When it comes to the national media, there are no shortage of things to complain about. They routinely blend staggering arrogance with breathtaking ignorance to create the perfect storm of inanity.
They are dominated by fire-breathing, partisan Republicans meekly "balanced" by nonpartisan journalists.
They studiously avoid any discussion of policy, leaving them plenty of time to obsess on the petty, pointless, and personal.
But one of the most troubling aspects of the modern celebrity press corp is their self-appointed role as gatekeepers of national elections. The media have taken it upon themselves to decide, based on an arbitrary and ever-changing set of rules, who can run for office, who is cool, and who gets excluded.
I first noticed it in 2000. The race between Al Gore and George W. Bush was notable mostly for the dishonest attacks on Gore that have been meticulously dissected by the Daily Howler and summarized by Rolling Stone. It started with an innocuous and accurate statement by Gore.
I took the initiative in creating the Internet.
The pundits did not like Gore and were all to happy to repeat unadulterated Republican spin and create the myth, that persists to this day, that Al Gore said he "invented" the internet.
This allowed a lazy media, that had no interest in covering policy issues, to focus the entire Presidential race on the narrative of the wonky, wooden Al Gore who was untrustworthy versus the lovable, but stupid George W. Bush who was a "uniter not a divider", a "compassionate conservative", and obviously a man of the people because he cleared brush.
Perhaps bored by 8 years of peace and prosperity, the media clearly had a preference in the race.
the 300 media types watching in the press room at Dartmouth were, to use the appropriate technical term, totally grossed out by it. Whenever Gore came on too strong, the room erupted in a collective jeer, like a gang of 15-year-old Heathers cutting down some hapless nerd.
During a debate, Gore clearly won on the merits, and early polls showed most people felt he won, but the press would not allow it.
MARGARET CARLSON, "TIME": The sigh kept Gore from winning the debate.
Bush answered at least five questions in a faltering, hesitant way, in which he was hoping the bell would ring. And Gore would have clearly won the debate last night, had it not been for the fact that he has so many mannerisms -- leading with the sigh, the bridge of sighs, that make people unable to embrace him as the winner.
When they needed more ammunition to keep the media narrative of Gore being a serial liar alive, they just made up more supposed exaggerations, missteps, or gaffes. The policy differences between the two candidates were enormous, but the press was much more interested in why Gore wore earth tones than in how Bush would pay for his tax cuts. Bush won the race, with the help of some vote manipulation and the supreme court, and the media continued to roll over as he started a war based on lies.
Not being fond of retrospection, the media fell right back into it's old habits in 2004. The surprisingly successful, people-powered Howard Dean campaign seemed to be overwhelming the establishment candidates until the media decided that Dean was unacceptable and pushed the narrative that he was an unstable, liberal loon. According to the Washington Post-
"Howard Dean was angry. Ropy veins popped out of his neck, blood rushed to his cheeks, and his eyes, normally blue-gray, flashed black, all dilated pupils."
Why was Dean too liberal to be taken seriously? Because he opposed the Iraq war from the start. In the modern media, supporting a war, any war, makes you serious, being correct makes you a DFH.
Plus they just didn't like him.
For months, pundits have been suggesting that the only person who could stop Howard Dean is Howard Dean. And pundits like to be right. Add to that the antagonistic relationship the campaign has built with the press due to messy, amateurish entrances and exits to events; volatile and poorly planned "drop-by" campaign stops; and a general void in the communications department, and what you get is a press corps ready to pounce on anything the governor offers.
Once the narrative of the angry liberal was established it was easy to end Dean's campaign by endlessly replaying the scream speech after sufficient doctoring and adding the appropriate ridicule.
Once, Dean was drummed out of the race, the press turned their attention to John Kerry. Under the favored media narrative, John Kerry the war hero, was converted into an unpatriotic wimp, while Bush, who failed to complete his national guard duty, was the tough candidate who could be trusted with National Security. Therefore, Kerry needed to constantly justify his plan for Iraq, but Bush never had to explain his decision to invade Iraq before Weapons inspectors completed their job.
