A study of media bias that came out last week showed that Obama received more television air time, but more negative press, by far, than that received by McCain.
I have noticed in my own survey of one, that reporters and anchors on the cable shows spend more time reporting negative stories about Obama, or emphasizing polls when they narrow, or when he doesn't get a bounce than they report polls where McCain is trailing badly. They constantly wonder aloud why Obama "can't close the deal" but never seem interested in why McCain can't go above 45%. They spent weeks on Reverend Wright and how damaging it would be to Obama, but they could barely find five minutes to talk about John Hagee. They love to talk about Michelle Obama's problems with voters, even though she is rarely campaigning with her husband, but never, ever mention McCain's creepy wife Cindy who was once addicted to drugs and follows him everywhere like a dutiful wife from Stepford. They talk about Obama's "flip-flops," but barely mention McCain's. They certainly don't waste much time tying McCain more closely to Bush.
Why is that?
Are they all in the tank for McCain? Are they all racist?
No. My guess is, with the exception of the reporters and pundits at FOX News, who are obviously in the tank for the Republican, and possibly racist as well, most reporters and anchors are neither.
I think what is going on is this: they are all playing "gotcha," hoping to report on an exciting story about the new guy, trying to be Woodward or Bernstein, and they mistakenly believe there is nothing new to find out about McCain. They see Obama as a fascinating mystery, someone who must have something negative in his background and if they can only find it, they will be lauded as great reporters.
With respect to McCain, it's as if their assessment of him began and ended the day he was released as a POW. The narrative of McCain as all-American hero, honest and patriotic, was only enhanced over the years with McCain's characterization of himself as a maverick and a straight talker. He has been so successful in getting the media to buy into his fairy tale about himself that no one will dig deeper, and when one or two do, the huge media crowd looks the other way. They simply can't believe anything bad about McCain except that he's old, and they refuse to see that as a huge problem, no matter how many times he forgets things, gets things wrong, or changes his positions. Reagan was old, they remind us.
The narrative is still being created about Obama and, of course, the Republicans are contributing to that narrative, with an obedient press following along, trying to paint Obama as both unqualified and elitist, a popular celebrity and someone who can't relate to anyone, too liberal and too much of a flip-flopper. The press is fascinated and wants to be part of the story.
McCain is old news, his reputation set in stone as far as the press is concerned. They just aren't interested. But Obama is new, and the media can help create his reputation, even if they use Republican lies and distortions, even if they fall for smears that are baseless. It's much more interesting than digging deeper into the mythology of McCain. Plus, it increases their ratings.
So McCain stays under the radar, keeps his well crafted brand, and encourages the press to keep up their coverage of the smears they (the McCain camp) create about Obama, and maybe, just maybe, McCain can sneak into the White House with no one noticing what a terrible candidate he has been and what a terrible president he will be.
