Mark Halperin
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Mark E. Halperin (born January 11, 1965), is an American political analyst for Time magazine, Time.com, and ABC News. He is also an editor at large for Time and produces a website called "The Page" for Time.com.
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[edit] Personal
Halperin was born into a Jewish family in Bethesda, Maryland, where he attended Walt Whitman High School. After learning the Japanese language for two years there, he spent the summer of 1982 living with a family in Japan in care of Youth for Understanding. After graduating Whitman in 1983, he earned an A.B. degree from Harvard University in 1987. He and brothers David and Gary are the sons of Morton Halperin and Ina Young.
[edit] Career
In 1988, Halperin started out as a desk assistant for ABC News and a researcher for World News Tonight. He then worked in the investigative unit of World News Tonight and as a general assignment reporter in Washington. In 1992, he worked full-time as an off-air producer covering Bill Clinton. In 1994, Halperin became a producer with ABC's Special Events unit in New York and later an editorial producer.
In 1997, he was named the Political Director for ABC News. As director, Halperin appeared frequently as a correspondent and political analyst for ABC News television and radio programs. He also founded and edited The Note, which appears daily on ABCNews.com. In October 2006, Halperin, along with John F. Harris, released their book, The Way to Win: Clinton, Bush, Rove, and How to Take the White House in 2008.
In March 2007, Halperin stepped down from Political Director to become a political analyst for ABC News. It was announced that Halperin's deputy and NY1 Alum David Chalian would replace him as Political Director for ABC News. On May 1, 2007, Halperin was named as a political analyst for Time Magazine and as an editor at large.
[edit] 2004 elections
In October 2004 the Drudge Report published a memo Halperin sent to ABC News staff about coverage of the U.S. presidential election directing them not to "reflexively and artificially hold both sides 'equally' accountable" and that both John Kerry and George W. Bush used "distortion" in their campaign, but that Kerry's distortions were not "central to his efforts to win." [1] Halperin was criticized by conservatives who used the memo to reinforce long standing beliefs of media bias. [2][3] ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider confirmed the authenticity of the memo but stresses Halperin’s fairness and objectivity. [4]
[edit] 2006 elections
In October 2006, Halperin appeared on Hugh Hewitt's conservative talk radio show but refused to discuss any of his political views, but after the interview Halperin protested the "insult" of being characterized as "very liberal" by Hewitt.[5] Halperin claimed to agree with Hewitt on every topic they discussed.[6]
In the run-up to the 2006 Congressional elections, Halperin predicted that George W. Bush would be "back over 53% any day now" and warned "If I were them [Democrats], I'd be scared to death about November's elections". [7] [8] In fact, the Democrats regained control of both houses of Congress and George W. Bush's approval rating remained in the 30s. [9] This was the first of several predictions that earned Halperin a reputation for inaccurate prognostication.
[edit] 2008 elections
On August 21, 2008, Halperin posted on his blog the rumor that Richard Lugar would be Barack Obama's running mate. Lugar had at that point already endorsed Obama's rival John McCain. The post was quickly taken down and never again referenced, nor officially corrected.[10]
On September 3, 2008 on CNN's The Situation Room Halperin stated to Wolf Blitzer that Palin is a "risky choice", and also stated that 'House-gate' - John McCain forgetting how many houses he owns - would primarily hurt Obama, rather than McCain.[11][12][13][14]
Halperin again ran counter to conventional wisdom when he concluded that 'John McCain won the week'[15] in the week the economic crisis hit in full force, widely believed to have been the week Obama started to put the election away.[16]
On November 21, 2008, at a Politico/USC conference on the 2008 election, Halperin called the election media coverage "the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war. It was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage." [17]
During the election, Halperin made 113 references to Rush Limbaugh, 77 to Sean Hannity, 56 to Matt Drudge and 34 to Bill O'Reilly on his blog, whereas Arianna Huffington, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow got 23, 14 and 9 citations respectively.[18]
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe reportedly would "repeat mantralike" that "If Politico and Halperin say we’re winning, we’re losing." [19]
[edit] Views on copyright
He supports the enactment of perpetual copyright.[20]
[edit] References
- ^ ABCNEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR MEMO SPARKS CONTROVERSY: BOTH SIDES NOT 'EQUALLY ACCOUNTABLE'
- ^ Greg Pierce. Is That a Threat? The Washington Times October 13, 2004
- ^ Ramesh Ponnuru. Lies, Damned Lies, and Journalists. The National Review. October 22, 2004
- ^ Peter Johnson. Are the media playing politics?, USA Today,
- ^ Hugh Hewitt. Mark Halperin Sets the Record Straight.
- ^ More on Mark Halperin's sad little crusade for right-wing blessings by Glenn Greenwald 10/31/2006
- ^ Mark Halperin, The Note. Boomer President Begins.
- ^ Eric Boehlert, Huffington Post. The Karl Rove Crush.
- ^ Roper Center Public Opinion Archives. Job Performance Ratings for President Bush.
- ^ Mark Halperin Blows Obama VP Story, Then Covers It Up by Jason Linkins 08/22/08
- ^ http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/210025.php
- ^ http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2008_08/014396.php
- ^ Time's Halperin: McCain's House Issue Harms Obama By Noel Sheppard August 24, 2008
- ^ Barn Doors by Kevin Drum 08/24/08
- ^ The Page Scorecard: Sept. 10-17 by Mark Halperin 09/17/08
- ^ Mark Halperin Somehow Concludes McCain Won The Week by Jason Linkins 09/18/2008
- ^ Halperin at Politico/USC conf.: 'extreme pro-Obama' press bias. by Alexander Burns 11/22/08
- ^ Who Rules Mark Halperin's World? by Jed Lewison 12/02/08
- ^ Between Obama and the Press by Mark Leibovich 12/21/08
- ^ [1]
[edit] Bibliography
- Mark Halperin and John F. Harris, The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008, Random House, October 2006, ISBN 1400064473
