The American Spectator

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Media Matters

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THE LIST OF NEW critics of Hillary reads like a who's who of liberal pundits. Their criticisms are varied and their tone ranges from the helpful suggestion of Jonathan Alter that she should exit the race in high style to Richard Cohen's more blunt assessment: "Should Clinton come on strong? Should she go negative? Should she be upbeat and positive? Here's my answer: Stop campaigning."

Fellow Postie Eugene Robinson bristled at the notion that unfair press coverage was her biggest problem, noting that it "wasn't the media that decided she should take for granted all those states that Barack Obama has been winning." Even her hometown columnists Maureen Dowd had to remind Mrs. Clinton of "some truisms of politics that her husband understands well: Sunny beats gloomy. Consistency beats flipping. Bedazzling beats begrudging. Confidence beats whining."

And in words that could have been penned by any conservative blogger, Frank Rich wrote, "This is the candidate who keeps telling us she's so competent that she'll be ready to govern from Day 1. Mrs. Clinton may be right that Mr. Obama has a thin resume, but her disheveled campaign keeps reminding us that the biggest item on her thicker resume is the health care task force that was as botched as her presidential bid."

THE PUNDITS NOW SEE the object of their great sympathy and affection, Obama, as the target of what the New York Times described as a "kitchen sink fusillade" directed against favored candidate. Suddenly, the Clinton tactics are intolerable, dishonest and, they hope, inept.

There are some lessons to be learned here, aside from the obvious confirmation that the press has been enabling the Clintons in their behavior for years and that this media revolt really must mean the fall of the Clintons is upon us.

First, much of the reaction is intensely personal. If you treat people like dirt, they are not going to cut you much slack, at least once they are reasonably certain you won't be president. When the press starts grumbling this week, as they started to do, that Obama is not as accessible or not as interesting to chat with as they would like, loud alarm bells should go off in the Obama camp.

Second, when a hated figure falls from grace there is no one to break her fall. Many politicians lose and many stories are written in advance of defeat predicting their demise, but there are few instances one can recall in which media figures took such delight in predicting, analyzing and even trying to hasten a politician's demise. The closest example: Richard Nixon.

Finally, conservatives should be under no illusions. We are entering the general election and it would be nice to think that the media, having thrown Clinton under the bus, will now begin an exhaustive and probing appraisal of Obama's record.

With pressure from conservative and new media there will no doubt be increased scrutiny but the liberal media, having dispensed with the villainess in their drama now has their prince charming. If there is a case to be made against him it will be up to John McCain and conservative media.

The MSM, for now, is done with attacking Democrats.

topics:
Health Care, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton