Jonah Goldberg was watching Morning Joe this morning, as was I, and he picked up on what was probably an unintentional moment of truth telling from Chuck Todd. The panel was talking about why Republicans are doing fairly well this cycle (as if that were some sort of miracle) and the theory was floated that the “pivotal” moment was the defeat of Chris McDaniel in Mississippi. This definitely caught Goldberg’s attention.
According to Todd, that saved the entire Republican field from being forced to answer for everything McDaniel said and all of the skeletons in his closet (this only happened a few minutes ago, so I don’t have exact quotes). In short, McDaniel would have been this cycle’s Todd Akin, dragging down the whole party.
Now, as a matter of analysis, Todd may be exactly right. He says he talked to many Republicans who’ve said as much to him, and I believe him.
But let’s unpack this for a moment. How would McDaniel become an albatross for the GOP? By what mechanism? Sure, the Democrats would do their part. But I feel like there’s this other group that would have an outsized role in the process. What could it be? No, not the Shriners. Not the Quakers. Oh, I’ve got it: The mainstream media!
Left unsaid in Todd’s theory is why the press should hold the entire Republican party hostage to the views of one candidate but never hold the entire Democratic Party to the views of the sitting president or vice president (or DNC Chair, or Senate Majority Leader et al). The simple fact is that the mainstream media in general, and the cast of establishment liberals who cycle through Morning Joe in particular, believe they are just doing good journalism when they hound all Republicans for one Republican’s gaffe. But when a Democrat fouls up it’s an isolated incident sparking false outrage.
I don’t believe Chuck Todd intended to make this admission, but he really did highlight a truth in the media’s coverage of politics which most of cable news needs to answer for. During the raging gun control / background checks debate, where was the parade of reporters asking each Democrat candidate whether they believed that firing a shotgun into the air out your back door was a good emergency safety plan? The press did actually cover the story when Tom Harkin stuck his foot in his mouth and later apologized. But when the alphabet networks dispatched their minions out on the campaign trail, where was the reporter asking Greg Orman if he thought Joni Ernst was as good looking as Taylor Swift or if he was going to condemn Harkin? And I haven’t seen a single reporter from CNN ask Hillary to weigh in on it.
This phenomenon is unique to Republicans when it comes to the media. If one of them utters the word “rape” or speculates on the age of the Earth, reporters rack up hundreds of dollars in speeding tickets as they rush to ask each and every Republican on the ballot anywhere in the nation to either agree with the offending comment or condemn the Republican who said it. This never happens to Democrats. Ever.
With all that in mind, I come back to the original question that was being discussed on Morning Joe. Yes, I suppose it is something of a shock that the GOP is doing as well as they are today. And the reason it’s surprising is you, political media hosts.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member