Home More advice Politics & Law
By early 2004, it was clear to me that the media coverage of John Kerry was more favorable and extensive than that of Howard Dean and the other Democratic candidates. Now, four years later, I would have to agree with Hillary Clinton's campaign that Barack Obama has by far the most favorable media coverage of any 2008 presidential candidate. I mean, not only is Obama the media darling while the media is hard on Clinton, he's also featured on countless "unofficial" internet ads (see the "Yes We Can" and "Obama Girl" videos, which enjoy enormous popularity). Obama also enjoys much more support on Myspace and Facebook than Clinton. This despite Clinton's willingness to explain her position to a much greater degree.
I admit that I'm a Democrat and it concerns me now two years in a row to see such a clear tampering with the nomination process by the media. John McCain is a very popular candidate and while I respect him, I would rather not see him as president and I don't see Obama actually defeating him, while I think Clinton could. The media got it wrong with Kerry, and I think they're wrong on Obama too.
Is anyone else, especially other Democrats, bothered by this, or do you not think it's really a problem?
The reason for the viral videos & things about Obama, as well as the greater facebook / myspace, etc, coverage...is that his campaign, as a whole, has been much more technology centric.
Funny story:
We (funadvice) invited the three leading Dem & Republican candidates to FunAdvice. Not a one replied.
However, Obama added my email to his newsletter which I viewed as spam. You can't be that aggressive & not get some kind of attention :) He was the only one of the six that really upset me due to his aggressive marketing.
It seems to have had an impact though...and yes, I think he seems the media favorite as well, even though the last count puts them at tied for the position.
I think if people are interested enough in politics and who they want as president.. they won't neccessarily follow the media coverage or let it sway who they want to vote for. If they are interested enough they are probably already doing research on the candidates to decide who they want. I don't watch tv media coverage just because it is zoomed in on one candidate.
