Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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January 14, 2008 9:03 AM
For the Blowhards Who Insist It's a Two-Way Race...
For those of you who think the Democratic presidential nomination fight is just a two-way race between Obama and Clinton, check out this brand new poll from the Reno Gazette-Journal. Yup, that's right - it shows the Nevada caucus race a three-way, dead heat with John Edwards right in the mix.
For those of you who think the Democratic presidential nomination fight is just a two-way race between Obama and Clinton, check out this brand new poll from the Reno Gazette-Journal. Yup, that's right - it shows the Nevada caucus race a three-way, dead heat with John Edwards right in the mix.
Interestingly, this poll comes right on the heels of the Establishment viciously ratcheting up its angry attacks on the Edwards candidacy. Late last week, we saw a Reuters story headlined "Corporate Elite Fear Candidate Edwards" detailing how Wall Street moneymen and K Street lobbyists are frightened about Edwards populist, power-challenging message against greed and corruption. We also saw self-anointed Democratic "expert" Lawrence O'Donnell pen a fulminating screed demanding Edwards get out of the race - not surprising coming from a man who made his name running the U.S. Senate Finance Committee - long the most corrupt, lobbyist-ravaged panel in all of Washington (somehow, running the U.S. Congress's version of a pay-to-play casino now makes people credile "experts" in campaign strategy and political morality).
According to the nonpartisan Project for Excellence in Journalism, Edwards has long faced a media blackout - one that at least some honest media brokers like Keith Olbermann have noted. As I said a long time ago, that Edwards has even been able to compete in such a hostile environment is a testament to the power of his message.
The question we should ask is what the hostility and media blackout is really all about? I'd say the media's behavior is motivated by the same impulses that moves lobbyists to whine and cry to Reuters and self-important bloviators like O'Donnell to publicly burst a blood vessel on the Huffington Post - the people who have gotten used to the status quo are truly terrified by any candidates who they really believe will change things and threaten their power and status. Edwards is just such a candidate - one who threatens to muck up what the media and political elite want to be a race between two "nonthreatening," Wall Street-approved candidates. Obviously, it's a three-way race at this very moment - whether the Establishment likes that or not.
Let me conclude by saying I have no idea if the Gazette-Journal poll is accurate and/or whether Edwards will win Nevada (or any other state). Unlike most reporters, I don't spend my time covering the horse race, nor judging the candidates' viability only on the grounds of how much corporate cash they've been able to vacuum in. I spend my time trying to figure out which of these candidates represent the most fundamental form of change. One of the ways to judge that is to see who these candidates make uncomfortable. And by that measure, here's what I know: Edwards is generating hostility from precisely the kinds of people who are likely to be most averse to real, systemic change. And that speaks very well for the former senator from North Carolina.
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
Thank you David for the reality check. It is crystal clear that the corporate media chooses to ignore Edwards, they know where the money is, which includes the expensive ad campaigns, and the treat to their strangle hold of the airwaves to further their private financial interests.
It's a good thing I don't rely on the corporate-owned media (COM) as the sole source of my news any more, or I'd have thought Edwards dropped out of the race after finishing a "poor" second in Iowa. For example, the latest CNN poll covered 4 Republicans and only 2 Democrats.
I agree: one way to see who is making the greatest impact on this "race" is to see who is most upset, and by that measure Edwards is doing just fine. Not to mention that he's polling very well in Nevada and South Carolina, and continues to best any of the Republican candidates more consistently and by larger margins than the other 2 leading Democratic candidates!
You can see the contrast in the way the MSM covers the candidates and its really sickening.
On covering the GOP, Thompson and Ghouliani are still promoted/treated as prime contenders for the nomination even though they hardly place.
And with the Democrats the MSM wrote off all the other candidates except Obama and Hillary months ago. They act like its always been a two way race.
Thank you so much for your clear analysis of a tragedy in our presidential election. Already, Biden, Dodd, and Richardson are casualties of this love affair with the Obama-Clinton duel.
Edwards candidacy structures the conversation. All of the candidates, including the Republicans, have benefited. More importantly, the American people have benefited.
Thank you again.
I'm so glad you're talking about this. You are right; there is a populism that is beginning to foment, and John Edwards is the one who is speaking to the issues that no one else is willing to talk about - the corporatocracy that is lining the pockets of the few at the expense of those who don't have enough in the first place. The powers-that-be are desperately trying to pretend that there's no such thing as Edwards.
Regardless of whether Larry approves or not, I'm going to support Edwards, and make as much noise about him as is within my power.
I don't disagree about the media. BTW, the only MSM media I get are podcasts on my Apple TV. I do think there is more to this though.
