Oddly, the Left is ticked at the Media

Well the Right has long bemoaned the media as liberally slanted. Study after study showed this. One recent example was the reporting on the Iraq war. When things were bad, the evening news was soaked in it – but when things in Iraq went well the media decided to focus on a hard-hit economy. In other words, do whatever you can do to get Republicans out of office. Surveys show that roughly 65-75% of media people are Democrats

But in a new story, the Democrats are ticked at the media.

“Gone are the days when only the right howled about bias and malice from network anchors and star political reporters. What began roughly a decade ago as frustration from Democrats over coverage of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment and adulterous escapades has morphed into an informally organized rapid response network, ready to pounce on any and all perceived media slights against Barack Obama.”

The issue: reporters have to choose between their generally left-leaning political views and advancing their careers as “moderate and trustworthy” reporters.

Saturday Night Live really hit it on the head last winter when it highlighted how slanted the media was towards Obama during the Democratic primary. Another factor was the Rev. Wright scandal which should have destroyed Obama’s campaign against Clinton – but the media waited to really cover this until there was no way for Clinton to win. Over the summer the media continued to flock to Obama and at one point hundreds of reporters surrounded Obama while only a small handful reported on McCain.

So now the media is trying to play fair – and hardcore liberals hate it.

And it’s really coming back to hurt Obama. Why? Well McCain has always been considered a moderate and Republicans knew it. After months of McCain, Republicans are finally getting used to “Moderate McCain” and are started to unite around him. Obama, who won the Democratic primary by being more liberal than Clinton, is running a more moderate general campaign in order to win over the votes of political independents.

Can you see why liberals lefter than Left are ticked?

Of course, there are some ultra right-wing Republicans, I just don’t seem them as radical as the Radical Left. While Obama is the most liberal politician in the Senate, he is doing the right thing by moving to the political center. Neither side can win by gearing up the base; they have to win the independent vote as well. The media knows this and is emphasizing his move to the center.

One thing stands in the media’s way: new Left-wing blogs that grew up after the failed presidential bid of John Kerry in 2004 are slamming the media for any attempt at fairness in the election season. Let’s face it, an honest reporter should be critical of both McCain and Obama, but any criticism of Obama in the Left-leaning media is attacked en masse by liberal bloggers.

Richard Cohen, a Left-leaning columnist who broke ranks with Democrats over the Iraq war, said that “If you’re a little bit critical of Barack Obama, you get really a pie of vilification right in the face,” Cohen said, adding that his liberal critics “were born too late, because they would have been great communists.” One liberal columnist, known as the “blogfather”, said he’s been treated as a traitor to the Democratic Party for supporting Clinton over Obama. Why? Because Obama is more Left than Clinton. And while that’s hard to imagine, it’s why the majority of Leftist bloggers loved Obama and hated Clinton.

A friend of mine told me when comparing McCain, Clinton, and Obama, our choice to make is between a Democrat, a Socialist, and a Communist (respectively speaking).

And that’s one reason why McCain needs to pick a conservative running mate.