Fred Thompson: The Media's Invisible Man
As the results came in tonight from Iowa, it appeared Fred Thompson would come in in third place (as I write, he's still in third).
To my best memory, none of the pundits at Fox News Channel had predicted this week that Thompson would rank that high, yet instead of commenting on Thompson doing unexpectedly well, the pundits at Fox -- when they talked about Thompson at all -- joined Mike Allen of Politico in concluding that a third place finish means Thompson's campaign is at death's door.
At the same time, Allen and the pundits were very enthused about McCain's possible fourth place finish, stating he was in great position for the future.
Say again?
As Rush Limbaugh noted today, the media seem to be falling in line behind a "McCain comeback" story, and they're thus shaping the facts to fit that scenario.
One assumes they are suggesting that McCain's fourth place beats Thompson's third based on projections for how well McCain will do in New Hampshire -- but who's to say that a surging Thompson might not win South Carolina? There are many reasons why he could do very well there.
The continued media refusal to give any serious attention to Thompson's candidacy is baffling. Kathryn Jean Lopez posted an email at The Corner commenting on the lack of positive press coverage for Thompson, even when the news is good.
Meanwhile, at least two Democratic candidates have dropped out tonight. They weren't top contenders from the outset, but it is aggravating that candidates are quitting after a very small number of people in one state vote. This bothered me when the California primary was in June and the primary season was always over before we voted, and it continues to bother me even though this year we're voting in February -- because it's still likely many candidates will be gone in just one month's time.
What a crazy system.
Friday Update: A hopeful pro-Thompson thought from The Corner.
Jawa Report isn't impressed with Politico's long string of hit pieces on Fred. Mike Allen's anti-Thompson, pro-McCain punditry on TV last night was just one of a string of biased reports.
Jim Geraghty quotes a Thompson associate who notes the campaign's "third-tier" coverage from Fox News.
Update: Welcome, readers of Flopping Aces and Race42008!
posted by Laura @ 11:02 PM
5 Comments:
Hi. I'm on a spree seeing who has similar interests on their profiles. I was looking at "cookbooks," when I saw you also are a conservative talk radio news junkie, like me. LOL
Are you a Fred fan? I was at the start, but it seems he has no energy.
I've been listening to Huckabee talk lately. I can see why people love him.
Welcome! Always fun to meet others who share similar interests. :)
I've been interested in Thompson for some time, but have just started to strongly lean his way as it comes down to crunch time. I wonder how much of the "lack of energy" is media fabricated...
Hope you will visit again! Looks like you cover some interesting reading on your site.
Best wishes,
Laura
Its sort've shocking how brazen the MSM has become in pushing their agendas (or candidates...). Its seems in elections past, there was at least an attempt to 'appear' non-partisan and objective but I guess the gloves are off. Meh.
I wonder how much of the "lack of energy" is media fabricated...
An "energetic executive" is what we need but the media's idea of "energetic" and the Founders' idea are significantly different.
I would not give the msm's dictums on that too much credit -remember all that talk about Reagan "sleeping through cabinet meetings"??? Compared to the relentless minutiae-focused approaches of his predecessor and successor, I would prefer a president who "slept through cabinet meetings" even if Reagan did that and he rarely did that in reality.
Thompson is in my top tier of candidate preferences. I would not have a problem voting for him if he can get a fair shake from the msm to present his message. I fail to see what the msm is worried about -both Thompson and Hunter are treated as Tancredo clones when they quite obviously are not.
And though Paul is a complete loon, I think he should be allowed into the debates too -if these candidates are to fall then it should be of their own making, not the media proclaiming, pronouncing, and defining as dogma that they have when primary and caucus season has only just begun.
I'm spending less time with politics now.
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