with MSNBC and CNN's coverage though. Today, one print reporter was describing the large crowd protesting outside yesterday's Chicago rally, (paraphrasing) "largely made up of working class families across ethnic lines".  Might have been nice for cable news to show some of THAT, rather than the black guy hauled off of the stage by security, and the white trump supporter and black protester throwing punches until separated on the floor.  Playing those two clips over and over and over--as both MSNBC and CNN did last night and are again today--is not at all helpful.

Edited by Padma
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Except that Chicago didn't shut him down. My understanding is that Trump's own people shut it down. But Trump continues to imply the city shut it down because those mean old protesters were getting pushy and violent. Riiiight...

But MSNBC, and other outlets, continue to parrot the Trumpster. It's mind-boggling how so many commentators just give him a free pass!

What good are these people?

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I was referring to the people that organized against tRump, which caused him to run away like the bully that he is.

Ahhh. I misunderstood. Sorry.

I'm just so freaking tired of pretty much no one in the media calling him out for these lies. He is perpetuating the myth that he was in such danger that the city had to shut him down and few are correcting this dishonesty.

And when he has lapdogs like Chris Matthews and Joe S. that's about all we can expect. More dishonesty.

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I'm really disgusted with MSNBC.  All they ever ask anybody who isn't Trump, is how can you justify staying in the race when the delegate math doesn't add up.  Why don't they ask how does your tax plan differ from the other candidates.  How are you going to fix illegal immigration.  What is your jobs plan. Everything is polls, polls, polls.  It just ensures that the front runner remains the front runner.  I'm sick of it.  The only coverage worth watching is Rachel and Lawrence.  And of course, they pre-empted Lawrence tonight so we could watch Rubio twice.  I'm so sick of their coverage.

Agreed. The focus on polls is silly. Polls can be unreliable.The polls in Michigan showed Hillary winning by 18%, then the results showed that Bernie won by 2%. I also don't like that MSNBC shows the superdelegates for Hillary. They can switch allegiances like they did in 2008. It's better to focus on the pledged delegates from the actual results.

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Loved how BriWi points out that Michelle Obama is one of the living current and former First Ladies who are attending Nancy Reagan's funeral.  Really??  You mean they didn't dig up Jackie Kennedy, Pat Nixon, and others?  Shouldn't there be a Breaking News banner for this announcement? 

 

One thing about events like this that is always such a jolt - the aging of kids from Frist Families.  I remember watching Pat Nixon's funeral, and the shock of realizing Julie and Tricia weren't in their 20s anymore.  I'm having that same sense about Patti Davis = she's not in her 30s, but she's in her mid 60s.  These people are making me feel old!

 

Brian Williams is hilarious. It's hard to take him seriously. I am surprised that NBC won't let him on the air to discuss politics on the NBC network. They have replaced him with Tom Brokaw. It looks like they want to hide BriWi away from the viewers.

So Ben Ginsberg, Steve Schmidt, Rick Tyler and some other conservative blowhard are on MSNBC every time I turn it on. (I don't mind Michael Steele so much as he always looks so embarrassed by the whole thing.)  Add in Halperin and Heilbrun (I know the latter is supposed to be liberal, but I don't see it) and Matthews with his conviction that Trump is some kind of new spokesman for the white working class man and MSNBC has taken a horrible turn to the right throughout most of the day.

 

I do appreciate Lawrence and Chris Hayes (Rachel is usually too mild for my taste when it comes to Trump). Sad that MSNBC has no liberal voices left during the daytime.

 

Oh, and the idea that Brian W. has to be brought in to takeover in studio for Andrea Mitchel because Obama is having a significant meeting/press conference with Trudeau that requires someone of BW's stature to anchor it really really annoys me.  Andrea Mitchell?  C'mon, she's got FAR more journalistic cred than he does (and has she ever faked a story? Just saying.)  That was so insulting with him anchoring and talking as if she was doing a remote commentary when she was a few feet away, bumped off her own program by him.

 

Dear MSNBC, please stop trying to make BW's rebirth happen.  Or, if you must rehabilitate him, at least have him doing a remote report from some stormy hellhole while Luke Russert is subbing at the anchor desk.  Bumping Andrea Mitchell to make way for his "greatness" was just insulting to her and the audience.

