Media following Republican talking points?

At or near the top of the list of right-wing talking points is the assertion that the Democratic candidates for President are going to fight each other in a mean, vicious and dishonest way. To anyone who has been paying attention to politics for the past few years this is a breath-takingly audacious example of projecting your own sins onto your opponents. Who can forget Karl Rove in the 2000 South Carolina primary spreading the rumour that John McCain was raising a bi-racial daughter born out of wedlock (actually he has a daughter adopted from Bangladesh).

Take this widely reported story about Obama being asked to take responsibility for remarks about Hillary Clinton made by someone who donated to his campaign, for example. The story reports this as "a shot" taken by the Obama campaign against the Clinton campaign, even though neither Obama or his staff had anything to do with the (relatively mild) criticisms of Clinton. Do you think in writing stories like this reporters and editors are following Republican talking points or are they simply trying to find a story where none exits?