Reading Krugman the other day, he talked about Hillary's speech and her stimulus package. He also mentioned days earlier Edwards had offered one.
Its easy to say oh its the MSM, they did not cover it. I don't buy it, at the very least he could have you tubed a speech on his package.
Here is my point, Edwards is way too focused on the stupid change strategy. Talking about reform, change etc yet never outlining what that change will be.
While I don't agree with Hillary's positions, her strategy is right on track. She is outlining very specific policies on what she aims to accomplish.
I certainly with Edwards would move from populist rhetoric to populist action. To begin with he should come up with a real health care plan. Giving the health care industry a government guaranteed market is not health care reform. Hillary stumbled on this in her speech because there is no way with her corporate entanglements - or she says doing it right this time - she could offer true health care reform.
Here is to hoping Edwards does well in Nevada, and then moves from populist rhetoric to populist action.
n*t*, have you seen John Edward's 80 page booklet on his website called The Road to One America? No candidate has outlined the issues and action that needs to be taken like he has. Sorry, "change" is not stupid, it is the only thing that will save our nation.
David, I have written Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films today, asking him to endorse John Edwards. I quoted the same article that you found, "Corporate Elite Fear Candidate Edwards", and pointed out the fact that John Edwards is the only candidate boycotting FOX news. He is also the only candidate who has been brave enough to publicly proclaim that our media should not be owned by a few huge, powerful, conglomerates, such as Rupert Murdoch's empire. It is up to the people now, to endorse and spread the word about John Edwards.
Yes I have and that was partly my point. He has some good ideas, but he is so caught up in the I am change, lets be vague rhetoric, those ideas are not highlighted.
I could care less that his dad worked in a mill. No matter how many times he tells me I am not going to believe he's one of me.
I am sorry empty idealism (change) are not a seller with me. Maybe if he highlighted his very concrete ideas such a tripling the earned income credit, he'd have done better with the under $50,000 crowd in NH.
As I said earlier he needs to ascend from populist rhetoric to populist action. Excluding his heath care plan, he has a lot of good ideas. Ideas I have not seen highlighted by himself, his website, or the media.
Related Topic: CNN Misleads and Deceives
We all know that CNN is ignoring the more liberal/progressive/leftsist candidates in the democratic race. And we know that those candidates (mainly Edwards and Kucinich) are the more pro-working-class candidates. So why does CNN say this on their ELECTION 2008 Nevada Page:
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Traditional working-class Democrats hold sway over liberal activists, which could help candidates prepared to talk about practical issues and policy details
John Edwards could benefit from three years of cultivating ties with organized labor
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The answer is that CNN wants to put a divide between the left and the working class. By making Edwards and the workers candidates sound like a different entity from "liberal activists," CNN successfully makes the working class seem more moderate and pragmatic. But CNN also dismisses the workers candidates (who they just labeled as moderates) as "too liberal," and not "serious" contenders" when justifying the lack of coverage of them. So even while CNN acknowledges that they see the workers candidates as too leftist, they STILL put out propaganda saying that workers want more centrism. Thus, CNN is accomplishing two goals (dismissing leftist candidates, and putting a divide between the left and workers) all at once, even when the logic makes no sense.
Why does the logic of making out workers to be to the right of liberal activists make no sense? Because the workers candidates (Edwards, Kucinich) are almost universally acknowledged (even by the media themselves) to be more liberal. Also, it is no secret that both dedicated working class dems and liberal activists share a hatred for the DLC centrist of the last few decades, and that both groups have serious reservations about Hillary and Obama. Thus, to act like they are separate in their leanings is bunk. Also, the same media that calls Edwards too liberal is now making him sound like the pragmatic centrist candidate of the workingclass (and thus the media implies that more highminded candidates like Obama and Clinton are the candidates of the liberal activists). What nonsense! Liberal activists near and far can't stand Obama and Clinton. They are with the more pro-worker candidates that the media claims imply they do not support. Hell, liberal websites time and time again vote for Kucinich. Progressive Dems of America, perhaps the main body of liberal dems, went for the so-implied "moderate" workers candidates Kucinich and Edwards, (1) and (2) respectively.
Thus, CNN is full of it because they first label the liberal worker candidates as too liberal and pro-worker and supported by nutcase activists, and then the next minute tries to split leftwing activists and the workingclass by spewing propaganda that divides the two, and that lies about the sympathies of liberal activists, and that lies about the leanings of the working class.
And before saying that i am making something out of nothing, please be advised that whether a worker considers himself a moderate dem or a liberal dem makes all the difference in the world. Subtleties are important.
