Given the near absence of media coverage John McCain has received for multiple referrals to Czechoslovakia (split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia fifteen years ago), his assertion Iraq borders Pakistan, mixing up Sudan and Somalia, Sunnis and Shia, and the Green Bay Packers with Pittsburg Steelers, I would make an argument the press is giving John McCain a free pass. It would seem someone ought to question how the Senator can tout his foreign policy expertise when he clearly has trouble with a world map.
Nevertheless, there are those that are certain it's Obama that's been getting preferential coverage from a doting media. Former Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers does some analysis at Vanity Fair:
So
far, the answer is clear: Obama is The One. In the first quarter of the
general election, he has simply gotten more and better coverage than
McCain. For those who need more evidence than the enormous press
entourage that is treating Obama’s current trip not like the campaign
swing of a presidential candidate, but like the international debut of
the New American President, there are several new studies which help
quantify the disparity.
There
are lot of “explanations” for the lopsided coverage: Obama is new and
what’s new is “news.” As the first African-American to run a serious
race, let alone win a major party’s nomination, Obama is running an
historic campaign. Obama has created a “movement,” and Americans are
simply more interested in him than in his opponents. Obama is running a
smarter campaign, and he knows how to court media attention. It’s also
true that intense media coverage is a double- edged sword: the
attention is great when things are going well, but it can doom a
candidate if and when things start to go badly. And so far, Obama has
had way more good days than bad days. Each of those rationales is
largely true—and somewhat less than satisfying.
At the end of the day, this will be a long campaign, and what’s true in July may not be true in November. But what seems indisputably true—to quote another dazzling young Democrat who received disproportionately favorable media attention, John Kennedy—is this: “Life is unfair.”
Even ABC News Jake Tapper gets it:
After
all, if there's any senator who has benefited from a generally friendly
media it's McCain. His opponents in 2000 and 2008, his senate
colleagues, and Democrats have been complaining for years that the
media gives McCain a free ride.
This is like Britney Spears complaining that the hype around Miley Cyrus far exceeds her talent.
Perhaps if John McCain were to inject some excitement into his campaign or develop some interesting new policy....
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