Recently we had a panel of journalists speak at our school about the 2008 Presidential Election.  All of them couldn’t hide their liberal bias (in fact, one of them called the Republicans racist for their illegal immigration policies, but I will save that for another post.)  What struck me was their absolute arrogance and belief that no matter who the Democratic Candidate is that they are going to win.  Sure, they paid some lip service to John McCain, but they acted like the Republican party is dead.
    What made them take these positions?  The record turnout on the Democratic side in the Texas primary, of course.  Well, since Texas is actually relevant in the hotly contested primary on the Democratic side and NOT the Republican side, I would say the reason behind that is pretty obvious.  If I were the Democrats, I’d be frightened that not even 3 million people turned out in a huge state.  The Republican primary was already decided and there was a record turnout for Republicans in the state anyway.  And let us not forget the crossover voters who wouldn’t vote for either Hillary or Obama in a general election.
    They all had this sense of entitlement that implied after 8 years of a Republican President that a Democrat is going to win.  Of course, I shouldn’t expect any less from a group of old liberals.  Contrary to popular belief, they actually have 2 very weak candidates.  Obama is a liberal Mike Huckabee without the experience.  Clinton has to deal with more baggage than American Airlines.  Insisting, as these ‘journalists’ did that this battle is going to make them stronger is wishful thinking.  Someone’s going to get hurt.  And neither are going to be prepared for November.
    To use an example, the 1983 playoff game between the Chargers and Dolphins should have made the Chargers stronger.  But once they were worn down by that great game, they still had to go into significantly different conditions to face Cincinnati the next week.  The Bengals went on to the Super Bowl, and the Chargers of that year are just remembered for winning the greatest playoff game of all time.  But they didn’t win the championship.  There are still 8 months left in this contest, and neither are going to get out of this unscathed.
    The New York Times knows this.  That’s why they keep trying to hit McCain.  They know that the fate of the election is actually now in his control.
    Remember 2006 when the Democrats said they were going to win in a blowout?  Sure, they picked up some seats, but most of the elections are extremely close.  The Republicans are no less popular (and might actually be more popular) than they were in 2006.
    The journalists also pointed to the fundraising figures.  But people are picking sides in the Obama-Clinton battle and giving money to either side.  The RNC has a significant fundraising advantage over  the DNC.  Then just imagine what happens if Howard Dean has to spend what little money they have on a Florida or Michigan re-vote.
    At the very end of this spin session, one of the journalists announced that we should not get prime time cable news confused with real journalism.  And you shouldn’t.  Cable news has more than one point of view represented.