No matter how much Romney screws up, the media will maintain his credibility...

[kentuck]

and his electability. They will make sure his polls keep him in shot of the Presidency. Why?

Because they are the establishment and he is the establishment candidate. He protects their position and lot in life. If they decide he is their man, they will protect him at all costs and will promote him with their propaganda as the best person to be the next President.

Excuse me if I sound so cynical. But I have little faith in the media of this country. Romney could get away with murder at this time. He is on a crusade of lies. Multiple times he has taken Obama's comments out of context and lied about what the President has said. And the media has not called him on it. In fact, they have helped him promote his lies. This is not standard procedure in a political campaign. There is a lot of hyperbole and exaggeration that candidates can get away with but as a general rule, they are not permitted to outright lie.

So, I don't think these gaffes at the Olympics mean very much at all. If he can get away with not showing his tax returns, he can get away with whatever he wants. It does not bode well for the election in November unless something changes dramatically with our media. This is just my opinion.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Not to forget the average attention span of an American consumer of media is less than a gnat.

[HipChick]

2. The US media might,but the UK press have not spared him

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. Can we import the British press and kick ours out?

[randome]

3. How have they maintained his credibility?

Nearly everyone on the planet thinks he's a doofus! That includes media talking heads! Even Karl Rove!

This just sounds like defeatism.

And he's not 'getting away' with not showing his tax returns. There is no law that says he must and he has taken a shellacking in the polls and in general public opinion because of it.

[kentuck]

5. "a shellacking in the polls"?

I don't think we have seen a shellacking. From what I hear, it's anybody's game. It is only defeatism if we permit the media to continue letting Romney lie incessantly.

Yes, he's "getting away" with not showing his tax returns. They are more relevant than other candidates of the past, simply because of his money in the Caymans and foreign accounts.

[Cosmocat]

25. The mere fact that he "polls" within a few points of President Obama proves this point

He already has had 100 different incidents that would have ended the campaign for any democrat.

Heck, Howard Dean had a simple moment of genuine emotion and it ended his career as a politician.

The OP is spot on, and it is something that I posted a couple dozen times now when everyone was in a tizzy because Romney just blew his campaign.

The pattern is clear, and it is not just Romney, but ANY republican - they ignor, downplay or equilize with the "they are all the same" 90 percent of the disasters he has/will make and will blow up some innane stupid BS for the president to equalize any thing he does that they actually call for the disaster he is.

Three weeks ago, the president scored the biggest political victory of the decade when the SC upheld the AHCA. Somehow a MASSIVE blow to the republicans was turned into a positive for them, and a negative for the President. Romney managed to uptick in the polls after it.

Just a simple statement of reality.

They are going to keep it close, and hope something happens in October that lets Mittens squeek in.

[DCBob]

4. Regardless I dont think that will help him.

There is an accumulative affect of all these blunders. Once people begin to view Romney as a doofus then he's finished. We are nearing that point.

[kentuck]

7. I doubt that anyone has changed their minds.

Both sides have their partisan supporters and they can rationalize their support no matter what happens to their candidate. Most analysts say that there is 5-10% in the middle that has not made up their minds because they haven't been paying attention. If they start to notice these blunders, then Romney could be in trouble. I really don't think much has changed at this time.

[DCBob]

8. Clearly its a small group 5-10% that hasnt made up their minds.

but this stuff could also impact turnout. If Republicans increasingly see this guy as a doofus then why go through the effort and hassle of voting.

[kentuck]

11. I would agree that it could affect turnout...

But neither side is bubbling over with enthusiasm, in my opinion. I think Obama can still win this election but it will be very close.

[Selatius]

13. But also be wary of underestimating the power of stupid people in large numbers.

In 2010, for instance, the Republicans energized their base on the skin color of that "godless communist" Obama. Democrats didn't have an issue that year that galvanized their base as much as the Republicans did. That, and gay marriage. There were a lot of initiatives on state ballots over the issue of banning gay marriage designed to bring out the religious fundamentalist vote.

[kentuck]

16. And I remember one story in particular...

about how the Tea Party was more educated and more intelligent than the voters at large. The media did not question that story, they only reported it. But watching and listening to the Tea Partiers, one did not get the idea that they were intelligent in the least. They looked like a bunch of heartbroken Republicans who were bamboozled by George W Bush and the promise of balanced budgets, with their silly signs and triangular hats, they fell for the same crap again. Yes, the Repubs were very good at galvanizing their base.

[DCBob]

15. I think you should have said it the other way..

I think Obama can still "lose" this election but it will be very close.

[kentuck]

17. I don't assume he is going to win.

That is why I said I think he can still "win" the election. It depends on your degree of optimism, I suppose?

[DCBob]

18. I dont assume he will win either..

But clearly he is more likely to win than lose... imo.

[Firebrand Gary]

6. Kick & Rec

nt

[barbtries]

9. it's maddening.

i don't watch tv but i listen to NPR. i can't believe how often i find myself yelling at the radio, and slamming in the CD to get away from the bullshit.
by the way you have more faith in the media of this country than i do. mine is gone.

