Was CNN Influencing Debate On Obama's Behalf?

Commentator Dick Morris picked up on it in a series of Tweets. It was so obvious, the Republican audience booed it and those looking in from home most likely understood what was taking place as well. Asked CNN’s John King: “Which candidate believes in birth control and why?”

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Dick Morris: Birth control is a phony issue injected by Obama to try to eclipse economic issues

Romney is vindicating my theory that the birth control stuff by Obama was part of a big play and that Stephanopoulis tried to get Mitt on record on birth control

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich pushed back by pointing out Barack Obama’s extreme views, also chiding King for the media not having raised a comparable question back when Obama was initially running for President.

Faced with a weak economy and an unpopular health care program he’ll be forced to defend, Barack Obama and David Axelrod would like nothing better than to change the subject in 2012 to social issues. Sadly, CNN proved themselves more than willing to step up and do some early framing for them in that regard.

CNN’s David Gergen further pushed the point in his post-debate analysis. Does anyone believe Gergen follows your average woman on Twitter, or might he be more focused on chiefly liberal women, specifically those within what one might term an elite media class? Somehow I doubt Gergen’s Twitter feed is where I’d look for your average American. One can only focus on so many people using Twitter at any one time, after all.

Giving post-debate analysis for CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen said that the contraception conversation did not help the GOP candidates and that “a lot of women on twitter” were criticizing the positions of the men on stage. Gergen claimed that women on twitter thought that the male GOP candidates “don’t understand the women’s rights movement”.

One would think CNN, along with many media outlets, take their marching orders straight from the DNC, in terms of the issues they want raised. Certainly, with the debate in Arizona, a question on Fast and Furious would have been apropos. But it never came. That wouldn’t reflect well on the White House, so perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.

As the GOP prepares for political battle with Obama in 2012, it’s important to remember, it isn’t only his campaign they’ll have to defeat, they will have to best a liberal, Obama-supporting mainstream media, as well.