The Obama White House declared war on the Drudge Report this week over control of the ObamaCare message. Drudge linked videos that were very damaging to Obama because they show Obama, in his own words, declaring war on private health insurance.
The White House then scrambled to declare war on Drudge by releasing an anti-Drudge video and a campaign of “snitch on dissenters.” Politico reported yesterday:
“The White House on Tuesday posted a three-minute video punching back at an old clip of President Barack Obama that was featured on the Drudge Report with the headline “Uncovered Video: Obama Explains How His Health Care Plan Will ‘Eliminate’ Private Insurance.”
“The White House response features Linda Douglass, formerly an ABC News correspondent and now a White House official, showing Drudge’s homepage on the screen of her office computer.”
So how is the battle going? The Wall Street Journal reports today that it’s bad news for the Obama White House. The Drudge Report is winning. Big time.
“The Drudge Report linked to a YouTube video posted by Naked Emperor News. Titled “Shock Uncovered: Obama in His Own Words Saying His Health Care Plan Will Eliminate Private Insurance,” it includes clips of comments President Barack Obama has made, such as “I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health-care plan.”
“In response, the White House posted “The Truth About Health Care Insurance Reform,” also to YouTube. In it, Linda Douglass, communications director for the administration’s health-reform efforts, says, “There are a lot of very deceiving headlines out there right now,” then points on-screen to the Drudge link.”
“There are people out there with a computer and a lot of free time, and they take a phrase here and there. They simply cherry-pick and put it together and make it sound like he’s saying something he didn’t really say,” she says.”
“That video has only 329 views, though that count hasn’t budged in a few hours. The Naked Emperor video, in contrast, has been viewed more than 400,000 times since Sunday.”
In an ultimate irony, the White House dubbed their attack “Facts are Stubborn Things.”
They sure are, Obama. They sure are.