Media should go easy on Romney — for their own sake

[magical thyme]

Dana Milbank

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/dana-milbank-media-should-go-easy-on-mitt-romney--for-their-own-sake/2012/09/18/a274f24c-01c9-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_story.html

At these times of declining revenue, we in the media need to stay true to our core interests. As the old saying goes, we should “vote the story.” And the better story in this election is clearly President Romney.

Romney’s hit parade — insulting the British, inviting Clint Eastwood to the Republican convention, flubbing Libya and now dismissing half the nation as parasites — may make good copy for the next seven weeks. But if we go easy on the man, we could have four years of gaffes instead of just seven more weeks. Admittedly, this may not be the best outcome for the country, or for the world. But in this race, there is no denying that one man will give us much better material.

President Obama has many talents, but he is not good copy. He speaks grammatically, in fully formed paragraphs. He has yet to produce a scandal of any magnitude. He is maddeningly on message, and his few gaffes — “you didn’t build that,” “the private sector is doing fine” — are inflammatory only out of context. If it weren’t for the occasional relief offered by Joe Biden, the Samaritans would have installed a ­suicide-prevention hotline in the White House press room by now.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Is this real?

Romney will make the USA dust

[magical thyme]

3. he's being satirical

Note the key sentence:

"Admittedly, this may not be the best outcome for the country, or for the world."

Between the lines, it's a reminder of what happened the last time the media supported a candidate based on how much easier and more fun he was for the press.

[grasswire]

2. that's what they said about W

Gore was smart, logical, and boring. Things would go well for the country with him as president.

Bush was a walking cartoon; a gaffe a minute, a hoot and a holler. There would be stories upon stories about him.

And look what happened.

[madville]

4. When it's negative pieces about Romney most of the time, some media can appear biased against him

I have heard it and thought it myself at times going both ways. I just looked at CNN's homepage, 8 headline stories that could be considered negative about Romney/Ryan, 2 positive stories about President Obama. In this news cycle Romney isn't doing very well

They are right though, there really hasn't been much that the media can play gotcha with about Obama. Holder has taken the bulk of the Fast and Furious fallout. Can't really think of much else though.

[jsr]

5. The media went easy on George W. Bush

Big Time.

[magical thyme]

6. I think that is his point. nt