Media Running the Political Show?

[hytem]

The power of spin and 24/7 cable has never seemed greater than this year's Presidential sweepstakes.

First of all, the campaign was initiated by those cable pundits about a year ago,
well before any primaries, as if they had nothing else to talk about. I remember wondering about that. I guess a lot of it centered around MSNBC, which has become the King of Punditry, this year, with a seemingly inexaustible supply of
Opinionators.

The statistics are alarming: the candidates will spend $2.5 BILLION dollars on TV ads this year-- too much of it those phoney negative type, designed to paint their opponent in a negative image. The TV networks profit from this system: you pay, you can say anything you want about anybody. Freedom of speech--for profit. Leave the newspapers to take a couple of weeks to dig out the lies.
Who profits? Obviously, the networks. But also the special interests whom the candidates must depend on to finance all this advertising. And those special interests ultimately get their pound of flesh from the candidates.

But beyond the profiteering by the networks, what about the fairness and objectivity of the coverage? And the attention paid to issues vs personalities and polls? Do issues important to Americans really get discussed in those debates? Or is it more "gotcha" type personal questions, designed to impress your boss?

From what I've seen, some candidates have a right to complain that they've been sound bited to death. Joe Biden, for example. And then there's John Edwards, who never had a chance against the two media "stars", Clinton-Obama. Not to mention Bill Richardson and a few other male Dems--perfectly good candidates, but no airtime available to cover them.

If you follow MSNBC, you can trace the campaign back to when it started all Hillary, then Obama-Clinton, and now decidedly Obama. They've even resorted to snide, tasteless remarks about the Clintons, including their daughter, Chelsea. Seems they are out to get the Clintons, for some reason. After all, if Bill Clinton could run again, he would win in a heartbeat--despite all the girl-chasing and the partisan hate. The media has never been pro-Bill, anyways, and he knows it.

Obama? The kid gloves treatment is a mystery. Political correctness? Yeah, but Hillary's a woman. The gloves will come off if he is the nominee. Guaranteed.

Republicans? McCain seems to have been anointed lately. He's been helped by winner take all, with all the split vote in a lot of states. He has had to flip flop on issues to become more conservative than his voting record, but he's getting away with it. But the way he was treated eight years ago, he deserves it.
Go for it, John.

The bottom line: you watch the polls evolve and you watch the media. The polls seem to reflect the media coverage more than the opposite. More positive coverage, better polls. Clinton has shrunk in the polls partly because of negative media coverage vs the positive coverage for Obama. Her husband has been sound bited to death, which has angered him. And you can't get angry with the media. No sir.

[carambola]

you didn't mention ron paul

[hytem]

Originally Posted by carambola

you didn't mention ron paul

Yeah--Paul is another one that got unfairly marginalized. Fox didn't even want to include him in a debate early on. An excellent example of the media trying to orchestrate things.

McCain has won 12 primaries so far, Romney 12 and Huckabee 5. Romney dropped out! Why? It's winner take all on the Republican side, and McCain has won all the big moderate states with the most delegates(NY, NJ, CA, etc) --so he's has a big lead.

It's the opposite for the Dems. You win a state by 20%, your opponent still gets a bunch of delegates. And then all those "caucuses" Obama is winning. The media hasn't explained how they differ from a regular primary, but clearly he's getting all his young college kids out in droves. The total vote is probably just a small fraction of a regular primary. Clinton has won the same big states as McCain, but hasn't benefitted nearly as much in delegates.

For the Dems, expect Clinton to win the big primaries coming up on April 22.
But neither will have a majority, so the 800 or so super delegates will decide it.
They will look at the polls, and decide who can best beat McCain.

Clinton's biggest problem is with the media. Too negative. Obama is getting all the positive spin. But she can put the media on the defensive if she refuses to participate in MSNBCs Ohio debate. She will get voter support--MSNBC slighted her daughter. Making snide remarks about the Clintons has become a sport. Not everyone appreciates that.

[techweenie]

What's really interesting is that Limbaugh/Coulter/Ingraham/Hannity were so vocally pro-Mittens and anti-McCain. I guess their influence is less than they'd hoped.

[tabs]

Democrats and the Media are smelling a winner in Obama...Hillary is going to continue to slide as more and more people jump ship. It is called momentum. The big nudge came with Caroline endorsing and Teddy backing it up and anointing Obama. If U asked me it couldn't happen to better people than the Clintons.

The Democrats are going to have a BIG Problem if Obama walks into the Convention ahead in delegates and the polls and somehow Hillary gets the nomination. It will fracture the Party irrevocably, if not American Democracy.

Obama represents the redemption of America, the reclaiming of something we had lost with the death of JFK. Call it hope that the special interests don't rule the day, that Americans have become merely pawns in the game to be manipulated by the media and special interests. Obama talks about the big idea. Whether he can deliver on that hope, message is another story. There is a huge amount of inertia in our government and bureaucracy.

[hytem]

Originally Posted by tabs

Democrats and the Media are smelling a winner in Obama...Hillary is going to continue to slide as more and more people jump ship. It is called momentum. The big nudge came with Caroline endorsing and Teddy backing it up and anointing Obama. If U asked me it couldn't happen to better people than the Clintons.

The Democrats are going to have a BIG Problem if Obama walks into the Convention ahead in delegates and the polls and somehow Hillary gets the nomination. It will fracture the Party irrevocably, if not American Democracy.

Obama represents the redemption of America, the reclaiming of something we had lost with the death of JFK. Call it hope that the special interests don't rule the day, that Americans have become merely pawns in the game to be manipulated by the media and special interests. Obama talks about the big idea. Whether he can deliver on that hope, message is another story. There is a huge amount of inertia in our government and bureaucracy.

