Sometimes TPM just goes way nice on the Obama Administration

See TPM's Christina Bellantoni on MSNBC today.

I guess I just expect something more different and interesting from them, more independent. This was a segment about Obama's trip to New Orleans. The intro mentioned criticisms that the visit is extremely brief, and also mentions the WH rebuttal that many Obama Cabinet members have already been there a lot. The host asks Bellantoni about it, and she repeats the Obama administration's rebuttal and then sounds like she's a WH spokeswoman for the trip.

Then on to healthcare, and a question about Organizing for America mobilizing on it. Bellantoni just repeats the basics of what OFA is, missing the basic backstory others have rightly reported: that OFA has yet to be particularly successful. The overwhelming majority of people who volunteered with the Obama campaign are not doing much with OFA; the organization has not had any major victories. So if it's news that OFA is mobilizing, it really ought to be reported with that context. The coming weeks are a test for OFA; if it does indeed have a significant positive effect on passing healthcare, then that will be a big story indeed. That hasn't happened yet.