On Thursday, NBC White House correspondent Chuck Todd, also the host of MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown,” took to Twitter to say that “the partisans” are “slinging arrows,” and urged his MSNBC colleague and Washington Post contributor Chris Cillizza to “Keep Calm, Carry On” amid attacks on a perceived anti-Republican bias.
But a review of one month of the opening “First Read” segment of Todd’s 9 a.m. ET MSNBC program “The Daily Rundown” shows Todd is much more likely to start his show with a critique of Romney or his campaign than of Obama or his campaign.
With the exception of one day for Missouri Republican senatorial hopeful Rep. Todd Akin’s ill-advised remarks, four days for the unrest in the Middle East, and one day to unveil a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, “The Daily Rundown” opened by focusing on the Romney campaign twice as often as the Obama campaign, The Daily Caller’s analysis shows. Excluding the two weeks of the Republican and Democratic conventions, the Romney campaign is featured seven times compared to a single Obama feature.
Todd’s remarks on the Romney campaign haven’t been completely negative. The day after the Republican convention ended, Todd spoke favorably of the Republican nominee’s acceptance speech.
Still, MSNBC has not deemed news about President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as important as news about Romney or Rep. Paul Ryan over the last month, despite its reputation as a left-leaning cable news network.
Breakdown of “The Daily Rundown” lead packages:
| Date | Opening |
| 8/20/2012 | Romney/Ryan appearance in New Hampshire |
| 8/21/2012 | Romney/Ryan reaction to Todd Akin |
| 8/22/2012 | Todd Akin |
| 8/23/2012 | Romney/Ryan campaign effort to steer off of Akin* |
| 8/24/2012 | “Romney’s rough road”* |
| 8/27/2012 | RNC and hurricanes** |
| 8/28/2012 | RNC and Ann Romney, Chris Christie** |
| 8/29/2012 | RNC: Reax to A. Romney, Christie “peanut butter & egg sandwich”** |
| 8/30/2012 | RNC: The importance of Romney acceptance speech** |
| 8/31/2012 | RNC: Romney’s successful acceptance speech |
| 9/3/2012 | DNC: DNC Preview (Labor Day hour early)*** |
| 9/4/2012 | DNC and Michelle Obama/Julian Castro*** |
| 9/5/2012 | DNC and Bill Clinton preview vs NFL*** |
| 9/6/2012 | DNC and Obama acceptance speech preview*** |
| 9/7/2012 | DNC and Obama’s “appeal to the cynical middle” acceptance speech*** |
| 9/10/2012 | Romney’s deficit to Obama post-convention |
| 9/11/2012 | !!!!! 9/11 SPECIAL NO “DAILY RUNDOWN” !!!!!! |
| 9/12/2012 | U.S. Libyan ambassador and candidates’ reactions |
| 9/13/2012 | Libyan crisis |
| 9/14/2012 | Libyan crisis spreads to the Middle East |
| 9/17/2012 | Libyan crisis putting Obama on defense |
| 9/18/2012 | Romney “secret” video and his campaign response |
| 9/19/2012 | NBC/WSJ poll |
| 9/29/2012 | Romney’s moderate shift |
* Luke Russert fill-in
** Live on-scene at RNC in Tampa, Fla.
*** Live on-scene at DNC in Charlotte, N.C.