CNN's Wolf Blitzer Kept His Back Turned on Marco Rubio Speech, But Gushes About Michelle Obama's Speech

Politico’s Jim VanDeHei notices something that is, well, obvious: The media loves them some Obama.

“We just posted an item about the media’s reaction. Not a shocker here, Wolf Blitzer saying it was a grand slam; Chuck Todd saying that Michelle Obama owned this convention in a way no speaker owned the convention in Tampa, and David Gergen on CNN said if they have two more nights like this they could probably break this race open. The mainstream media tends to be quite smitten with the Obamas…

It follows, does it not, that a media smitten with the Obamas would be less than smitten with those who are trying to defeat the Obamas?

Here’s what I saw last week in Tampa.

I was standing about 10 or 15 feet away from Wolf Blitzer and Erin Burnett in their CNN booth at the RNC last week, on the last night of the convention. They and other TV types were on the ring that is several feet above the floor and wrapped around the forum in Tampa, and like all the other media there (Fox’s Shannon Bream was to their immediate right) they had their backs to the forum so that shots of them would show the stage and speakers behind them in the shot. The pair showed total disregard for and disinterest in the speeches that were being delivered behind them. At one point, during Sen. Marco Rubio’s speech, all of the media figures on the ring, including Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC, who was over to the CNN booth’s left, stood up and turned around to watch Rubio’s speech. Well, all but two. Neither Burnett nor Blitzer watched the speech at all. Blitzer was busy wolfing down a salad, and Burnett just looked like she hoped the whole thing would end soon. Blitzer did make two editorial comments under his breath, though. While Clint Eastwood was delivering his “empty chair” speech, Blitzer mouthed “terrible” and “embarrassing.”

Make of the CNN anchors’ demeanor whatever you will.