[Selatius]

10. One factor is money. A close race garners higher ratings, but you are largely right, IMHO.

A good horserace is a very close one. The closer the race, the higher the ratings and thus profits. If there is any candidate running for president out there who would threaten profits, then the new mission would be to defeat that candidate through a combination of ridicule, knowingly circulating falsehoods or perhaps half-truths about the target, granting more time to your favored candidates at the expense of the target, and outright character assassination.

For example, if you are a major shareholder in a news outlet and are also a major shareholder in a defense contractor, then it would do you well to try to shape the debate on the news outlet towards pro-war candidates and try to screen out or portray dovish politicians as somehow exposing the country to danger or as somehow unpatriotic. NBC, owned by defense giant General Electric, is one example. If you're of the 1% and own a major stake in a news outlet, of course you'd want lots of airtime given to candidates who favor cutting taxes for rich people over candidates who favor taxing the rich to pay for programs to help everybody else poorer.

Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.

[kentuck]

12. Absolutely right.

Follow the money.

[DCBob]

19. Thats the biggest factor.

The networks make tons of money on elections and much more if they are competive.

[annabanana]

14. They are also HEAVILY INVESTED in a close race.

Always remember folks...

WE are the "product" in this transaction.

[rurallib]

20. that is one of the keys here - the media stands to lose billions of advertising

if it is a blowout.

[ProSense]

21. Case in point:

WSJ commentary: Why Capitalism Has an Image Problem (lame attempt to hype Romney)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021033995

[Swede]

22. This will be one more item on the pro and con sheet of the undecided.

No more,no less.

[Botany]

23. Why the shit hit the fan w/ Mitt in London is because they have a press that really reports

Mitt says stupid stuff here such as to the women in Pittsburgh after he
insulted the cookies he asked them why they were not in the kitchen
"working" or the horrific story of him dressing up as a cop and making
traffic stops but in the states he is being protected by the media.

[BlueinOhio]

24. They say the polls are close

The reason they have to say the polls are close is so on election day they can force the vote on the electronic voting machines and the result will be for whoever they want not for who was elected by the people. There was a lawsuit about the voting machines right at the end of Bush's election and Bush had a gag order put in place so the outcome could not be made public. Around the same time the man who admitted to hacking the machines and was going to testify to congress conveniently died in an airplane crash in Canton OH. Sorry but this issue has never been taken care of and is fact.

[INdemo]

26. And its becoming obvious that they are keeping Rmoney

propped up and they are not trying to hide it. It like the corporate mafia media knows that everything is in place for Rmoney to win.
One example was NBC taking down all the negative stuff then sucking up to Rmoney and is wife in an interview with Laur

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021029895

Yep the dumber the better because all this corporate mafia needs is a puppet...They proved that with 8 years of Bush and 2 stolen elections

[rock]

28. Yes, the media pretends it's a horse race

So it must put everybody through dressage.

[spanone]

29. fox web page hasn't reported one word on romney in europe.

[yardwork]

30. The sad thing is that Obama is also the establishment candidate, just not as extreme as Mitt.

It's not like Obama is a socialist. I wish he were. In order to be elected president of the U.S. a person MUST be acceptable to the establishment. The person MUST curry favor with Big Pharma, Big Gas and Oil, Big Banking, Big Insurance, etc.

But the people running the corporations are so greedy they will support a loser like Mitt just to scrape a few more millions away from the people.

[shcrane71]

31. Citizens United is a cash cow for broadcast media.

With only two parties, the MSM is forced to keep Romney viable. Otherwise, they won't get paid all that $$$ for campaign ads. Nice little scam they've got going there, at democracy's expense.

[Kablooie]

32. But the Republican leaders don't.

They are publically tearing him down.
Romney isn't going to be the Republican candidate.

We'd better prepare for a different candidate that will bring new life and enthusiasm to the Republican party and be a real challenge to Obama.

[OverseaVisitor]

33. Yup

Obama will not only be out spent.

The MSM effect is too huge to overcome.

So it is really down to "Yes WE can"

All this spin is merely to maintain a perception which is highly illogical and hence might be used to substantiated a Mitt victory.

[Bluenorthwest]

34. To me you don't sound cynical, you sound like you think highly of the media in ways that I don't

First, the term 'have faith in the media' just makes me cringe. You use it to mean you think little of them, but you also frame them as having super powers of magical scale. They can not create much less 'maintain' Mitt's credibility even as it is destroyed. That is not cynicism that is magical thinking.

You are claiming, by the way, that a Republican candidate currently in the midst of being an international laughing stock can 'get away with whatever he wants'. Do you think he wanted to be an international laughing stock? Or is the purpose of this piece to attempt to mitigate the fact that Mitt the Twit is a new nick name for our rival? Because to declare that he's gotten away with it and we must fear him on the day he looks like an international twit bothers me.

[kentuck]

36. You sound just like Mitt Romney.

I said "But I have little faith in the media of this country." You changed it to say that I "have faith in the media". You should know better. Unlike Mitt, I don't think you are lying on purpose. You can criticize without lying.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. But then again....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021035364