A Landslide Against the Media
News organizations tried to prop Biden and Harris up. How did that work out?
ET
The recriminations are flying, as Barack Obama’s and Joe Biden’s forces go to war over who’s more to blame for Democrats’ humiliating defeat Tuesday. So long as the left is pointing fingers, let it direct a big, fat digit at the outfit that played the biggest role in losing it this election: the U.S. media.
That isn’t the conventional wisdom, which holds that the press’s naked shilling for Democratic candidates amounts to an in-kind campaign contribution. And no doubt the media’s ceaseless attacks on Donald Trump and Republicans did help round up some undecided voters. Yet the boosterism for Kamala Harris & Co. came at a far bigger cost: A narrative full of fantasy enabled Democrats to live in a world disconnected from the mood and worries of the country.
Among the most damaging of these fantasies was the four-year press assurance that Joe Biden was sharp as a tack. Even video evidence in June of a confused president wandering aimlessly at the Group of Seven was met with claims that the footage was “edited,” “lacking context,” “misleading.” Only when the Trump-Biden debate made Mr. Biden’s decline undeniable did the media drop the charade. Then it immediately turned to recast Ms. Harris—a presidential primary loser turned unpopular vice president—as a political genius and the obvious savior of the Democratic Party. How’d that work out?
In a world with a competent press, Mr. Biden’s failing constitution would have been front-page news in time for Democrats to confront the unpleasant (yet manageable) reality of needed change. A primary would have produced a tested nominee, likely one less encumbered by the Biden record. As Harris adviser (and Obama veteran) David Plouffe complains that Team Biden created a “hole” too “deep” for his sidekick to dig out of, don’t forget the industry whose job it is to call out political fiction, but instead wrote the “Joe Is Fine” novel.
Of course Democrats are shocked that they lost. In a world with a functioning press, the politician who tries to make lemonade out of inflation, crime or border chaos, is slapped as out of touch. In Biden-Harris world, the press printed their spin as gospel. Four years of headlines insisted Americans live in one of the “strongest economies” ever. Crime rates were falling. Red-state governors engaged in “stunts” to magnify the migrant problem. The biggest issues facing our country were climate, systemic racism, abortion and transgender rights.
The fantasies were maintained right up to the election. Even as Republicans pointed to surging voter registration, unprecedented early votes and notable demographic shifts, the headlines insisted that Kamala would claim victory on a wave of abortion-and-Liz Cheney-loving suburban women, comedian-condemning Puerto Ricans, and white dudes impressed by Tim Walz’s camo hat. No wonder Tuesday was a surprise. The America that voted for Mr. Trump has never even made an appearance in these outlets.
Democrats now face a choice. On one side are party grown-ups who are publicly acknowledging this defeat as a sharp voter rebuke of progressive policies. They are admitting that lawfare was a mistake, that the party is culturally out of touch, that lunatic interest groups are running the asylum. They worry about a growing political realignment that threatens the party’s future. That we are hearing these voices is an improvement over the past eight years.
Yet on the other side are the progressive architects of the mess, already rationalizing away the night as a function of racism, sexism and America’s supposed love affair with “fascism.” They mark the loss down to “tactical” errors—the failure to court pro-Palestinian voters, a misallocation of door-knockers, poor timing in ad buys. The party just needs better “messaging” of its “historic achievements.”
No surprise, the media is already running with this latter narrative, again providing the party a soothing alternative to the blunt reality of its ideological fail. Will Democrats be lulled again? If they really want to reconnect with voters, they will at some point have to break with what is proving to be a debilitating feedback loop.
The media itself was put on sharp notice this cycle, pushed aside by podcasters and influencers whom voters now trust more to provide reality. Nearly 50 million people have listened to Joe Rogan’s interview of Mr. Trump, as it provided a more accurate assessment of the GOP nominee’s positions and the concerns of the country than “news” articles about the “authoritarian” intent on destroying the climate, abortion rights, democracy—choose your obsession.
The Founders accorded the press the honor of inclusion in the First Amendment in recognition of the vital role it plays in keeping pols honest. The industry is meant to ride herd on government—on both sides—in the interest of the people. That job is essential—not only for transparency, but to provide self-deluding politicians constant gut checks as to how their policies sit with the nation. When that guardrail falls, the nation suffers, but so too does the party that gets to live the make-believe.
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