Can we please ignore these silly media narratives?
Wed Mar 05, 2008 at 01:01:54 AM PDT
- Obama did not "lose momentum." Barack lost two states where Hillary's strengths were profound and readily perceived. Texas is at best a split - she won the popular vote and he won the delegate vote. The votes in states like Maryland and Hawaii had no impact on Ohio and Rhode Island, just as Ohio and Rhode Island will have no impact on Mississippi or Wyoming, where Barack will win, and they won't have any impact on Pennsylvania, which Hillary will win.
- Voters tonight did not have "buyer's remorse" over Obama. Such a stupid metaphor. You can't have remorse over a purchase somebody else made. This was just a different set of voters making their preferences known for the first time.
- A victory in a primary is not a vindication of all of the strategy and tactics employed to obtain that victory, nor is a loss in a primary state a complete rejection of the strategy and tactics used, nevermore to be seen again.
Because of Hillary's victories last night, we are going to be told that everything she did in the last week is the reason why -- the whining about being treated differently, the sleazy innuendo about Barack's religion, the 3 AM commercial, the appearances on SNL and The Daily Show, the -- god help me for typing this -- whole "kitchen sink" cliche. It is distinctly possible that she would have won these states by larger margins if she didn't do some of the things she did, or even more likely, the results would be not one iota different. I'm not sure why blue collars voted for Hillary in such great numbers, but I feel pretty confident in asserting that the 3 AM commercial is not the reason -- they were voting this way before last week, too.
We will also probably be told that Barack's inspiration schtick is getting stale. I will personally marvel at how unstale the inspiration suddenly gets in Mississippi and Wyoming next week.
- A voting result is not a living organism with independent will and sentient thought. A voting result is an abstract concept bereft of the powers of self-aware creatures. They do not express emotion, nor do they choose to reward or punish candidates. The most obvious thing they don't do is send messages, especially to the media.
This cliche is most labored when applied to New Hampshire. The New Hampshire primary vote has countless intelligent powers ascribed to it. This year, the New Hampshire voting result put on the brakes and dampened the presumption of Obama's electoral inevitability, dictating to a presumptuous press core that the New Hampshire vote was not yet ready for the Democratic nominee to be determined so early in the process.
The New Hampshire vote clearly has some kind of contrarian, anti-social impulse. Perhaps the New Hampshire vote had a domineering mother and was abused as a child. The New Hampshire vote really should undergo counseling so it can deal with its clearly deeply-seated issues.
However, there is one thing I am willing to concede. The New Hampshire vote is a total whore for attention.
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