Letters to the Editor
FredrickBernanke
Published Letters: 170 Editor's Choice: 8
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"Media Adoration?" Are We Talking About McCain Again?
[Read the article: Making sense of Super Tuesday]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Media adoration" is a term that has been heaped with scorn on John McCain by his rivals, and in the Republican camp I think it has does him some minor harm.
Now you throw the term Obama's way and wonder if media bias in his favor may actually backfire against him.
I have no idea and, frankly, think the question a non-starter.
What does interest me is the fact that two men with such different personalities, of such different physical appearance (not the color of their skins), one a hot, sometimes loose lipped firebrand and the other as smooth and studied in his speech as an Oxford Lierature professor, can both be so attractive to the pooh bahs in the media.
Obama, like JFK, is a natural for the "cool" medium of television. Thin, strikingly handsome, his controlled voice exuding the thoughts of a mind totally under control. He's the antithesis of the hollering, wild-eyed Adolf Hitler we see on the old newsreels and wonder how a nutcase that that could have taken over Germany. Obama plays the camera like Tom Brady plays quarterback, especially when nobody's in his face threatening to knock him down.
Johnny Mac, however is a different cat. He's surely no wild-eyed Fuhrer, but he's a feisty little bastard, and seemingly proud of it. His demeanor, his less than movie star stature all portend a lousy television presence, the kind of guest the news media hosts grudgingly bring on for a few quick moments after the stars have had their say, like Johnny Carson used to do.
But no, McCain's is the star with Mathews et al. Why? I think it's because he always holds the possibility of actually making news when he appears. It might be something he hastily blurts out to a seemingly innocuous question; or maybe his red faced, furrowed forehead response to a question he felt unfair---he's a natural news-maker. And news-people, even if they have become essentially talk show hosts in disguise, like news-makers.
Mac will continue to make news; Obama will continue to do his Tom Brady; and the media will continue to adore them both.
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McCain and the Economy (Stupid)...The Conservatives Are the Least of His Worries
[Read the article: Why McCain provokes paranoia on the right]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This is from an AP news story today reporting on the fact that, though in Washington, McCain did not vote on the economic stimulus program before Congress.
"Asked Wednesday morning to comment on the pending vote, McCain talked about the need to pass a stimulus measure quickly. Later, on his plane, he said he was not sure he would make the vote.
"I haven't had a chance to talk about it at all, have not had the opportunity to, even," McCain said. "We've just been too busy, focused on other stuff. I don't know if I'm doing that."
The Senator, if he wants to win the general election, might want to pick up a copy of Samuelson's Economics 101 pronto.