Ha. Well, I don't know if everybody is that convinced about Obama, especially if you are over 30. I haven't heard much beef in what he has been saying, and he has been treated with kid gloves by the media--which is partly responsible for his "momentum." He has been cast in the best possible light, while Hillary has been treated badly at times.

Obama has won a lot of those caucuses where his supporters have flocked out.
But Clinton is very strong with rank and file Democrats, and women, of course.
She wins the big states--including Massachusetts, the Kennedy state, where she was supported by the city mayors--more important than Kennedy.
The same is true in PA, where the black Phila mayor is supporting her along with the popular Governor. Ohio is a labor union state--probably pro-Clinton.
Texas I guess is Hispanic--Clinton again. So Obama still has a tough road in the final big states.

My guess is the 800 superdelegates will decide it. Do they want a black or a woman, or both? Depends on the polls. I wouldn't count out Hillary yet. She overcame a lot of the negativity in NY. Very popular there.

[WI wide body]

Well, perhaps the media can be blamed for the early start of the campaigns but that's about it. As for the media "clout" it took just about the biggest hit possible over the past few months.

The Dem nomination was virtually awarded to Hillary from day one. Especially when no seemingly viable opponents announced. And then those who did announce that the media touted as possible rivals such as Biden and Dodd quickly flamed out after being given much air time and exposure. Edwards was a darling for a while and also given much air time but he faded badly. Only Obama survived and now he actually seems to have more momemtum than Clinton. So much for media "clout" on that front.

The GOP was even worse for the media. Virtually ALL of the heavy hitters gave McCain no chance. Listening to the FOX experts made it sound like McCain was wasting his time. Goobers such as Kristol, Barnes, Krauthammer, and Hume made fun of everything from what happened to McCain in SC in 2000 to his pathetic lack of funds. Then when McCain persisted they jumped on the Fred Thompson bandwagon when anyone with double digit IQ could see that Fred was like an actor without a script. Then they annointed Romney the can't miss guy. These are EXPERTS?

Then there was another bunch such as Limbaugh, Coulter, Ingraham, and especially Hannity who could not see how Rudy 911 would not prevail. Then they also were forced to jump to Mitt after a brief fling with Flameout Fred. "OOPS" once again!

If this is the media "running the show" then it appears that we really don't have much to worry about from them!

[Rearden]

Originally Posted by carambola

you didn't mention ron paul

The media is playing nice and ignoring him, rather than making fun of David-Duke-without-the-Hood.

[hytem]

Wide Body,

I agree it was the Hillary show a year ago--and that hurt Edwards, Biden, Richardson. and the rest. Then it became the Hillary-Obama show. And now finally the Obama show. remember when the media had egg on their face in NH? It didn't take them long to get back to their old ways.

The ridicule lately afforded the Clintons on those "liberal" networks has hurt Hillary. Or helped her? I don't know. I saw a poll where 64% of the voters don't trust the media in this campaign.

As for McCain, the conservative pundits have been against him, but they have run out of ammo. He is winning centrist Republicans in the big states. And there are no serious conservatives left to oppose him.

Can John beat Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama? Who knows. The country does not want another Republican President, mainly because of the economy and the War, but the Democrats do not make it easy. They are their own worse enemy.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by tabs

Democrats and the Media are smelling a winner in Obama...Hillary is going to continue to slide as more and more people jump ship. It is called momentum. The big nudge came with Caroline endorsing and Teddy backing it up and anointing Obama. If U asked me it couldn't happen to better people than the Clintons.

The Democrats are going to have a BIG Problem if Obama walks into the Convention ahead in delegates and the polls and somehow Hillary gets the nomination. It will fracture the Party irrevocably, if not American Democracy.

Obama represents the redemption of America, the reclaiming of something we had lost with the death of JFK. Call it hope that the special interests don't rule the day, that Americans have become merely pawns in the game to be manipulated by the media and special interests. Obama talks about the big idea. Whether he can deliver on that hope, message is another story. There is a huge amount of inertia in our government and bureaucracy.

Tabs, your recent posts have been incredibly lucid. Have you been taking your meds?

[WI wide body]

Originally Posted by hytem

Wide Body,

I agree it was the Hillary show a year ago--and that hurt Edwards, Biden, Richardson. and the rest. Then it became the Hillary-Obama show. And now finally the Obama show. remember when the media had egg on their face in NH? It didn't take them long to get back to their old ways.

The ridicule lately afforded the Clintons on those "liberal" networks has hurt Hillary. Or helped her? I don't know. I saw a poll where 64% of the voters don't trust the media in this campaign.

As for McCain, the conservative pundits have been against him, but they have run out of ammo. He is winning centrist Republicans in the big states. And there are no serious conservatives left to oppose him.

Can John beat Obama-Clinton or Clinton-Obama? Who knows. The country does not want another Republican President, mainly because of the economy and the War, but the Democrats do not make it easy. They are their own worse enemy.

So you do agree that the media is not running the political show...at least so far in this presidential primary?

[hytem]

Originally Posted by WI wide body

So you do agree that the media is not running the political show...at least so far in this presidential primary?

I think the media is orchestrating the whole business--as if it were a horserace.
There is so much media these days, they can't help trying to be out in front of the news half the time. They are in competition with each other. It's a business.

On top of that, you have all the old Clinton antagonisms--they have never been
very positive about the Clintons. Maybe it has something to do with Bill's extracurricular activities.

This thing will be a lot closer on the Dem side. Obama is an articulate guy, but he has baggage and the Clintons have some IOUs out there with the rank and file. They have a lot of support among the lower level pols in the big states who run the local organizations. That's why she's winning the big states.