NPR, CNN's Crowley report on Obama's Beverly Hills fundraiser, ignore McCain's recent lucrative fundraisers

Summary: NPR and CNN reported that Sen. John McCain mocked Sen. Barack Obama for holding fundraisers in Beverly Hills that were expected to raise several million dollars, but neither report noted that McCain himself reportedly attended a fundraiser in Miami earlier in the week that raised several million dollars and held a fundraiser last month in Beverly Hills attended by celebrities.

During the September 17 edition of NPR's Morning Edition, correspondent Scott Horsley reported on what he described as "a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills" for Sen. Barack Obama, and in the following segment, correspondent David Greene reported on Sen. John McCain's criticism of Obama for attending one featuring Barbra Streisand. But neither Horsley nor Greene reported that McCain also attended a fundraiser in Miami earlier in the week at which he reportedly raised $5.1 million. Nor did they point out that McCain reportedly held a fundraiser in Beverly Hills with celebrities last month.

During the first segment, Horsley reported: "After speaking in Colorado, Obama was off to California for a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills -- one of them featuring Barbra Streisand." Following Horsley's segment, Greene reported: "I'm David Greene, traveling with Senator McCain, who had some things to say about Obama's fundraiser out in Beverly Hills." Greene then aired a clip of McCain saying of Obama: "He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio." Greene ended the segment by saying: "These days, McCain's speeches are all about the economy. ... Oh, and there's also no Barbra Streisand music."

Similarly, on the September 16 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight, senior political correspondent Candy Crowley reported of Obama's Beverly Hills fundraisers: "One of those fundraisers ... $28,500 a head." She added: "That was too good for John McCain to pass up. He told one crowd he'd rather be talking to working class men and women in Ohio." But while Crowley noted Obama's fundraiser for "$28,500 a head," she did not note McCain's Miami fundraiser or his fundraiser with celebrities in Beverly Hills.

By contrast, in a September 17 Wall Street Journal article, Brody Mullins and Glenn R. Simpson reported: "Many of the fund-raising events that Republican rival Sen. McCain attends, including one in Miami on Monday, begin with a private cocktail hour with the Arizona senator for contributors donating about $25,000 each. Some events that Sen. McCain held this summer for his campaign and the Republican National Committee offered special treatment for couples who wrote checks of up to $100,000."

From Horsley's report on the September 17 edition of NPR's Morning Edition:

HORSLEY: After speaking in Colorado, Obama was off to California for a pair of posh fundraisers in Beverly Hills -- one of them featuring Barbra Streisand.

STREISAND: [singing] Happy days are here again. The skies above are clear again.

HORSLEY: OK, that's actually a CD. But the people who ponied up $2,500 bucks last night got to hear Streisand in person. The two events brought in some $9 million, on top of the record $66 million Obama raised last month. But because he passed up public financing, Sheila Krumholz of the watchdog Center for Responsive Politics says Obama will have to keep up this pace to stay competitive with McCain and the Republican National Committee.

KRUMHOLZ [audio clip]: Obama has raised more than twice what McCain has, but the picture is less lopsided when you consider the amount of money the parties can spend for their respective candidates.

HORSLEY: That means Obama will be spending some valuable campaign time in non-swing states, like California, raising money and talking about yours. Scott Horsley, NPR News, Beverly Hills.

From Greene's report on the September 17 edition of Morning Edition:

GREENE: I'm David Greene, traveling with Senator McCain, who had some things to say about Obama's fundraiser out in Beverly Hills.

McCAIN [audio clip]: He talked about siding with the people, siding with the people, just before he flew off to Hollywood for a fundraiser with Barbra Streisand and his celebrity friends. Let me tell you, my friends, there's no place I'd rather be than here with the working men and women of Ohio.

GREENE: McCain was in an airport hanger in Vienna, Ohio, outside Youngstown. The event yesterday afternoon reunited McCain with his running mate, Sarah Palin. She also went after Obama.

PALIN [audio clip]: Now, I know that there are a lot of small towns in this beautiful valley, and folks here don't quite know what to make of a candidate like our opponent, who has lavished praise on working people when they're listening, and then talks about, though, how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns, when those people aren't listening. We all tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Vienna or Youngstown, and then another way in San Francisco.

GREENE: Palin was pointing to a comment Obama made at a fundraiser back in April. She kept hammering the theme of Obama not being on the side of working families.

PALIN [audio clip]: There is only one man in this election who has ever really fought for you.

GREENE: John McCain, Palin said, is the candidate voters should trust to deal with the current turmoil on Wall Street. And McCain's been talking about solutions. He said yesterday that he'd set up a high-profile body, much like the 9-11 Commission, to study the economic crisis, and he called for tighter federal regulations on Wall Street.

[...]

GRENE: These days, McCain's speeches are all about the economy. They come to an end with barely a mention of the war or foreign policy.

McCAIN [audio clip]: We need to carry the state of Florida, and with your help, we will do that. And I will support -- thank you for your support.

GREENE: Oh, and there's also no Barbra Streisand music. David Greene, NPR News, traveling with the McCain campaign.

From the September 16 edition of CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight:

CROWLEY: From Golden, Colorado, Obama went straight to Hollywood, California, where he will be at a couple of fundraisers tonight for his own campaign and for the Democratic Party. One of those fundraisers, Lou, $28,500 a head. That was too good for John McCain to pass up. He told one crowd he'd rather be talking to working class men and women in Ohio. Lou.

DOBBS: Yeah, that is a little hard to square up, isn't it -- $28,500 a plate versus the populist message that both of these candidates, by the way, have discovered, Candy? I think that's fascinating that the people are starting to get some notice from both candidates.

CROWLEY: Well, there's nothing like a crisis on Wall Street to kind of focus the mind and to have people -- have them both come out with plans saying here's what I would do.

—L.K.A. & A.J.W.