I’m not big on conspiracy theories nor do I subscribe to the belief that our elections are largely determined by the media so I don’t generally pay much attention to things like the dust-up between Huckabee and Romney. On the other hand I recognize that the media does have a good deal of influence on our culture and political discourse so I thought it would be worth posting this insight from when I was reading some of the recent Huckabee/Romney commentary.
Contrary to the beliefs of some, the media does not care who wins the election. All they care about is having profitable stories to run during the campaign and for the months between presidential election cycles. To prove my point let me run through some stories about each of the front runners in both major parties that would be written if they win in November. (Notice that all but one of them were among the front runners last year.)
Rudy Giuliani –
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- Mr. 9/11
- Where Did All the Social Conservatives Go (even cross-dressing and 3 messy marriages couldn’t stop him)
Hillary Clinton –
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- Wife of Bill Clinton (gives 8 years of history against which to compare her every move)
- First Female President
- The Dynasty (Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton) storyline
John McCain –
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- The Comback Kid
- The Maverick
Barack Obama –
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- First Black President (this is even easier to peddle with the public support of Oprah)
- New Kid in Politics
Mitt Romney –
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- First Mormon President (overcame the anti-Mormon sentiment in the country)
- The Real Executive President (as opposed to GWB)
John Edwards –
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- Five Years of Campaigning Paid Off
(notice that this weak storyline goes with the weakest of the 7 candidates)
Mike Huckabee –
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- The Baptist Minister
- Second Man From Hope (just like Bill Clinton but they will focus more on the minister than the former governor because the former governor is just like Clinton, Bush, and Reagan before him)
- Anti-Mormons Control the GOP (that’s why they play up every religion question whether Huckabee or Romney believe they’re on the record or off)
If anyone thinks I’ve forgotten Fred Thompson among the front runners they should notice that almost nothing is said about him anymore outside of his schedule and where he sits in the polls. They thought he’d make a good story as the evangelicals flocked to him, then they discovered that there was not much real interest in him. This made Huckabee all the more attractive to write about once he started making a mark on the race.
