Election Notes
If you need any further evidence that the big media and the Democrats are united in their hatred of Bush, you need simply have watched the returns on election night.
As Bush won a resounding popular vote victory and a definitive victory in Ohio, the big media and the Democrats began conspiring on how to delay the inevitable. The Washington Post headline the morning after, “Bush camp convinced of win,” tells it all. Bush hadn’t won. He just thought he had. Even once they changed the headline to report the news "Bush wins," the huge photo on the frontpage was not of the winner, but of John Kerry during an emotional moment as he conceded. As Bernard Goldberg observed, had Kerry won it would have been a celebration. Bush winning transformed the big media into a group of mourners.
One can sympathize with Kerry who is a partisan who put his heart into the campaign. You can understand his shock and disappointment as the election victory eluded him. But the media have a job to do. If you watched any channel other than FOX, the gloom on the faces of the talking heads was easily discernible as they argued, debated and tried to construct a scenario that might turn the election in their candidate’s favor. Even Tim Russertt, known as a fair journalist, could not hide his disappointment over how the tide turned against Kerry.
And it affects how they do their jobs, which is the larger issue. Consider this. Though Kerry won by a narrower margin in Pennsylvania than Bush did in Ohio, CBS and CNN quickly called that state while refusing to call Ohio for Bush.
The morning after the election CNN was still calling the election “too close to call.” Too close to call! Kerry would have to win every provisional ballot cast in Ohio to have even a chance. Kerry, thankfully, saw the handwriting on the wall and did the right thing, but the media did little to encourage it, with the possible exception of Chris Matthews, who was quick to observe that there seemed little hope for the Senator.
Imagine what would have happened had the situation been reversed. Can you doubt for a moment that every major network and Democratic newspaper would have called the election quickly for Kerry and vociferously demanded that the president concede?
The mainstream media has been a big loser in this election, in particular CBS News and the New York Times, which have over the past year been indiscernible from the Democratic Party.
As Bush won a resounding popular vote victory and a definitive victory in Ohio, the big media and the Democrats began conspiring on how to delay the inevitable. The Washington Post headline the morning after, “Bush camp convinced of win,” tells it all. Bush hadn’t won. He just thought he had. Even once they changed the headline to report the news "Bush wins," the huge photo on the frontpage was not of the winner, but of John Kerry during an emotional moment as he conceded. As Bernard Goldberg observed, had Kerry won it would have been a celebration. Bush winning transformed the big media into a group of mourners.
One can sympathize with Kerry who is a partisan who put his heart into the campaign. You can understand his shock and disappointment as the election victory eluded him. But the media have a job to do. If you watched any channel other than FOX, the gloom on the faces of the talking heads was easily discernible as they argued, debated and tried to construct a scenario that might turn the election in their candidate’s favor. Even Tim Russertt, known as a fair journalist, could not hide his disappointment over how the tide turned against Kerry.
And it affects how they do their jobs, which is the larger issue. Consider this. Though Kerry won by a narrower margin in Pennsylvania than Bush did in Ohio, CBS and CNN quickly called that state while refusing to call Ohio for Bush.
The morning after the election CNN was still calling the election “too close to call.” Too close to call! Kerry would have to win every provisional ballot cast in Ohio to have even a chance. Kerry, thankfully, saw the handwriting on the wall and did the right thing, but the media did little to encourage it, with the possible exception of Chris Matthews, who was quick to observe that there seemed little hope for the Senator.
Imagine what would have happened had the situation been reversed. Can you doubt for a moment that every major network and Democratic newspaper would have called the election quickly for Kerry and vociferously demanded that the president concede?
The mainstream media has been a big loser in this election, in particular CBS News and the New York Times, which have over the past year been indiscernible from the Democratic Party.
posted by compugor at 8:13 AM
