Is Obama's "Screw Up" Being Blown Up?

For the past few days, news media outlets have been on blast concerning Obama's admission that he "screwed up" after giving a supporting nomination to Tom Daschle as his secretary of health and human services. Daschle, who has already withdrawn, had a series of tax errors, from improper reporting to evading payment. Obama quickly admitted that he was wrong in backing Daschle (plus treasure secretary Timothy Geithner and now-withdrawn chief performance officer Nancy Killefer), since it gave the hypocritical message to the public that these powerful politicians are treated differently than the average American person.

Obama had conducted interviews with major television networks including ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, and NBC, to which he expressed similar messages: that he "screwed up" and takes full responsibility for his mistakes.

How did the different websites I'm currently following handle this issue?

In the New York Times, the story made the front page of the print edition and homepage of the web edition on Feb. 4, entitled "Daschle Ends Bid for Post; Obama Concedes Mistake." On the website, a video showing Obama's admission on the different television stations is embedded within the text. This video is also on the NYT homepage. Under the article's related links, it shows the full text of Obama's statement concerning Daschle's withdrawal, as well as other articles about Daschle's tax issues. Another article, "The Pros and Cons of Admitting a Presidential Error," compares Obama's decision to admit his mistakes with the resistance of confession from former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

In the San Jose Mercury News, there are a couple links to articles under the Politics section, one from AP and another from the Washington Post. They are both straightforward articles. Off to the side are several pictures of Daschle dated from December and January.

In Pajamas Media, a conservative news blog, Obama's admission is translated negatively into Obama's screw up and is constantly referred to multiple times throughout the posts on the site. For example, there is a link to "A Short History of Failed Presidential Cabinet Appointees," which asks if Obama will match President Tyler's record of four withdrawn or rejected nominees, obviously a mockery of Obama's current situation.

In Think Progress, a progressive news blog, a video clip from MSNBC's Countdown is posted that compares Obama's honesty with Bush never admitting to his mistakes.

By looking at these sites, it shows the obvious: News sites will offer straight-up news - the facts, the detail, the background, the plain information that every reader wants to know. Blog sites will take the news and spin it to cater to their side of the story. Conservative blogs such as Pajamas Media will spin the story negatively, which would feed their other stories criticizing Obama's presidency. Progressive blogs such as Think Progress would only take this story and use it positively: that Obama is a courageous and honest man for admitting his mistakes in comparison to Bush, who never admitted his.