As soon as Barack Obama was elected in November 2008, corporate media began to mount a campaign meant to bring the tax-cutting Republicans back into power. During all of 2009, corporate media members relentlessly pursued the opinions of out-of-power Republicans. Republican and conservative guests outnumbered Democratic ones on teevee "news" programs. The Sunday shows were dominated by the likes of McCain and Lieberman. Even the oh-so-liberal MSNBC couldn't stop talking about Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin, while repeatedly entertaining the question, "can Republicans come back?"
Conservatives won't agree with any of that because Rush taught them long ago that the media…or as Sister Sarah calls it, "lamestream media",….is just so liberal. That's one of the many false beliefs conservatives cling to like a security blanket. But conservatives haven't been factually correct about much lately….and they are not correct about the media, either. Not even close.
Let the following be an object lesson of sorts….
Here are the facts as of this moment about this fall's midterm election: In the Senate, 6 Republican senators are either retiring or not running for re-election, while 2 Democratic senators are retiring or not running. In the House there are 14 Republican House members retiring or not running for re-election, while 10 Democratic House members are retiring or not running again. In governor's races, there are 5 retiring or not running Republican governors and only 3 retiring or not running Democratic governors.
Any non-Villager fourth grader could read those facts and conclude that MORE Republican office holders are retiring or not running this November than there are Democrats. An objective journalist, or reporter, just based on the facts of how many Republican incumbents are retiring or not running again as compared to retiring Democrats…..might write that the already-in-the-minority Republicans look poised to slip even further into the minority this November.
But no. Today's Akron Beacon Journal, bottom of the fold "reporting" by professionals Steven Thomma and David Lightman of McClatchy is headlined…."Dems facing trouble heading into elections."
Remember what the facts are:
Republican sitting senators retiring…..6
Democratic sitting seantors retiring….2
Republican sitting House members retiring…..14
Democratic sitting House members retiring…..10
Based on those factual and current numbers, McClatchy's guys write this…..
"Now, the country seems to be yelling back, "No, you can't," and putting the Democrats on the defensive heading into this year's elections,.."
And here is the "basis" on which the journalists made their assumptions….
Its candidates lost key statewide races in New Jersey and Virginia in November, and now high-profile Democrats such as Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter and Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd say they'll retire rather than risk losing in the fall.
There's no mention AT ALL of the Republican retirements OUTNUMBERING that of the Democrats. No mention. There's no mention of the two Democrats who WON House elections, one in California, one in New York's 23rd last November….which added to the Democrats majority. No mention of the Democrats' win in New York's 23rd being the first for Democrats in 100 years…..no mention.
"…the Democratic Party's push to build a durable political majority is stalling.
That's evident in national polls, such as a recent Gallup survey that found an average of 49 percent of Americans calling themselves Democrats last year, the first time in four years that the party has dropped below the majority level.
That was still better than the Republicans, but the Democratic edge was shrinking, not growing."
Remember…the catalyst for McClatchy's "liberal" writers to write this piece was Dodd and Dorgan's announcement that they were not running for re-election.
Even though there are more Republican incumbents retiring than Democrats….and even though Americans call themselves Democrats by a 49%-27% margin over identifying with the GOP…..a TWENTY-TWO POINT MARGIN…..even though all those facts are out there……this is how the "liberal" McClatchy writers put it….
"…the Democratic edge was shrinking, not growing."
Not only is the main corporate media not liberal, in general, but as 2010 kicks off it seems the Republican-biased media will now grasp at the thinnest of straws, or no straws at all, in their quest to help conservatives regain power.
No matter what the "news" is, no matter what the facts are…..it's always bad for Democrats and always good for Republicans.
If corporate media was really "liberal"…..would they act like that?
