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The Big Picture–It’s Not About Bowling or Arugula |
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It’s easy to get frustrated watching the way the traditional media cover the presidential election, and politics in general. It’s easy to get lost in the thicket of irrelevancies that passes for journalism–the determined effort to make sure everyone understands the profound meaning of Obama’s bowling score, the pathetic attempts to (deceptively) assign significance to comments about a type of lettuce,  the breathless, frenzied response to “news” that Obama referred to small-town voters as “bitter“.Â
We’ve seen this script play out before. This is page 1 of the Republican playbook–accuse Democratic presidential candidates of effete elitism, even as Republicans run one wealthy, privileged elitist after another.     Â
But don’t worry, this year, at the end of this failed presidency, reality will overwhelm the media’s attempts to change the subject away from what matters.Â
Here’s the big picture that will frame this year’s election and make John McCain’s candidacy a decided longshot:
(1) The unending war in Iraq: It hasn’t made us safer, there is no end in sight, and Americans are sick and tired of this mismanaged catastrophe. This is George W. Bush’s war and it is John McCain’s war. Barack Obama, who opposed the war from the start, will offer a clear choice to Americans, and his position is the one shared by 2/3 of Amercans.
(2) The make-believe world in which tax cuts for the wealthy supposedly fueled growth for all has been revealed as the sham that it is. The media can’t distract voters from this reality; just 16% of Americans rate the economy as excellent or good. (43% say conditions are poor). If you like what Bush has done for the economy,you’ll love the man he endorsed for president: McCain prescribes the same bad medicine as Bush for curing what ails us: tax cuts for the wealthy.Â
(3) Most importantly for purposes of the election, the public sees the Bush presidency itself as a failure. An overwhelming 81% believe the U.S. is on the right track, just 14% believe it is headed in the right direction. Given that McCain’s election would essentially mean a third term for Bush, these numbers are a big problem for the Republican nominee.
So, don’t worry if the press continues to focus on distractions. These central realities are more important than any bowling score, and, in the end voters will care more about these issues than about any type of lettuce Obama does or doesn’t mention.
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Good points. I’m honestly of the mind this cycle that media coverage isn’t nearly everything. I mean, if you look at the two front-runners (Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton), they are both about to lose or already have lost. I’m kind of running on the working theory that the media is less important this time around.
Which means that even if the media isn’t covering it, and even if people “aren’t talking about it,” people will still vote on core issues on November like the economy and the war, and that’s good for Democrats.
I do agree Jason–things are changing quickly and the traditional media probably doesn’t control the narrative as well as they used to…
I am starting to become confused on what is meant by the traditional media. It (the media) seems to be a convenient target for anything that goes wrong, and it (the traditional media, such as Salon, UPI, Reuters) seems to report on the “traditional media” as they rather than we or us. So, who is it? The AP? The New York Times? Anyone who is not a blogger? Does anyone claim to be the traditional media? Whoever they are, I am going to ignore them because they seem to cause so many problems.
By the way, didn’t most Americans oppose the war in Iraq in 2004? What happened?
here’s a post by former Secy of Labor Robert Reich on this topic: http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2008/04/obama-bitterness-meet-press-an d-old.html
Hmmm… Reich’s blog post seems to strengthen your original point, but doesn’t answer my question.
Is this the traditional media?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080414/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_the_conservativ e
PM–great link–just saw that AP story too and posted about it.
Chris, I am heartened by your comments, yet think that you may overestimate how much these factors will play in peoples minds (mostly because most don’t seem to know about them). Unfortunately, not everybody is as well informed as you are.
thanks Jonathan! I am trying to think positive, without being unrealistic. I think there’s a lot of enthusiasm for Obama, and I also think McCain has a tough road ahead of him given how dissatisfied people are with his party’s sitting president. I think we have to take every opportunity we have to point out how dumb these distracting stories are and to focus on what really matters. Appreciate the comment.