It is subtleties like this, not just pure fox news brainwashing, that keep the propanganda machine afloat in America; that make workingclass people go rightwing, and that keep the power structure the way it is. Now, everytime a working class dem visits that CNN website, he will get the idea that he/she and leftism are two separate entities. Which will lead him to become centrist, and possibly, conservative.
And the rest is history (well, at least if you have read a bit of Thomas Frank).
The part in between the the hypen lines above is from the cnn page. it consists of two points: the first being "Traditional...details" and the second being "John...labor"
Also, I would like to revise the eight sentence of the longest paragraph ("They are ... do not support") to say:
The liberal activist base (largely workers itslef)is with the more pro-worker candidates like Edwards and Kucinich that the media claims imply the activists do not support.
It's amazing how hard the pundits are working to not mention Edwards' name. There are glaring holes in their analysis because they refuse to even talk about him except for the cursory "If he doesn't win SC he's done" nonsense.
By getting everyone all lathered up over race and gender and inevitability and tears, they are trying to convince the electorate, by inference, that there just isn't any other message to be heard here.
Likewise, Huckabee is killing on the Republican side amongst the middle class. I watched one of his weekend speeches on CSPAN and, in the midst of talking up the value of the manufacturing jobs in Michigan, he pointed out that, "The only soap we had in my house as a little kid was "Lava" soap... I was in college before I found out it's not supposed to hurt when you take a shower." (05:24 here:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA0rMVy6wuk
The Wall Street R's are going to have to submarine this guy fast, because his populist traction is growing with every speech. He connects directly with the working middle, and the religious right, and he connects so genuinely (Lava), that poseurs like Romney will have a very difficult time with him. That line of his from his commercial "Folks want a President who looks like the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off" is devastating.
Huckabee has a prybar wedged into that crevice the R's have been trying to pretend doesn't exist; the majority of R's are middle class, and the rulers of the party exploit the middle class for profit. They've got to get rid of him before he cracks that sucker wide open.
The D's must continue to freeze Edwards out. Act as though he's not even there. Every time Hillary promises some "change", Edwards needs to list her big money donors who would never allow it to happen. She has no legit answer for this.
It does spark some hope, as Sirota points out, that given how grievously under-funded both these campaigns are, and how diligently the MSM marginalizes them by faint attention, Edwards and Huckabee are still punching their message through and polling well. They have their finger on the pulse of the voters.
If either of them wins anything in the next batch of primaries, the lobbyists are going to hit the fan.
Come on, Nevada. Prove the MAIN STREAM MEDIA wrong, again! Show those arrogant talking heads that this is NOT a 2-way race!
The MAIN STREAM MEDIA - and the rest of Corporate America - FEARS JOHN EDWARDS! That should tell you somethin!!!!
And I am not saying that this one particular comment and its wording on CNN were consciously deliberate/a conspiracy. I am just saying that media misinformation like this is existent and commonplace in the current media culture, and that frequently, the media deceives intentionally but SUBCONSCIOUSLY, pushing certain goals but simultaneously ignoring logic. And the misleading, while not BLATANTLY and CONSCIOUSLY deliberate, IS deliberate in a subconscious way. It is all about the culture that surrounds the reporters who write this stuff. It constantly pushes them to mislead deliberately and subcounsciously, pushing certain memes but not in a blatant or fully conscious way way.
The above comment is with regards to my above posts about CNN's Nevada page
By the above comment i mean the one "And I ... fully conscious way way"
below_mason_dixon :
By the above comment i mean the one "And I ... fully conscious way way"
Posted on January 14, 2008 2:50 PM
That should be :
"'By the "above comment" i mean the one "And I ... fully conscious way way'"
I remember this race was first presented as a Clinton-Obama race by the Drudge Report. There were multitudes of stories just mentioning the both of them, and there was always a very critical story of Edwards periodically out of nowhere, and this was very early on. I really think the right wanted either Clinton or Obama as the nominee, and sure enough it looks like it may happen.
Regards,
Its called covering ones bases. They want to hedge their bets which explains the hostility for both Huckabee and Edwards.
I also think they have a definite preference of Obama over Hillary. While with Hillary they have their bases covered, in Obama its a sure thing.
What is interesting is while Edwards goes on and on about checking all the food coming into the country, he knows damn well that is illegal under the terms of NAFTA, CAFTA etc. I am waiting for him to take the Kucinich line, withdrawal from NAFTA, withdrawal from the WTO. He needs to go where Hillary can't, beyond corporate entanglements, and he just refuses to.
A truly populist line is my boy Chavez who is arguing for food sovereignty and trade agreements along truly humanitarian lines.
