Making History

There can be no question that this election is like no other. The level of interest is enormous at a time when the apathy of voters is usually the major concern. The number of individuals registering and voting in these primary elections can only be inspiring to all those who believe in the Democratic process. Since early in the campaign it has been refreshing to see and hear analogies to the campaign on the sports pages, on late night television, and around the water cooler. People are paying attention. The opportunity to consider serious candidates that include a female and an African American is truly historic.

It is unfortunate that the main strean media has felt the need to take sides in such a race. If we truly believe in our democracy then we should believe that the voters can and should make up their own minds without media coercion. Why has the mainstram media failed to take an evenhanded approach to this race? Do they hate the Clintons that much? Do they feel that the chance to elect an African American is so important that anything goes? Are they biased against a woman president? Or has the media changed so much because of talk radio and Fox News, that the standards of at least attempting to remain unbiased no longer apply? Maybe it's just because they have so much time to kill on 24 hour cable that this is the best way they can make a buck. It just seems strange that in order to find fair and balanced reporting on Hillary Clinton you have to go to Fox News.

Hillary Clinton made an inappropriate remark that was duly reported. She has apologized and the Obama campaign has accepted it. Why then would Meet the Press put together a panel for the purpose of trashing Hillary for a full hour? This is only one example of the over the top coverage of this particular incident, as well as a lot of other coverage excesses. A few weeks ago I listened to a news show in which another panel of experts was fielding questions from callers. The listeners brought up a number of issues in which they expressed concerns about Senator Obama. For the next ten minutes, these experts proceded to defend Senator Obama from each issue, explaining in detail why the callers were incorrect. Were they on the Obama payroll? Is that the role of pundits these days - to choose a candidate and be prepared to recite his talking points at all times? I think journalism, even TV journalism, should be better than that.