Journalists love covering a campaign based on policy ideas, rather than issues such as electability and style that they see as lesser or maybe even distasteful. Voters often don’t take this view of politics: Especially since faced with the prospect of a second Trump term, Democratic primary voters have clearly said they care about electability. And voters don’t just divide on clean, ideological lines — cultural attitudes, demographics and other non-policy factors shape each candidates’ coalition. But Warren’s view of politics closely matches the prevailing media view of what politics “should” be.
And, as CNN analyst Harry Enten astutely pointed out, many journalists live near people who fit into what has become Warren’s key demographic — generally upscale, white liberal Democrats — or have some of those attributes themselves. Enten correctly noted that that dynamic could lead the national press to overestimate South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a veteran and Rhodes scholar. With Buttigieg lagging in the polls and Warren gaining ground, Warren is getting the benefit of these demographic headwinds among reporters.
Maybe most significantly, Warren also matches an upscale cultural image of who the president should be.
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