You know, when liberals say that the media is in the tank for McCain, it’s not because we’re trying to create some reverse ratfuck scenario in order to improve our fortunes. It’s because things like the Note exist.
Here comes the McCain comeback—again.
A bulldog is in place, outside help is on the way, and the candidate is even coming back to the country on his new plane(action-hero style—along with some hostages).
Suddenly, Sen. John McCain is catching some breaks.
And so the new narrative is primed and in place (and it’s the same as an old narrative): McCain could actually do this thing. (Actually, while the polls remain tight, right now he’d settle for not being counted out—but he’ll take what he can get.)
The Politico gets an honorable mention for this hagiography of McCain’s new campaign manager. McCain won’t ever be counted out - not after a massive campaign shakeup four months before the election, not after blatantly lying about previous statements, not when Montana looks to be in play.
The best part about it, as always, is the idea that none of these reporters have the slightest clue how to stop the runaway train that is The Narrative, and that should they do so, they risk doing a disservice to us, the demanding public. After all, should we not receive our daily dose of minor gaffes and reinforcement of storylines decided on campaign planes, how will we ever know who David Broder wants us to vote for?
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Does this have anything to do with McCain specifically, or does a media company simply get more viewers /readers / listeners by reporting on a conflict where either person could win rather than a blowout? Or maybe reporters, writers, etc. find writing about a close race more enjoyable than one that’s already over. Assuming reporting on a race where either party could win is “better” for the media than reporting on a blowout, you’d expect the media to keep playing up the losing candidate to continue the conflict regardless of who the candidate is.
I think what’s happened in the race so far supports “media wants close races” more than “media favors McCain.” In particular, during most of the primaries, after Romney dropped out, most of the coverage I saw was Obama v. Clinton, not how great McCain was. Indeed, there was little reporting about McCain at all. Another key example is how many media stories were there about the (in reality incredibly unlikely) ways Clinton could win the primary even when she was down a large number of delegates.