The Media - Their Own Worse Enemy

Jonathan Chait, senior editor of The New Republic, draws a parallel between the candidates Quayle and Palin based on the effort to identify media criticism as an element to strenghten the candidate's standing:-

Quayle is remembered as a disaster. But, during the campaign, his supporters believed that media skepticism of Quayle had rallied ordinary Americans to his side. Dukakis "looks down on his fellow Americans. He looks down on Bush and Dan Quayle as--in his word--'pathetic,' " wrote right-wing columnist Michael Novak. "Thus, the 'feeding frenzy' of the press in New Orleans stirred a national backlash. It united all the scorned of America as one."

Conservatives are saying the same things about Palin. "Elite opinion," insisted McCain strategist Steve Schmidt, "looks down with contempt at people who are not part of their world." As Palin herself said, "If you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone." To the right, the mere fact that the press questions her fitness proves that she is one of them...Her lack of qualifications turns out to be her greatest qualification.

Is this backwards thinking or an honest attempt to tell the media off, that they are their own worse enemy?


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