The Cable Gamer had to do a double-take when she saw
this headline on Huffington Post: "Obama Campaign: Watch The Debate On CNN." Huffpo's Danny Shea posted this earlier today:
I just received the following text from the official Obama text message number (62262) which first sent out the Vice Presidential news:
Watch Barack debate John McCain tonight at 9pm Eastern on CNN. Also, remind friends to register to vote at VoteForChange.com. Please forward this message.
This is particularly odd given that the debate will be airing on every network, both broadcast and cable, at 9pm Eastern. Has the Obama campaign officially endorsed CNN?
When contacted, an Obama staffer said it was "shorter than saying 'on cable news,'" and that they were "not trying to make news."
A CNN representative told me, "It was a complete surprise to us."
In July, the campaign blasted a text promoting Obama's speech in Berlin saying, "The speech will be live on CNN."
Two points about this:
First, can you imagine the heartbreak at MSNBC? I mean, the Olbermann network has been trying so hard to be the Obama Network, and then to get this punch in the gut!
Second, can you imagine what would have been the reaction if John McCain had texted his supporters, saying, "Watch Fox"? Well, the roof would have caved in, media-criticism-wise.
As it was, the liberal media just shrugged it off. Shea updated his story this evening:
Update 6:30 PM: The Obama campaign must have revised its message. I've just now received a follow-up text saying,
Watch Barack Debate John McCain tonight at 9pm ET on any of the major networks or cable. Fwd this msg & remind friends to register to vote at VoteForChange.com
Looks like the campaign figured out how to speak SMS short-hand and thus free up enough characters to type out "any of the major networks or cable" vs. "CNN."
But I will preserve the moment as a screen-grab, above.