The rich John Kerry was elitist because he windsurfed, the rich George Bush was not because he had a poor command of the English language.
Now in 2008, we are getting more of the same. The pundits knew John Edwards was a phony, and that was all the justification they needed to dismiss his campaign because he spent $400 on a haircut. After that he was barely mentioned, other than to ridicule him.
The press has a narrow range of ideological views that are acceptable. When John Edwards started talking about income inequality he became too far to the left. Ron Paul, on the other hand, was too far to the right.
In a striking example of media hubris, George Stephanopolous, told Republican candidate Ron Paul, before a single vote was cast, that he was not going to win.
Stephanopoulos: What’s success for you in this campaign?
Paul: What’s success? Well, to win, is one, is the goal.
Stephanopoulos: That’s not going to happen.
Paul: Do you know for absolute? Are you willing to bet every cent in your pocket for that?
Stephanopoulos: Yes.
How did Stephanopolous know Ron Paul could not win? Because he knew the press would not cover his campaign.
To make sure Stephanopolous's prediction came true, Ron Paul was later excluded from debates, despite raising more money and out-polling other candidates in the debate. When Paul tried to get an explanation, Fox News wouldn't return his call.
"You know," Paul replied, "we tried to find that out. But they didn't return our call."
Maybe he didn't smell right.
Does [Fred Thompson] have sex appeal? ... Gene, do you think there’s a sex appeal for this guy, this sort of mature, older man, you know? ... Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man’s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved?
Back when the gatekeepers were sure Hillary was going to win, Obama received glowing press, and Hillary was attacked as untrustworthy. Now that Obama is the presumptive nominee, Hillary is suddenly lauded as a strong fighter who drinks whiskey and shoots guns. Meanwhile, The Clinton Rules of media coverage are applied to the Obama campaign, and reporters discover he is an orange juice drinking elitist.
If the primary ever ends, Obama will have to face off against McCain and McCain's base, the media.
John McCain and Barack Obama both appeared before the nation's newspaper editors yesterday. The putative Republican presidential nominee was given a box of doughnuts and a standing ovation. The likely Democratic nominee was likened to a terrorist.
Why does the media love McCain, Tucker Carlson sums it up.
McCain ran an entire presidential campaign aimed primarily at journalists. He understood that the first contest in a presidential race is always the media primary. He campaigned hard to win it. To a greater degree than any candidate in thirty years, McCain offered reporters the three things they want most: total access all the time, an endless stream of amusing quotes, and vast quantities of free booze.
McCain understands the system. If you want to be President you need the media's approval first. And you don't get approval by understanding policy, having extensive experience, or good policy ideas. You get the media's approval the old fashioned way by sucking up to them and making them feel important. And how better to do that than have a BBQ.
The campaign booked the senator's aides and reporters into one of the only big hotels in town: the Enchantment Resort, a five-star hotel nestled so far back in the picturesque red rock canyons of Sedona that most in the group found that their cell phones were out of range. To cope with the stress of being incommunicado, people booked massages at the hotel spa and went on hikes... Others played golf, went swimming or simply explored the hotel compound... Perhaps this scene gives some insight into why McCain jokingly refers to the media as his base.
So that is the situation we are stuck in now. The country is facing a severe financial crisis, peak oil, global warming, a health care crisis, staggering debt, and two wars and the media is covering the election of the President of the United States as if it were an early round of American Idol.
The candidates, meanwhile, are left to worry about every move they make and everything they say, knowing that every quote can be distorted, every wardrobe choice psychoanalyzed, every food order scrutinized by the pundits for signs of elitism, arrogance, ignorance, flip-flopping, or mendacity. Of course it doesn't matter what the candidates do or say, if the Maureen Dowds of the world want to find evidence of something they will, and if they don't, they will make it up.