 

Wasn't Luke Russert supposed to take over the Way too Early ? I remember that Tamron used to call Luke the "sage" of Capitol Hill.

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Brian Williams is hilarious. It's hard to take him seriously. I am surprised that NBC won't let him on the air to discuss politics on the NBC network. They have replaced him with Tom Brokaw. It looks like they want to hide BriWi away from the viewers.

 

snipped...

I don't watch much NBC "news" any more but I think I heard Brokaw on MSNBC a day or so ago. His voice sounded horrible! I so badly wanted him to clear his throat or get a cough drop or something. Instead I changed the channel. He can go away too.

Does BW not realize that not as many take him seriously anymore? He must realize that his "position" on MSNBC is punishment. It infuriated me to see BW and Matthews side by side with Rachel Maddow. She shouldn't have to put up with those buffoons and they seem to really hog the conversation. Poor Rachel.

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It really has turned into the Trump Rally Network.

 

Every time I turn it on, I see another one with him yelling to get the protesters out.

 

I know they are waiting (hoping?) for something to happen, but he also gets to dominate the coverage this way too.  The Democrats are complete afterthoughts this weekend.  Oh they are having a primary too?  Sometimes it's hard to tell. 

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I'm not a fan of much of what Brokaw says, but he is a throat cancer survivor.

I knew he had been diagnosed with a blood/bone multiple myeloma but didn't realize it had metastasized (?) in his throat. Sorry to hear that.

And I'm sorry for his battle but unfortunately it doesn't make him any easier to listen to, imho.

Does BW not realize that not as many take him seriously anymore? He must realize that his "position" on MSNBC is punishment. It infuriated me to see BW and Matthews side by side with Rachel Maddow. She shouldn't have to put up with those buffoons and they seem to really hog the conversation. Poor Rachel.

He doesn't care as long as he's on a national TV news channel anchoring. If he had to go back to local news outside of NY he might start to worry.

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He doesn't care as long as he's on a national TV news channel anchoring. If he had to go back to local news outside of NY he might start to worry.

 

I liked Brian when he hosted NBC Nightly News. He always had a nice ending segment on Making a Difference or something about Dogs. We are dog owners so we appreciated that. I like Lester Holt as well. He is more serious though.

 

Chris Matthews may be suspended from MSNBC due to a potential "Pay for Play" scandal. Apparently many of his guests made donations to his wife's congressional campaign in exchange for appearing on the show.

 

http://nypost.com/2016/03/11/chris-matthews-at-center-of-nbcs-latest-news-scandal/

Edited by oakville

Chris Matthews may be suspended from MSNBC due to a potential "Pay for Play" scandal. Apparently many of his guests made donations to his wife's congressional campaign in exchange for appearing on the show.

 

http://nypost.com/2016/03/11/chris-matthews-at-center-of-nbcs-latest-news-scandal/

I'm not surprised at all by this revelation.  His wife, Kathleen Matthews, used to be a local news anchor in DC, and she was an exec at Marriott so she should have lots of contacts and donors.  However, the problem is that she has an opponent who's a multimillionaire and who's been running multiple ads continuously here in the DC metro area.  She's only run one ad so far.  So she's got to raise more money and Chris Matthews has to help her.  

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I think the problem with the Democratic polling numbers is that Sanders' supporters skew so young and millenials tend not to get polled due to their use of cell phones instead of land lines, more than other age groups.  I remember this was a problem last cycle too, but this time it is probably much much worse for polling. So when all these unpolled voters show up and actually vote the results startle everyone.  

 

And since the news refuses to talk about anything except Trump rallies and who's polling at what numbers the coverage is pretty dismally unhelpful in understanding anything going on in the real world.  

 

I've noticed that almost no one asks follow up questions. They ask something or bring up a subject, the candidate spews forth some blather or other that raises all kinds of questions,but the interviewer simply drops it entirely and goes on to the next talking point. No second question, no follow up clarifications. Rarely anyway. I realize the standard Republican response to follow ups is either stonewalling by repeating the same vague talking point or aggression toward the interviewer, but they've just given up entirely on pinning anyone down on facts any more. 

