The mainstream media once held the reins of public opinion and admittedly they do have great influence over voters who rely solely on them for election news. With the Internet, they've lost some of their muscle. Voters who want to know the details of their candidates can find it at the tip of their fingers.

The mainstream media no longer "reports" the news with an objective eye, they spin it to meet their own agenda. News is in business for profit and to remain competitive they must sell the news. The new media, the Internet, presents all views and all spins.

We now have news and "opinion" coming to us in hundreds of thousands of blogs and we can go to several websites and investigate, and see for ourselves how our candidates actually voted on the issues they are espousing in their respective campaigns. It is true, however that many voters still follow the mainstream media and continue to be influenced from those sources.

Here in Chicago, the trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko is about to begin. Jurors are being selected at this writing. Rezko is on trial for fraud and political corruption. His name is linked with Governor Rod Blagojevich and Senator Barack Obama in fundraising activities. A "clout list" is expected to surface during the trial. http://blogs.suntimes.com/rezko/

Tony Rezko, according to the Chicago Sun Times is an Iraqi born billionaire. He has an adjoining lot next to the Obamas, and Barack Obama has known him since 1990 while he was at Harvard. Rezko hosted a fundraising party for Obama and raised $50,000 to $60,000 according to Obama, but the Sun Times says it was closer to $168,000.

Sun Times reports that Obama has purged the money from his campaign funds that he believes Rezko gave him, but has kept the money given by people who got their appointments with Rezko's influence. The story is circulating through the mainstream media, but it has not made sensational headlines so far.

Hillary Clinton has her share of media woes too. She says, "For 15 years, I have been the object of the Republican attack machine," she says. "And I'm still here."

Clinton was the first First Lady to be called before a grand jury to explain the missing records in the Whitewater saga. The story surfaced when stories of fraud at the McDougals saving an loan with with the Clinton's had partnered in the Whitewater deal. Hillary Clinton also did legal work for the McDougal's financial institution and the story hit the NYT during the 1992 presidential

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