Pre-polling the Nevada caucus is like counting winds. Polsters have pretty much avoided NV.
NV results will come down to turnout/determination. Better for Obama & Edwards.
Hooray for Chavez. Hooray for Kucinich. Hooray for n*t*
Yes, for example, although the simplified results show Hilary getting 5% more than John, the margin of error indicates John possibly up 4% on Hilary - much too "frightening" to report it that way.
Thanks for the article, John. I've been very upset about the extreme lack of coverage for Edwards, as I would dearly love for him to be President. Pretty amazing how so many repug candidates are allowed to stay in the fray and get considerable coverage, even that Tenn. looser, yet the Dem. race is always boiled down to two.
Funny thing is, Edwards is telegenic. He would be good for TV news ratings because he communicates very clearly and smoothly. One of the reasons why Hillary and Obama keep copying his lines is that the passion and density in those lines launch and stick in the psyche. At first, the repetition would annoy me, but now I see the art and the learning curve of his speech technique.
Go John. Make this a three person race again. Thanks for writing this. it is not being heard many other places. thank you.
n*t*
wrote:
I am waiting for him(Edwards) to take the Kucinich line, withdrawal from NAFTA, withdrawal from the WTO. He needs to go where Hillary can't, beyond corporate entanglements, and he just refuses to.
If Edwards keeps on dancing around "free" trade issues and off-shoring our manufacturing base along with guest worker visas - its going to kill him in states like Michigan and Ohio.
That "I'm the son of a mill worker" routine won't resonate with folks who watched their company sent their factory to China or watched their job taken over by a worker imported from India.
I know it doesn't impress me or the blue collars I used to work with.
If he wants to win their vote he needs to do a lot better. Otherwise he have watch as Obama and Hillary and Huckabee poach votes that should have gone to him.
What I find most amazing is how the messages that the MSM reports as being owned by Obama & Clinton were actually developed and talked about by Edwards far before the others. If we had any truth being told by the MSM, instead of it being hid because of their fear of an Edwards presidency, they would be pointing out this fact.
Go back and trace the themes and speeches developed and given by the 3 Dem candidates and you will find that Edwards has been the "driver" and the other 2 the copycat "passengers" of the issues that are being discussed as being critical to the success of the party in November.
That to me is real leadership, something that this country surely needs following the 8 year Bush disaster.
Edwards cites Teddy Roosevelt as someone that he admires. We need another Roosevelt in the White House right now. If anyone thinks that they would be getting one with either Clinton or Obama, and their Corporate bought and paid for campaigns, think again...
Well, you can thank the DNC for letting it be that way ! To prove how fucking corrupt Howard Dean has made himself as chair of the DNC,
DNC Punishes Michigan For Early Primary Date
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/01/AR2007120100722.html
At this rate, I'm going to place the blame squarely on both the media and the Democratic Party itself.
Don't worry my fellow friends: soon all of you will assuredly go rightwing out of your frustrations and buy into one of the various conspiracy theories about how leftists control the world.
It's funny. If only I had as many parties to choose from come election time as one has of varying anti-left ideologies, I might just be living in a true democracy.
The first black prez vs. the first female prez is more titillating - and better for ratings.
Obama and HRC are also more likely to pour big add $$$$ into the MSM.
Neglecting "lesser candidates" is simply plain ol' business instinct - not a conspiracy.
But maybe the reality of unprompted greed is worse than the perception of conniving marginalization of Edwards.
Edwards is getting the Perot treatment. Back when Clinton was pushing NAFTA, the MSM had a media blackout against opponents of NAFTA. Perot wasn't even allowed to buy air-time for his ads. Editorials opposing NAFTA were not allowed to be printed in newspapers.
The opposite is happening with the GOP. The MSM doesn't report on McCain's unviability, his rotten temper or his getting booed and jeered when he opens his mouth about economics. Or the fact that no really likes or trusts Romney. Or how they promote Ghouliani and Grandpa Fred as viable candidates, etc.
The fact is the corporate media has its favorites and it shows.
Waltc,
We can have favorites, too.
At the time of passage, opponents to the complex NAFTA were generally dismissed as regressive protectionists. Emerging from the early 90's recession, us common folk had higher hopes. In any case, NAFTA's path of implementation since has been worse than the original agreement as written.
Perot's predicted "giant sucking sound" (jobs) never fully materialized. Instead, we've sustained the wage corrosion enabled by an invasion of indentured migratory workers.
Li'l '92 trivia: Clinton, GHBush and Perot's hometowns were all within 100 miles of each other - and all three are southpaws.
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