 

We live in a fact-free society now. Thank you Fox News and talk radio. The only thing these folks now believe absolutely is conspiracy theories and everything is Obama's fault.  All other information is flexible depending upon whether it supports their already written in stone world view. Facts and the real world have no place in their politics any longer. But the news folks should still TRY. They abdicated. And I for one am sick of MSNBC broadcasting live every time Trump farts someplace. But he's news! they insist.  I say they are feeding the beast and creating the news and they should be ashamed.  

 

There aren't many real journalists left in television any more. It's all about entertainment now. And MSNBC has totally embraced this philosophy. I am pissed beyond belief that I have to spend this political season with no channel to watch for anything close to reasonable political news.  MSNBC has betrayed the left-to-moderate viewer.  They may as well call themselves Fox Lite. 

Edited by Andyourlittledog2
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I'm not surprised at all by this revelation.  His wife, Kathleen Matthews, used to be a local news anchor in DC, and she was an exec at Marriott so she should have lots of contacts and donors.  However, the problem is that she has an opponent who's a multimillionaire and who's been running multiple ads continuously here in the DC metro area.  She's only run one ad so far.  So she's got to raise more money and Chris Matthews has to help her.  

 

We must be watching different channels because I've seen a bunch of ads for Kathleen, in addition to radio ad saturation.  Between her and Trone, you'd never know there was an actual politician with experience running in this race.

 

I agree with the disappointment in this network.  The all Trump, all the time is seriously disgusting and makes me want to throw things at my TV.  I have a hard time believing it's helping ratings.

Brokaw gave one of the eulogies for Nancy Reagan! That was weird.

A year or two ago I went to a program at the Reagan Library, a panel with some of  the members of the Reagan administration--Peggy Noonan, etc. Brokaw was the moderator. We waited and waited for him. Finally, he took the stage, about half an hour late. "You'll all be glad to know," he said, "that I'm late because I just had lunch in Beverly Hills with Mrs. Reagan and Warren Beatty."

 

Talk about not reading a room! I think most people were about as "glad" about it as I was. So it was kind of funny to me that in his eulogy, he once again name dropped about his lunches with "Nancy and our mutual friend Warren Beatty." 

 

I was hoping Peggy Noonan would tell about how--after being given the once-over and found wanting--she would hide  from the First Lady when she heard her coming down the hall. I've always been curious how they eventually became good friends (I'm  guessing "post-White House", but PN was there, just wasn't one of the speakers. Mulrooney did a good job, I thought.

Edited by Padma
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I've noticed that almost no one asks follow up questions. They ask something or bring up a subject, the candidate spews forth some blather or other that raises all kinds of questions,but the interviewer simply drops it entirely and goes on to the next talking point. No second question, no follow up clarifications. Rarely anyway.

 

About the only one I've heard who will is Joy Reid. She had a couple of guys on today who were talking about...guess what!!!...Trump, and the violence at his rallies because you know that nothing else has happened in the world this weekend. Anyway, one guy started going on about how both sides do it, the Democrats were having problems at their rallies too. She stopped him very politely and said "I just can't let you continue with that line of thinking because it simply isn't true". I near fell off my chair!

 

 

I am pissed beyond belief that I have to spend this political season with no channel to watch for anything close to reasonable political news.  MSNBC has betrayed the left-to-moderate viewer.  They may as well call themselves Fox Lite.

 

Amen! Couldn't agree with you more.

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I liked Brian when he hosted NBC Nightly News. He always had a nice ending segment on Making a Difference or something about Dogs. We are dog owners so we appreciated that. I like Lester Holt as well. He is more serious though.

I liked Brian too back then. It's weird how liking someone can sometimes make us blind to things we'd find annoying or off putting when it comes to other people.

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We must be watching different channels because I've seen a bunch of ads for Kathleen, in addition to radio ad saturation.  Between her and Trone, you'd never know there was an actual politician with experience running in this race.

 

I agree with the disappointment in this network.  The all Trump, all the time is seriously disgusting and makes me want to throw things at my TV.  I have a hard time believing it's helping ratings.

Maybe she's running more local ads in MD, because the only one I've seen is the one where she's got the coffee cup and saying women get paid less than men.  I've seen about six or seven from Trone.  I don't listen to radio that much.

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