24 July 2008

I think I love you...

...so what am I so afraid of?

If you're the mainstream media, and the object of your affection is presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, the answer is, "I'm afraid you won't get elected President." To that end, the MSM arranged an unprecedented love-in with Obama during his first trip to the Middle East. (More on the trip itself in a soon-to-be-written post.) Even the über-liberal Susan Estrich acknowledges as much in her weekly "Blue Streak" column, saying that political reporters are "fawning all over Barack Obama like entertainment reporters covering a movie star." She is correct in her assertion that the glowing media attention alone doesn't mean he will cruise to victory in November, and that he'd better get himself prepared to answer the really tough questions that will come from somewhere, even if not from the MSM. While I am less convinced than she that they will eventually turn on him, I know in my heart of hearts that We the People deserve a better effort than the media is currently giving us.

Of particular note is the man-crush that Chris Matthews of MSNBC seems to have developed on Obama. His quasi-campaign ad on Leno's show the other night was actually embarrassing. I'm stunned that a member of the Fourth Estate, theoretically impartial (at least in the performance of the duties for which he is paid by his employer), could say that we should "think like our kids" and vote for Obama basically because he is a person of color. I could go off on a rant about that, but I think that Betsy Newmark has done a better job of it than I ever could.

While I don't have any great affection for Sen. Juan McAmnesty John McCain, I sympathize for the position in which he finds himself. If he doesn't acknowledge the disproportionate media coverage his opponent is receiving, he risks losing the battle before it even begins. If he complains, he risks coming across as a grumpy old man (which he may very well be, but that's irrelevant to this specific issue). It's a lose-lose for McCain, which it would appear is exactly the way the MSM would have it.

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