The Media Gods have decided. The pile-on is afoot.
After Iowa - an odious, undemocratic, unrepresentative caucus state - and before any actual primary votes have been cast, the real political bosses of our time - the Washington Political Media - have produced a mania resulting in a 20 percentage point bounce for Obama.
Bill Clinton is right. There is a "Press Hysteria" that may well sweep Obama to the nomination.
The real primaries, with real votes, have not yet begun, and it's all over if you listen to the media High Priests. Anderson Cooper CNN monday nite, "Obama is no longer a candidate. He is a movement."
The new political bosses, the media insiders, including the New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and CNBC, have all declared a winner - Obama - and a loser - Hillary. This is not democracy. The people are not deciding.
The Media are not reporting the news; they are driving the stories and the votes. The Washington Post had the headline, "Clock Ticking as Clinton Struggles." The media have become a bunch of cheerleaders for Barack Obama, who is the best story around.
Dan Abrams on CNBC, a sole voice in the wilderness of the Obama onslaught, called the hysteria, "a self-fulfilling prophesy."
"Many inside the Washington Media are spreading the fever. Delivering Clinton's eulogy, savoring Obama's every word. His rallies."
"It sure feels like a close game being called in the third inning by the political establishment media."
Barack Obama may be a great candidate, and may evolve into a great President. He certainly has a magical presence that speaks to the music of politics, but he is not the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Where is the Beef? As they once said of Gary Hart,
Obama has never shown any kind of Profile in Courage. When has he ever gone against his liberal base? When did he fight against the corporations in the Senate? When did he take on the banking interests as they made bankruptcy more difficult for the poor and middle class? When did he stand up and courageously vote for a women's right to choose? When did he take on the Health Care Establishment? Why did he register a "present" vote in the Senate when the Republicans and conservatives voted to censure Moveon.org?
Obama has never done anything politically courageous. He has never been A Real Change Agent. Maybe this ambiguity, this I-am-the-savior-and-above-ordinary politics is the best strategy... Be a nebulous, empty vessel with messianic uplifting speeches. Never say anything risky. Never do anything risky. Shelby Steele, also of mixed race, writes in Time this week that Obama is, "a bargainer, not a challenger."
I might well advocate this tactic as a smart move, politically, but dangerous in the general election.
But Really! All the Democratic candidates are change agents. I personally like Dennis Kucinich's positions. Bill Richardson is great, and Biden and Dodd are very smart. Edwards has been saying some very profound things.
All of them would change Bush's policies.
All the Democratic candidates would have a great chance to defeat any Republican. The Generic Democratic would beat the Generic Republican by 20 percentage points, according to the polls.
The only one who might not is Obama.
Then again, he might be the one who could win the biggest against the Republicans, if he can keep his walk-on-water act going against a vicious onslaught that will try and take him apart, like nothing he has ever seen before. The Republicans are ruthless.
The Washington Media Insiders should not be dictating and controlling our democracy.
jfleetwood@aol.com
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