General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe media is a much bigger problem than most Democrats realize...
...or understand.
The establishment, the business sector, own the big media conglomerates and are naturally allied and aligned more closely to Republican politics than with liberal Democrats. That is the premise from which we should start.
That means, if a Democratic candidate for office is intensely disliked by a large number of Republicans, they are at a disadvantage from the beginning. If he or she is controversial and seen as a threat to the establishment media, they are at an even bigger disadvantage. The media will use all means at their disposal to destroy that candidate.
In my opinion, this was the environment in which Hillary Clinton ran her campaign. The media portrayed her as someone she wasn't in reality, but she was so disliked by so many Republicans that were willing to believe every rumor and lie that the media reported about her.
It was a battle that could be won by very few politicians. Hillary Clinton was very, very strong and was seen as a dire threat to Republicans and the mainstream media. They used every tactic in their vast arsenal to destroy her. They investigated everything from Benghazi to emails and went back thirty years in her past to find stories that would cast aspersions on her character.
It was not that she was guilty of any of their charges. It was that she was running against the media and it did not matter who her Republican opponent may have been - even if it was a crude, vulgar, lying, cheating businessman like Donald Trump. She fought valiantly but could not overcome the onslaught by the Republican Trump, with the collusion of the mainstream media.
The lesson to be learned is that if a Democrat is very unpopular with Republicans, for whatever reasons, then they are handicapped before they ever begin their race. Hillary had many scars over the years from those that opposed her. They grew to hate her, with the help of the media.
In the future, Democrats will need to understand that the media will create a distorted view of their opposition over many years, and the longer they are in the public eye, the more they are likely to be intensely disliked by Republican voters. That is the reality which Democrats must deal with.
It does not mean that they will not attack, on personal and character grounds, every Democrat that runs against them. But it is an obstacle that can be overcome if they have not been a target for many, many years. In my opinion, this is a reality which we need to understand better.
Afromania
(2,771 posts)The media, by affiliations has no skin in the game. They can play up whatever particular thing to get ratings and be paid free from the overall effects of their bullshit. For MOST of the media Trump and all of his doings means very little because they have the money to survive the next 4 years.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,024 posts)for the mess we are in.
And it is all because of a basic human failing - that we not only believe what we want to believe, but what is oft repeated.
kentuck
(111,110 posts)...that Hillary was quite respected in the polls before she announced her candidacy. Her "negatives" were only in the 30's. By the end of the campaign, with the media reminding voters daily that she was not "honest or trustworthy", her "negatives" had shot up to almost 60 percent, even worse than Trump's at one time. This was totally the work of the media.
CousinIT
(9,262 posts)Tactical Peek
(1,212 posts)rwheeler31
(6,242 posts)consider as qualifications for the media?
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)had to see him as a perverted, sexist, racist buffoon. Yet, they found a reason to vote for him. For some it came as easy as picking their nose.
napi21
(45,806 posts)election. They GAVE him well over a Billion $$ in FREE face time advertising no other candidate could compete with. Je;;, they aired an EMPTY Podium many times just waiting for him to speak at one of his rallies. I HATE them for thinking "It might not be good for America, but it's GREAT for CBS (and NBC & ABC and the cable new guys). They should not hav been able to promote him so much. It should be illegal under fed. Election Law. "No person or Corp. is permitted to contribute hugh sums of $$ directly to a candidate." IMO the word "money" in that law means anything equal to money. FREE AIRTIME IS = to money to any campaign.
OnDoutside
(19,977 posts)world wide wally
(21,756 posts)The ironic thing is that they may very well have destroyed their long term existence for a short term gain in viewers.
Now the Fascist they worked so hard to get elected may make them completely irrelevant until they only say what he tells them to say.