No doubt the Obama campaign had aspirations of reaching a huge audience both at Mile High Stadium and on broadcast tv networks. First, a critique of the staging. Was this a U2 show or a political rally? It was difficult to tell the difference. That magically appearing hydraulic podium was like something out of a 1977 era KISS concert. Was Peter Criss waiting in the wings? For a candidate trying to be one of the common people, he sure looked like a rock star. That is not a political opinion, that is based upon the staging and fireworks. Now on to the deplorable MSNBC tv broadcast. I should have set my TiVo to record the unfiltered C-SPAN feed, but in a last minute on the way out the door that morning decision, I hit the MSNBC broadcast. Having first watched a few Doctor Who episodes with my wife, I started watching the broadcast around 10pm Eastern Time. Thankfully I could easily fast forward through the commercials and most of the hateful political commentary from Olberman, Matthews, Brokaw and the rest of the biased NBC gang. To paraphrase a famous quote from a political convention of the past: Chris Matthews, I knew Walter Cronkite (not really) I have had lunch with Walter Cronkite (we were in the same restaurant on Martha's Vineyard if that counts) and Chris Matthews, you are no Walter Cronkite. Never have I witnessed such terrible live television as the MSNBC broadcast of the Obama Stadium show. For one thing, the flycam on the wires over the field was enough to make a sailor seasick. 
While various speeches and performers took the stage, MSNBC pretty much stuck with the nausea-cam going back and forth and bouncing uncontrolably in one box, with one of the bias-crew or guests in the other box spewing ad libbed commentary about the goings on. Once I got to Obama's speech, I was again disappointed. Every time Obama made a key talking point, this was instantly added to his lower third super, just in case we missed it. Come on MSNBC, do you really think your viewers are that dumb, that we need you to regurgitate what we just heard for us. Here's an example: Obama: When I was a little boy, I used to walk to the store to buy groceries for my mom. Lower Third: Obama says he bought food for his mother Obviously that is a silly example, but the approach was, I thought, silly. I was tempted to cover the lower third of my television screen with a piece of cardboard, as I did in 2001 when all the news networks added the news ticker. Well, got that off my chest. Thanks for reading, and other points of view are appreciated. | 
