The CNN piece on Paul Hackett and District 2 was excellent albeit short. (For the video of this, go to www.blog.oh02.com)  Whether or not many voters saw the piece, it existed within a larger media interpretation of the war as a faltering mistake which will undoubtedly help Hackett.

The contrast between the coverage of this speech compared with that of, say, the State of the Union in January is stunning.  You had people like Wolf Blizter who has consistently distorted news for the past 5 years (check out Media Matters for a few choice examples) snapping into reality and questioning the changing rationale cited in Bush's speech and implying the offensiveness of Bush's 9/11 links. It is clear to me, based not only on CNN's post-speech coverage tonight but also on the evening news over the past two weeks or so, that the mainstream media is turning a tide in terms of their coverage of the War and the Bush Administration.  And if, like me, you agree with David Brock's The Republican Noise Machine that "it's the media stupid," then this sudden shift could spur a sea change in public opinion.

With only a month left in the campaign, I don't know if this change will be enough to sway the District 2 election, but I do know that Hackett can only benefit on the anti-war momentum.  And without getting too pejorative on Jean Schmidt, her clip in the CNN interview, however short, showcased her sinister persona enough to give me serious reason to believe that those TV ads she's relying on may effectively scare voters more than attract them.