Journalistic Swoon
28 October 2008 8:51 am by Taylor Marsh
BY TAYLOR MARSH
Today in Slate, Jack Shafer’s “Countdown
to the Obama Rapture” runs down a few of the worst moments of journalistic
spectacle that we’ve seen during the long election months. Of course, since Obama is a Democrat
and he won the nomination, I’ve been thrilled about the traditional press and
their current state of faint that has been obvious. But it’s not a pretty sight
for a profession who is supposed to keep objectivity and critical analysis intact.
Considering how tightly controlled access is to Obama, for good reasons, it
makes the examples Shafer uses all the more interesting. If you’re not getting
access why the positive fluffing?
The windows of this mind-set are provided by Slate’s Jacob
Weisberg, for whom the Obama election is a national referendum on racism;
the New York Times’ Nicholas
D. Kristof, for whom an Obama presidency is an opportunity to “rebrand”
our nation and “find a path to restore America’s global influence”;
E.J.
Dionne, who sees an Obama presidency as representing a chance to “rekindle
the sense of possibility and transformation” in American life; and a
swooning Andrew
Sullivan, who almost a year ago speculated that Obama might be “that
bridge to the 21st century that Bill Clinton told us about.” For Chris
Matthews, of course, the Obama candidacy is a “thrill” going
up his leg, one that will arc over his torso and detonate his head in the
event of a victory.The leading Obama cheerleader among the commentariat is Newsweek’s Jonathan
Alter, whose “erection of the
heart” for the candidate has no match. Alter sees the presidential
election as a world
referendum on the United States and “the
common sense and decency of the American people.” Obama symbolizes
hope over fear, and his election would produce an “Obama
Dividend” that would “blow the minds of people in the Middle
East and other regions, and help restore American prestige.” Obama, Alter
continues, “knows how to think big, elevate the debate and transport
the public to a new place.”
Dare I say it? Commentators and journalists are people too. They’re also Americans.
It’s been a wholly depressing 8 years, with the result a McCain candidacy that
betrayed the very people who made the man, the “maverick.” The press
made this guy and they can unmake him. Some of them also might simply want to
write about someone who seems prepared for the era. The first African American
president, someone who has great gifts of oratory and even a vision, with a
gentlemanly manner, never mind his hard hitting negative ads running ad nauseam,
who reminds them that America still is a dreamer’s paradise.
When I saw Chris Matthew yesterday with a vote sticker on his lapel during
“Hardball” I felt it was almost a taunt. I voted, it stated. Some
journalists not voting for professional reasons, Matthews was making a statement
and it wasn’t that he voted for McCain.
But Obama should also take notice. A press who fawns can turn and when they
do they can take you down with them. Expectations are high among the people
who set them in the public’s eye.
