The mainstream media has finally gotten what it always wanted - two celebrity candidates. For the past year now, the MSM has been reporting on the Democratic field as if it were a two-person race, even when there were other more experienced, and some might argue more qualified candidates running, e.g. Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Joe Biden, Senator Chris Dodd and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
The focus on Clinton and Obama, to the exclusion of the others, didn't change after Edwards finished second in Iowa. In fact, it got even worse. The fact that Biden and Dodd dropped out after a caucus was held in just one small, mostly White state only reinforced the perception that the media was right to ignore their campaigns. After the first primary in New Hampshire, Richardson dropped out. And for the most recent debate in Las Vegas this Tuesday, only three candidates were even invited, even though Kucinich has not dropped out and a judge had initially ruled that he should be included. Incidentally, in a focus group conducted after Las Vegas, most voters felt Edwards won. The media didn't care.
Now that Edwards has been poorly received in Nevada, the media has what it promised all along: a race between a woman and a black man. Certainly the candidacies of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are historic and provide sufficient reason to celebrate, but what about the voters in the other 47 states? Their choices were narrowed down from eight to two before they knew much about the candidates who were running.
What does it say about the nominating process when the only candidates taken seriously by the corporate media raised over $100 million before a single primary vote was cast?
There are just three scheduled debates left before Super Tuesday, February 5:
- Myrtle Beach, SC next Monday
- Boca Rotan, FL on Sun, Jan 27
- Hollywood, CA on Thu, Jan 31.
