So why is George Stephanopoulos holding daily strategy sessions with Democrats?

Isn't there some problem with a reporter to hold daily strategy sessions with the president's chief of staff? Obviously Carville is a consultant and even Begala is a commentator, but George Stephanopoulos claims to be a newsman. Doesn't this bring into question his objectivity? What was reasonable behavior when Stephanopoulos worked in Clinton's White House isn't necessary reasonable when he is a reporter. From the Politico:

So begins another morning in what may count as Washington’s longest-running conversation — a street-corner bull session between four old friends who suddenly find themselves standing once more at the busiest intersection of politics and media in Washington.

Carville calls White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.

Emanuel calls ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos.

A bit later, CNN commentator Paul Begala, who is not quite the early bird that his friends are, will complete the circle with a rapid set of calls to all three.

Different versions of this round-robin chatter have been taking place, with few interruptions, every workday for nearly a generation.

“I refer to it as the 17-year-long conference call,” said Emanuel, who starts calling his friends at 6 a.m. “You can tap into it anytime you want.” . . . .

Here is a defense of this behavior.

Take for example Stephanopoulos mistaken reporting on the Blago senate selling case.

ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, host of “This Week,” said during the roundtable on his program Sunday that the Obama legal team's review of contacts with Blagojevich found that Emanuel had only one phone conversation with the governor, and it was a “pro forma” conversation.

“I have been briefed on the review that Obama has done,” Stephanopoulos said. “The sources I talked to say that what it will show is there were actually far less contacts than we had heard — that Rahm Emanuel only had one phone call with Gov. Blagojevich. It wasn’t even really about the Senate seat.” . . .

For example, the Chicago Tribune reported about "conversations."

Rahm Emanuel, President-elect Barack Obama's pick to be White House chief of staff, had conversations with Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration about who would replace Obama in the U.S. Senate, the Tribune has learned. . . .