I wasn’t a Howard Dean supporter, although I greatly admired his campaign and I really liked his supporters. It was just my judgment that he didn’t have “what it takes” to win the 2004 election. I sensed a certain tone-deafness. I also sensed a lot of hostility from the establishment of both the Democratic Party and the corporate media. I was also someone who watched Dean’s post-Iowa concession speech with my jaw on the floor. I never made apologies for his self-immolating performance, which I considered to be confirmation of my instincts about the man’s limitations as a national politician. He really did screw up. But, my God, they played that clip of him until his political career was dead and cold and we all had a wake and buried it in the ground. The media assassinated Howard Dean. They killed him. It was completely over the top. So, I hope Roger Simon remembers that when he complains about how Ron Paul’s strong second place finish in the Iowa straw poll is being ignored. Yes, Ron Paul lost by less than a percentage point. And he got no credit for it at all. Bachmann went on five Sunday morning shows; Paul went on none. And Bachmann is easily as crazy as Paul, so what explains it?
It doesn’t matter what explains it. Back in 2000, Bill Bradley raised more money than the sitting vice-president and was ahead in the New Hampshire polls before he lost to Gore in the Iowa Caucuses. The media was so in love with John McCain that they hardly paid attention to Bradley, and in any case they supported Gore. Bradley lost the New Hampshire primary by about 4,000 votes. Then the media forgot he existed because McCain had pulled off the upset that Bradley could not. He still had more money than Gore and there were 48 states remaining to vote, but his campaign was killed from lack of attention.
The truth is the media puts its fingers on the scales in elections all the time. They’re doing it right now to Ron Paul. They openly rooted for McCain over Bush. They probably rooted for Obama over McCain. They always have a preference and they always find some candidate to screw over.
The bigfoot reporters move like a herd. I don’t know if there is anyone giving orders. I think it’s more like a consensus emerges and they find it impossible to deviate from that narrative. Ergo, Ron Paul has no chance to be president but Michele Bachmann is for realz.
