Media mogul Murdoch impressed by Obama

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Media mogul Rupert Murdoch said he was impressed by Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama's "rock star" status and found that his Republican rival, John McCain, "has a lot of problems."

"You have possibly the making of a phenomenon in this country," Murdoch said without actually mentioning Obama by name, at the "All Things Digital" conference held Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal in Carlsbad, California.

"Politicians and Washington are at an all time low, they are despised by 80 percent of the public ... And you've got a candidate who is ... trying to put himself above it all ... and he's become a rock star. It's fantastic."

The News Corp. chairman admitted he had some influence over the New York Post's endorsement of Obama, 46,...