On the way to the polls --

We run across lots of opinionated TV people who are routinely critical of Presidential candidates. Today's post focuses on two of my former favorites, with whom I increasingly less patient. By way of Avedon at Eschaton this headline from Crooks and Liars grabbed my attention: "Tim Russert Accuses Senator Dodd Of Using FISA Hold For Political Purposes." I saw this broadcast and was astonished at how unvarnished Russert's bias towards Senator Dodd sounded.

Clicking the remote more often these days -- Matthew Yglesias goes even further at The Atlantic.com, coining the word Russertism to signify this kind of "gotcha" journalism. I am one of those regular Sunday morning TV wonks Yglesias describes who now eschews Meet the Press. I may soon add MSNBC's Hardball to that list, though that will be more difficult for me. For Tim Russert and his buddy Chris Matthews, it is all about criticizing and second-guessing the candidates. I am saddened by the arrogance that punditry fame injects into a couple of my formerly favorite reporters. The competition for ratings and for company profits from commercial news/entertainment must be horrendous. Otherwise these two men would not have become so lost from their moorings.
Second guessing Hillary Clinton -- Almost everybody with a brain cell, including me, has an opinion about how Senator Clinton should run, as a matter of fact. Chris Matthews even wrote a speech for her so that she could recover from her perceived defeat at the latest televised debate. I do not happen to think that she is being overly defensive about this. It is a subtle way to remind everyone that she is the front-runner, a natural target for those Democratic candidates clearly behind in the polls. Because momentum is so overly important neither Clinton nor her fellow candidates are as able to run on the issues.
Put off by the horse race format, on the way to the polls I will make my pick among the Democratic candidates. I reserve the right to choose from among the best, rather than to find other reasons. I hope I can stay on track, despite the TV coverage that is so distracting from the real issues that will differentiate the candidates for me.
(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)
My “creativity and dreaming” post today at Making Good Mondays is about China's space program.
Technorati tags: news news and politics politics television Democrats media