A tipping point? When even the right-wing media exposes the lying and spinning of McCain-Palin

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Steve Benen thinks that "we've reached a tipping point." I hope he's right.

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First -- and this is the focus of Steve's post -- Fox News's Megyn Kelly, in an interview with McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds this morning, accused the McCain campaign of lying about Obama on taxes:

[Y]ou guys have suggested he’s going to raise taxes on the middle class and virtually every independent analyst who took a look at that claim said that’s not true. He’ll raise it on people making $200,000 or $250,000, but not the middle class.

Bounds, predictably, played the old Republican card about tax-raising Democrats, but Kelly, much to her credit, refused to play along.

Kelly asked if McCain has "gone too far,... stretched the truth with the voters." Obviously, he has. And even this Fox News host knows it.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. This is just one host. It's not like O'Reilly and Hannity, or Hume and Kristol, are calling out the McCain campaign.

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Second, The Wall Street Journal, hardly a bastion of pro-Democratic sentiment, has an article today on Palin's record on earmarks, exposing the truth behind the lies:

Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. But state records show Gov. Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years.

These projects include more than $130 million in federal funds that would benefit Alaska's fishing industry and an additional $9 million to help Alaska oil companies. She also has sought $4.5 million to upgrade an airport on a Bering Sea island that has a year-round population of less than 100.

Obviously, Palin isn't at all what McCain and his campaign, and she herself, are making her out to be. She's not a crusader against pork-barrel politics, nor any sort of reformer, but The Earmark Queen. And even this right-wing newspaper knows it.

But, again, let's not get ahead of ourselves. With right-leaning outlets like the Journal and the Politico exposing Palin for what she is, and exposing the lies of the McCain-Palin campaign on at least this one issue, there is more here than there is to one Fox News host talking taxes, but it will take a major shift in the media's coverage of the race for this to register with low-information voters.

Still, there is room for cautious optimism here. After all, it isn't just taxes and earmarks (although the latter really strikes at the Palin myth). The media are also covering stories like Troopergate, the rape kit business, and book banning in Wasilla, all of which expose Palin to extensive and justifiable criticism.

What is needed is more of what Kelly was doing. Much of the focus over the past couple of weeks has been on Palin, but the focus needs to shift to McCain -- on taxes, on the economy, on health care, on education, on Iraq, on global warming and the environment, on abortion, on women's issues, etc. And that means Obama and Biden forcing the shift with a concerted effort to define McCain and control the narrative. There is no guarantee that the media will abandon its free ride for McCain and its infatuation with Palin, but there are at least some encouraging signs.

Have we reached a tipping point? Maybe... just maybe.