Journalists In Love (And Out)
Jan 31st, 2008 at 1:41 pm by Susie
Eric Alterman on Edwards:
The Edwards campaign was a surreal experience that should inspire a doctoral dissertation or two. He was both the most progressive candidate on issues and the most electable on paper, and yet he did not get the support of most progressives or most professionals. This despite the fact that he actually ran a terrific campaign and, more than Obama and Hillary, defined it in a positive direction. That he forced the other candidates to respond did not end up mattering as much as the media’s fascination with all things Clintonian, Obamian, and the egregiously awful coverage of Edwards. The Washington Post deserves special mention for its idiotic 1,300-word piece on his haircut and an even longer one on his house. Richard Cohen and Michael Dobbs both called him a liar and presented no evidence. The editorial board attacked him constantly. The New York Times also went in for the “How can you care about poor people when you’re so rich?” line of questioning, which implies that poor people are unentitled to representation in the American political system, since it allows for only wealthy people to run. And Maureen Dowd was her usual awful, substanceless self, helping to set the tone for the rest, to the shame of all of us.
And on McCain:
McCain as the nominee is scary, too, because the media remain more in love with him than ever. Remember that picture of him hugging Bush? Put McCain in Bush’s place and the punditocracy in McCain’s place, and that’s what we can prepare ourselves for. What’s more, because the media love McCain and treat elections entirely as high school popularity contests, Republicans will not be held responsible for the last horrific eight years. Hillary Clinton is no match for McCain in this respect; they hate her, they love him. Obama is a match, but his anti-war position will be held against him, since most of the media were just as wrong as McCain about Iraq and feel themselves indicted by those of us, like Obama, who were right, and their natural defensiveness manifests itself in the form of petty vengeance. So-called liberal hawks, which is most liberals with a mainstream platform, will do McCain’s bidding for the price of only being called by their first names on the bus. It’s going to really suck.
Edwards supporter here. I have to tell you that every time I saw Edwards speak, I thought to myself “great words, mediocre orator”. Although I’ve not seen other people write about this trait, I watched Sen. Obama’s most recent speech, and John Edwards’s New Orleans speach, and thought “If Edwards could speak like Obama, he’d be the nominee. Hands down.”
The irony being that Edwards writes his own speeches, and Obama, not so much.
I haven’t heard much about Anne Coulter lately. I have a bad feeling that with Elizabeth Edwards not out in public, she’ll be coming back to haunt us. Adding insult to injury.
Screw the media and their inability to take their eyes off the shiny keys of a woman and a black running for President or their undeniable hatred of all things progressive. Quite literally, I wouldn’t piss on ‘em if they were on fire.