Cindy McCain Blasts View After Grilling

Tune into Ellen and The View for TV's most penetrating look at politics

(NEWSER) - The days when politicians could take refuge on daytime TV, hiding behind softball interviews and happy talk about favorite recipes, are over, Rebecca Traister writes for Salon. Tracing the trend from soaps through Phil Donohue to Oprah and Ellen to the unrivaled supremacy of The View, she observes, "It has recently become more common to see politicians, especially John McCain, made uncomfortable by the directness of the conversation on daytime television." More»

Columnist, a longtime fan of the straight-shooting senator, sorely disappointed

(NEWSER) - John McCain's dishonesty in this race has turned him into the kind of politician the candidate once professed to hate, writes Richard Cohen—a one-time fan of the Arizona senator—in the Washington Post. McCain’s lies—most blatantly expressed on The View in response to a question about misleading ads—"would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most." More»

At least they still see eye-to-eye on some things

(NEWSER) - Rosie O'Donnell may have some problems with her former View co-hosts, but she's on their side when it comes to the recent Bill O'Reilly blow-up. O'Donnell doesn't seem to fault Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg for walking off on O'Reilly : She said on her radio show, "Why would you book him?" and a member of her guest panel said he "incited hatred," PopEater reports. But Rosie's harshest words are—privately—for Barbara Walters, who chided Behar and Goldberg on air. More»

Heilemann and Halperin drop plenty of 'spicy' bombshells

(NEWSER) - From Bill Clinton’s rumored affair to Harry Reid’s “negro voice” quote, John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s Game Change is already making headlines. The book delivers a “spicy smorgasbord of observations, revelations, and allegations,” writes Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times . Some parts of it reveal “impressive legwork and access,” while others are essentially gossip or spin from particularly cooperative sources, many of whom are unnamed. More»

(NEWSER) - The GOP has settled with Jackson Browne for using the left-leaning singer’s “Running on Empty” in campaign ads for John McCain in the 2008 election, Billboard reports. As part of the agreement—whose cash value is unknown—the GOP pledged to “respect and uphold the rights of artists and to obtain permissions and/or licenses for copyrighted works where appropriate.” “I’m really happy that we got this statement from them,” Browne says. More»