The Big Lies of Super Tuesday

The media is telling sweet little lies about what happened in the Tuesday primaries and where we go from here.

The lies, briefly, are:

1. The continuation of a nomination battle among Democrats is a big advantage for Republicans.
2. Republicans are uniting behind John McCain.
3. SuperDelegates have already been committed.

Why tell these lies? Mainly for dramatic effect. If people think November’s results are essentially baked-into the system, they might change the channel. And you can’t have them changing the channel.  (Note: Change the Channel. Anything is better than Chris Matthews.)

So let’s fisk these lies quickly and easily:

1. The Democratic struggle is about personality, not policy. The
   vast majority of Democrats, and those who lean Democratic, will be
   happy with either Clinton or Obama. Maintaining dramatic tension gives
   both a ton of free media coverage so neither can be "blacked out" and
   hammered by the Republican money machine over the next several months.
   That was the insider worry about John Edwards, and Clinton can
   apparently use the free pub. 
2. The Republican struggle is about policy, not personality.
   Conservatives aren’t hating on McCain because they think he’s a nasty
   little man. They’re hating on him because they disagree with him.
   McCain’s wins came mainly in blue states. He lost Tuesday to Huckabee
   in the South and Romney in the West. A ton of conservatives are coming
   out and saying they’d rather have a Democrat in November than ol’ John
   McCain. How many Democrats are saying that about either of their candidates?
3. SuperDelegates, unlike regular delegates, are allowed to lie.
   That is, elected delegates are committed on the first ballot. If you’re
   elected as an Obama delegate, you vote for Obama, even if it turns out
   he’s a crook.
   But if you’re a SuperDelegate you’re a politician, so lie all you want.
   Tell Clinton you’re in her corner until the last minute, then stick a
   shiv in her. It’s fun. Same with Obama.
    

The truth is a 3-2 Democratic electoral majority has been baked into
the system by the events of the last few years. Katrina, Iraq, the
recession, the deficit — they’re not going away. And McCain, as well
as the other Republican candidates, supported the policies which led us
here, and endorse continuing those policies.

Howard Dean sent an e-mail to the troops yesterday predicting McCain
will be the nominee, and working to define him now as a Bush lackey.
Republicans did something similar to John Kerry in 2004, and to Al Gore
in 2000. It’s how you play the game. It has the advantage, in this
case, of being true.

McCain is an attempt by the Republican establishment to run away from
its complicity in the crimes of Bush and Cheney. McCain ran strongest
in blue states, based on a thin tissue of disagreements with the
Administration, most of which he swallowed hard on during the Second
Bush Term. It won’t work. American’s aren’t stupid.

But the media wants an exciting, down to the wire story that they can
control. One result is that we’re slowly turning away from the media.
We don’t like Chris Matthews. We don’t like Wolf Blitzer. We don’t like
Fox. We don’t like the New York Times or the Washington Post. We do not
like them, Sam I Am. Nor should we. Their Village Idiot nonsense
enabled all this death and destruction. They pulled down the temple on
their own heads and now they’re standing next to the rubble acting
innocent. They’re not.

Waking up from the media’s big lies may be the most important thing
which happens this year. The next Administration will be able to dine
out on our hatred of the media for years, just as the Nixon
Administration dined out on our hatred of the "liberal" media 40 years
ago.

How about Obama-Dean 2008?