Strange and unexpected things can happen in presidential campaigns, particularly when it comes to a candidate's perceived strengths. In the past two weeks we've seen John McCain's foreign policy knowledge challenged, Hillary Clinton's experience called into question and Barack Obama's Christian background turned into a potential liability.
And now, we have liberal bloggers bemoaning the positive treatment John McCain receives from the media. Specifically, this Neal Gabler op-ed in the New York Times today, which suggests the media is unnaturally fond of McCain because of his "postmodern" ironic detachment. Seeing a Republican candidate for president favored by the media is sort of like seeing a Democrat endorsed by the NRA. Of course, McCain is not the first Republican presidential candidate to be treated favorably by the press. George W. Bush seemed to have it easier than Al Gore in 2000, and Ronald Reagan was nothing if not a master of image control. If you're a supporter of Hillary Clinton, you may have a legitimate argument to be made that she has been treated less fairly than the other candidates. But Barack Obama has received the most favorable coverage of any candidate running. And while the press certainly seemed to be rooting for McCain to win the Republican primary, we have yet to see how he'll be viewed when running against a Democrat. What should be really interesting is watching the national press corps forced to choose sides in an Obama/McCain matchup.
Is the Press Too Nice to McCain?
Meanwhile, Melissa McEwan says if McCain wins, it's the media's fault:
is also outraged offers a more detailed analysis of the media's relationship with McCain:
And let us not point our fingers first and foremost at whichever candidate fails to get the nomination, nor whichever candidate gets the nomination, nor even whatever monstrously overpaid and congenitally underskilled Democratic strategists s/he uses to run his/her campaign, but at a press who values hanging out with the "coolest kid in school" (barf! ack! gag!) more than sincerity and seriousness, even as they are tasked with conveying to the American electorate the facts about the people interested in being their leader.Jay Rosen
It’s not in any demonstrated mastery of subject matter—on the Middle East, foreign policy, military doctrine, or terrorism—but rather his ease and sense of command during question time with the press, especially as an underdog candidate aboard his bus, the Straight Talk Express.
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