My wife's father is an Ohio Taft Repubican. He's been drinking their Kool-Aid so long he refuses to acknowledge that he has consistenly and religiously voted against his own self-interest, and that of his kids (all grown, living in AZ, CO and OH). Having said that, he's a smart guy. College educated. Korean War veteran. Retired journalist. He's just one of those guys who's Limbaugh habit has poisoned his mind to reason. He bought the whole Ayes-Wright-ACORN-Muslim madrassa bullshit and is now simply stunned. Doesn't see what really happened last Tuesday at all.
I gave up trying to change is voting habits long ago. I do enjoy exchanging political anaysis with him, though. I must admit that many of the great diaries here on DailyKos have fortified my e-mail arguments with him. I'll keep him anonymous - he's fairly well-known in his community in Ohio.
He sent me a copy of an Op-Ed he wrote for one of Ohio's major daily newspapers. I don't think he has submitted it yet. He asked me to comment on it (I think he meant copy-edit, not editorial content). Since I don't have his permission to reprint I'll simply summarize his points below the fold and then past in my reply. If his piece makes it into print I'll update this diary with his full letter.
My father-in-law wrote an Op-Ed piece declaring the imbalance in national media coverage a vast left-wing conspiracy and cited Obama's trip to Iraq and Europe as an example of the media's being "in the tank" for Obama. He quoted numbers comparing how many front-page stories appered in the Washington Post and the scorecard for news minutes on the three "major" TV news networks. His thesis is that the national news media has a demonstrable liberal bias.
Here's my reply to my father-in-law:
Hey <***> – nice article.
However, I would propose that maybe instead of some sort of conspiratorial bias the national media just found Obama more interesting. McCain was a well-known political figure – he’s had national media attention going back to his POW days in the 1960’s – we know a lot about him. Obama, on the other hand, was a fresh face – little known until he gave that speech at the DCN in 2004. In an election where Americans were hungry for change – Obama presented just that. I doubt Hillary would have received the same unbalanced media coverage. She is too well known. Like McCain, we all know her story.
I’ll bet if you compared the two presidential candidates to Sarah Palin’s media coverage from September through November 4 she would have passed them both in media coverage. Our media, for better or worse, is all about what’s hot, new, interesting. I mean, what more could they write about McCain? He’s a maverick? He was a POW, he’s not an expert on the economy? All that was pretty well-plowed turf. You have to face the fact that John McCain just wasn’t that compelling to the media. They are going to cover what sells and Obama was selling.
In my opinion, the GOP has to find some fresh faces the lead the party. The same old Bush-Dole-McCain crowd is pretty stale. Sarah Palin was a pretty good attempt at this – if only she’d been smart enough to convince Americans she could handle the job the GOP might have made it a closer race. It was going to be a tough – near impossible - year for the Republicans no matter what they did this fall. Bush really loaded the party up with baggage they couldn’t escape. I doubt any lineup of GOP contenders could have beaten Obama.
Looking at 2012, the GOP has to dig down and find some new faces. Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana is an interesting possibility, though his being Indian – born a Hindu – may not sell to the racists who were stirred up by the GOP this year. Somewhere in some state legislature or mayor’s office is the guy (or gal) who will lead the Republicans out of the wilderness.
Alternately, an explanation of the liberal media bias could be that the country has simply moved to the left – though I know that’s a bitter pill for conservatives to swallow. I think the failure of the right has nudged the center towards the left. I think the election proved that. The media simply prints/broadcasts what sells. Right now, a more liberal view is selling. Look at the electoral map – you can be sure the networks, cable news outlets, and print media are all looking closely.
I look forward to the next four years – it will be interesting to see if Obama can keep the confidence of the American people. According to an AP poll released yesterday "72 percent of Americans voice confidence the president-elect will make the changes needed to revive the stalling economy. Underscoring how widely the public is counting on its new leader, 44 percent of Republicans joined nearly all Democrats and most independents in expressing that belief." That's a good start.
Should be interesting.....
So Kossacks, what say you? What should I include in my inevitable reply to his equally inevitable response to this? I'll keep you posted and will insert the full text of his letter if the newspaper in Ohio picks it up.