Withdrawal From Michigan Primary (CNN.com vs. ABC.com)

The two articles I compared came from CNN.com and ABC.com, both about four of the 2008 presidential candidates pulling out of the Michigan primary.

The CNN.com article is entitled “Four Dems withdraw from Michigan, Clinton, Dodd stay in,” and focused more on the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) reaction to the withdrawal. It also spent most of the article quoting campaign and Communications leaders for both Hilary Clinton and Chris Dodd, who both will not remove themselves from the ballot. I found it interesting that the article focused so much on the reasons why Clinton and Dodd chose to remain on the ballot, especially when the title makes the reader think he/she is about to read about those who did withdraw themselves. It was also interesting to note that the article was written from Washington.

The ABC.com article, however, which was written from Lansing, Michigan, is longer in content and is titled “4 Democrats Pull Out of Michigan Primary.” This article spent much more time discussing one of the candidates’ (Joe Biden) reasons for withdrawing himself from the primary. While I found this article much more interesting to read, I lost respect for Biden because of the way he talked. At one point, the article quotes him saying that he was bypassing Michigan's primary, calling it a beauty contest. Coming from Michigan, I don’t find that comment very funny. This article went further than the CNN.com article and actually interviewed the Michigan Democratic Party spokesman.

Overall, the articles had the same basic story to tell, but from two completely different angles- one focusing on the decision to withdraw from the Michigan primary, the other focusing on the decision to remain.