Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Democrats Finally Notice Media Bias

Democrats have long been used to having an echo chamber of fellow-travelers in the national media. They are so used to it that they expect the blatant favoritism most reporters shower on them during campaign season. Republicans and conservatives, on the other hand, are used to being portrayed as evil, and having their positions mis-stated and their actions painted in the most negative light possible. DEspite this, Democrats have long claimed that the media is 'fair'.

The problem is that Democrats are sso used to this favorable treatment, they aren't sure what to do when they are not its beneficiaries. I can recall the CLintons claiming media fairness, even as the national media did their best to sit on negative Clinton stories, and portray the impeachment as 'just about sex', as opposed to what it actually was- abuse of power and perjury. However, now that Senator Barack Obama is threatening to end the Presidential aspirations of Senator Hillary Clinton, the Clinton campaign's chairman, former Democratic National Committee chair Terry McAuliffe, is complaining that the media are biased in Obama's favor.

According to a story in the TheHill online edition today, McAuliffe says that as much as ninety percent of the national media is blatantly favoring Obama.
“Clearly it has been a biased media, no question about it,” McAuliffe said on Fox News. When asked how much of the mainstream media is “in the tank” for Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who leads Clinton in the race for the Democratic nomination, McAuliffe estimated that about 90 percent of the media favor Obama.

“It is what it is. We’re not complaining,” he stated. “We have to deal with the hand we’re dealt with.”

McAuliffe added that “every independent study has said that this is the most biased coverage they’ve ever seen in a presidential campaign.”


I wonder where this realization was during the many times that the media have shilled for Democrats and Democratic causes in recent years. In any event, it is nice that at least some Democrats recognize just how biased the mainstream media is. Now is they could only agree that it is conservatives who mainly get the worst of this bias- Clinton is merely feeling the media's desire to crown Obama as the nominee and end a bloody primary campaign so that Democrats can re-focus on the real enemy- Senator John McCain. If McAuliffe thinks that media bias was bad during this primary campaign, I can only suggest that he observe the general election with open eyes and mind. In the words of Al Jolson "You ain't seen nothing yet."

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