Republican voters in New Hampshire will select John McCain as their candidate in the primary today, mostly to reclaim a bit of the nostalgia they felt when selecting him in 2000. From what I was able to perceive from attending two McCain events in the days leading up to the primary, supporters were less than enthusiastic. At a town hall meeting, many independents that perhaps supported him previously, got straight talk on Iraq and the economy…straight talk that did not jive with what they had hoped. Speaking in platitudes, McCain presented a confusing message on domestic issues, but rebounded on global warming and hammered home his reasons for supporting the war in Iraq.
It was interesting to measure applause, or lack thereof during McCain’s stump speech and watch as a packed gymnasium began to empty well before the “town hall” style rally concluded. David Brooks, columnist for the New York Times, Robert Novak, and Judy Woodruff were in attendance. They were joined by a swarm of media that followed McCain on the Straight Talk Express after the event.
The following day in Concord, McCain gave a speech on the steps of the New Hampshire Capitol. McCain supporters were easily outnumbered by the media and curious supporters from the Huckabee, Paul, and Obama camps as well as single issue activists. Mark Shields and a few other big name media personalities were spotted at this event. Oddly, there was no major coverage for Huckabee at a rally he attended directly after finishing up the Republican Debate on Saturday night. Similarly, at an event in Keene, NH, Obama supporters filled a high school cafeteria and auditorium with an estimated attendance over 2,000 people. While back in the studio the media might be working on the next headline that shows him sparring with Hillary Clinton, actual coverage of the event was once again missing.
I am not suggesting that there is a media conspiracy to control the message like Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly would have us believe. Rather, I was disappointed to witness a painfully obvious disconnect between political reality and media fantasy. The shear laziness of our media to build up a narrative that attracts viewers is intellectually dishonest and skews the truth.
This blog sets out to pull back the curtain to untangle not only the media hype, but identify the real political consequences of a failed media. Furthermore, this blog will provide the media with their next lede, free of charge, so they can better frame the subtleties of our complex political system.
