Obama, Dems Catch Flak From MSNBC

Forget Fox News, Barack Obama is catching just as much grief from MSNBC, as the network’s liberal hosts hammer Democrats for drifting right. Rachel Maddow, for example, spent most of last week lambasting House Democrats over the anti-abortion Stupak amendment, calling it an “electoral defeat,” and contemplating the consequences for Democrats “if they don’t get women, or anybody else who’s pro-choice to ever vote for them again.”

“I don’t think our audience is looking for unequivocal ‘rah-rah,’” Maddow tells the New York Times. She’s also lambasted Obama for not following through on his promise to end Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, while Keith Olbermann has angrily demanded that he prosecute Bush officials responsible for torture. But the White House if anything seems to approve of the criticism, saying that Maddow and Olbermann are “progressive but not partisan,” contrasting them with Fox News’ hosts. (More MSNBC stories.)