Journalists have already bated the trap for the voters during this primary season. It is especially true concerning the Democratic candidates. There are some signs that voters are willing to play the game. The charges go something like this:
THE CHARGE: The prolonged Democratic race is bringing out negatives that will hurt the Democratic party during the general election in November.
THE FACT: This campaign is no more negative than any past Democratic campaign and in fact has had many civil debates and moments by both candidates.
THE CHARGE: Clinton should drop out for the sake of party unity.
THE FACT: Neither candidate should drop out because neither has won the popular vote nor the necessary 2024 delegates to be the nominee.
THE CHARGE: Clinton is playing the race card.
THE FACT: It is the news journalists who are playing the race card with their one sided reporting, tilted towards Obama.
THE CHARGE: Obama is getting the independent vote and the Republican crossover vote and therefore will be a stronger candidate than Clinton in the general election.
THE FACT: Those voters will vote Republican in the general election if Obama is the Democratic nominee, especially now after the Wright story. Many Republicans also want the weakest Democrat to face in November.
THE CHARGE: Clinton has too many negatives.
THE FACT: Clinton has won more large states with more diverse populations than Obama. The "negative" seed journalists try to plant won't wash.
THE CHARGE: Clinton voted to go to war with Iraq.
THE FACT: The vote and resolution passed by Congress did not tell Bush that he had to go to war with Iraq. The resolution gave the president authority to use that option if war was necessary, but everyone knows that war was not necessary and the president hyped the intelligence. It was Bush's decision to go to war and we also know that he made that decision before the vote by Congress was actually taken. Bush was going to war regardless, that is why he bypassed the U.N. after telling Congress and the people that he would go through it.
THE CHARGE: Obama would not have voted for the resolution.
THE FACT: Obama was not in Congress at the time, so no one knows how he would have voted, including (according to what he said in '04) Obama himself. We do know, however, that since he has been in Congress, he has voted to continue the war, which is an indication on how he would have voted had he been a Senator at the time.
THE CHARGE: Journalists are fair and balanced in their reporting on the campaign.
THE FACT: John McCain is getting a free ride with his negative comments and his ignorance, flip flops, and false statements concerning the war in Iraq and Al Qaeda being trained in Iran. Ditto on his voting record in Congress. A sure sign of their support. Obama is also getting the majority of positive coverage. Journalists excuse him for anything negative his campaign says while holding Clinton to a different standard.
THE CHARGE: Obama can bring unity to the Democratic party; Clinton can not.
THE FACT: Two words: "Reagan-Democrats". They're the crucial swing voters in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, etc. Clinton has won them overwhelmingly; Obama hasn't.
Journalists are trying any trick they can think of to influence the vote of the people for the candidate they themselves support. They did it during the run up to war with Iraq over WMD that did not exist by not seeking the truth from Bush and by promoting the war on their own. They are really a sad bunch. They have no shame or respect for their own profession and certainly do not care about our Democratic process with its checks and balances. They are part of the problem to our political system---a far cry from what our founding fathers had envisioned. Hopefully enough people can think for themselves; that would make all the difference.
