Articles tagged: media
Posted by: Brent James on February 26, 2008 Hot Issues •
You might not know it, but Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, and Hillary Clinton are holding onto this race by their fingernails. And for different reasons.
Mr. Huckabee is low on funds, but of course that’s nothing new. He has been since last November. His delegate totals are far behind frontrunner McCain’s and the media scarcely mentions his name anymore. Ron Paul has about $8 million to spend and is extremely disciplined and efficient with his campaign expenditures. His delegates aren’t competitive and once again, the media act as though he doesn’t exist.
Hillary Clinton is a somewhat different story. She too is cash strapped, having to augment her campaign with personal funds, but her delegates and much higher profile are not to be overlooked by the mainstream media. They are quick, however, to stack the deck when things turn south – even by the slimmest margins. There are now reporting that she is fading in Ohio.
These three may be hanging on by their fingernails, but I’ll wager Hillary’s are longest.
Next Stops: Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
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Posted by: Brent James on February 26, 2008 Hot Issues •
This question has been raised repeatedly and rightly so. Some have posed it this way: Should Big Media choose our candidates? Of course not. That would be absurd. But aren’t they, in effect, doing just that? They have the power to exalt or the power to shun and they exercise it relentlessly. But is anyone actually listening? I mean really, who cares what they say. Free thinkers don’t, finding it thoroughly repugnant.
There seems, however, to be an effect. We see it in a turning tide. We hear it in a cleverly coined phrase. And timing is everything. In the first few days of January, an entire month before the Super Tuesday primaries, news outlets began foreshadowing her defeat with subtle suggestions. These became increasingly obvious as more opportunists piled on. “Is Hillary Finished?” appeared up as a question across the Blogoshere. From the likes of Newsweek, MSNBC, and the Wall Street Journal came insinuations that she should quit the race. Now, her team is portrayed as beaten, in shambles.
Call them sharks or piranhas, reminds me of blood in the water and the subsequent feeding frenzy.
Remember Rudy? He was pitched by the mainstream press as the people’s choice. Conservatives rejected that chicanery out of hand and he never gained popular support. He was the establishment’s choice, not ours.
And what of John McCain? It was said that he couldn’t make the grade because he was an angry, liberal, Washington insider that conservatives would not support. Then, seemingly overnight (just as Rudy had faded from wishful prominence), he was the only Republican on the radar. Further, he was lauded as the viable choice (now second choice) for Republicans, generally, and the moderate-independent voters. The media can just as easily create doubt about a candidate’s chances as they can a favorable impression.
Heard much about Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee lately? You might think both had dropped out of the race with the lack of mention either gets from the press. It is un-American to shut them out of the debate. Both have challenging messages we ought to hear, but the media doesn’t support those having, in their estimation, no chance of winning. Here we go again. By following their lead each election cycle, we end up in the same place, different candidates.
Bottom line: Don’t listen to them. They are mostly an opportunistic lot (opportunity for them, not you and me), unstable and misled. All the more important to know the Bible’s prescriptions for voting your godly values.
Next Stops: Ohio, Texas, Vermont, and Rhode Island.
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