I was initially angry with Rachel Maddow re: her repeated assertion of a McSame win...

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

but now I thoroughly understand. Rachel Maddow is right!!

For a few weeks now Rachel Maddow has been inciting anger in me and many others for her defeatist attitude towards Barack Obama. For weeks, she has been suggesting that Obama will lose this election. I could not understand why she continued to make this assertion. I assumed that like many liberal "purists," she was upset with Obama regarding his FISA vote, his support for some faith-based initiatives, and the fact that he is in talks with Evan Bayh and Sam Nunn. For awhile I thought that perhaps she was projecting her anger onto Obama, predicting that his rightward stance on these issues would cost him the election. However, I was wrong. She makes perfect sense...

For the past few days I have been listening more intently to Rachel and now understand why she feels the way she does. Rachel is now considered a member of the mainstream media, and as such, she has firsthand knowledge about how things work. To her chagrin, she has had to deal with David Gregory and Pat Buchanan, including a host of so-called pundits who are much more interested in increasing ratings and keeping this race tight. Quite frankly, this entails ignoring McSame when he screws up and making light of every misstep that Obama has committed.

But the most convincing theory that Rachel puts forth is that the heightened focus on Obama by the media is good for McSame and bad for Obama. She explains that as long as the perception persists that Obama is somehow treated with "kid gloves," with all the focus on him, McSame benefits because all of his mistakes, gaffes, and outlandish lies are ignored by the M$M. McSame has always benefited from a mainstream press that will cover for him when he makes mistakes, as we've seen with the CBS fiasco, the despicable 'ape rape' joke, claiming credit for the GI bill, and co-optation of Obama's foreign policy regarding the Iraq timetable, unilateral diplomacy in N. Korea and Iran, and military actions in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Two other problems that Obama may confront: (1) Obama-fatigued and (2) the media-driven meme that American voters are simply not warming up to Obama, as evidenced by the close polls. Voters may simply get tired of hearing about Obama, creating a backlash. In addition, by focusing on tight polls and questioning why Obama can't close the gap, voters may begin to feel that Obama is unelectable and poses too much of a risk.

I have my own theory that builds on Rachel's: this media frenzy over Obama is by design. The media is purposefully covering Obama much more than it is covering McSame, not only to protect him from himself, but so that the scrutiny of Obama's every word and action shapes public opinion, diminishes his character, and renders him unelectable. The media attention is done *on purpose*.

The corporate media fully understands that Obama is reluctant to go on the offense, so they write and present the narrative for him. Democrats continue to suffer because they allow the M$M and the Repukes define who they are. Obama promised that he wouldn't be swiftboated. Well, that's exactly what is happening and he hasn't fought back forcibly enough. McSame and the Repukes are getting away with dirty politics because they know that the M$M will cover for him as they have always done.

I'm not sure what the Obama camp can do to control the media narrative because it is too powerful to overcome. Even Democrats, to this day, have bought into the notion that John Kerry was weak and a flip-flopper. But if the M$M isn't stopped, and if McSame is not completely vetted, Obama will lose this election.

Rachel Maddow is right. She is so right about this!!