While noticed by an astonished national press, if you're in Wisconsin you likely had little to no idea that Bernie Sanders drew a record breaking crowd in Madison last night. The highest read newspaper in the state (the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) covered the event on the bottom of page 3, never once mentioning the size of the crowd (estimated at 10,000 - 13,000).
That amazing story was beat out by striking bus drivers (yes, a big story), yet another lawsuit about the John Doe probe, the reappointment of the police chief, the restoration of a building façade, and a PolitiFact judgment about the Bush tax cuts. Hey, it did manage to beat out a small article on President Obama's overtime plans which only managed to make it to the bottom of page 5.
And naturally, they had to make sure Sanders was promptly identified as a "self described socialist" and feature a GOP jab:
In response to Sanders' visit, the state Republican Party put up billboards and launched a website dubbing Clinton and Sanders "left and lefter," playing off the 1994 comedy "Dumb and Dumber." It criticized Sanders for backing "extreme policies" such as tax increases and cutting the defense budget.
Uh huh.
Watching TV news got you little to no coverage of the massive event.
THIS is what passes for "news" around here.
The second most read newspaper, the Wisconsin State Journal, did include the information, but not a peep about it being the largest.
So, while national outlets have their jaws on the floor at the enormous crowd, the response of Wisconsin media was to just let it pass by with barely a mention. Hey, this is Wisconsin, where the peasants get told all the news Republicans want them to hear. They don't want people to know this. Scott Walker walks on water, donchaknow.
And now you know how Scott Walker gets elected.