Not-So-Great Expectations: Media’s spin favors … [Media Matters for America]
Not-So-Great Expectations: Media’s spin favors Bush — again
In the run-up to this year’s presidential debates, some in the media are once again playing the “expectations game” in favor of President George W. Bush against his Democratic opponent — the same thing that happened four years ago. In the lead-up to the 2000 presidential debates, the press downplayed expectations for then-Governor Bush, enabling the Bush-Cheney ’00 campaign to easily create the perception that Bush “won” and then-Vice President Al Gore “lost.”
Overlooked in this argument was the fact that when the public first saw Gore, he was made up like a woman with rouge and pancake. This may be the real trend. Larry Gelbart on the Bill Maher show said that the Republicans have learned that demonizing the opponent is not as effective as feminizing him. This was made clear when Zell Miller ridiculed Kerry for wearing “speedos.”
Too much make-up ruins image
This approach has caught the ‘sensitive” Democrats flat-footed. I’m not sure they can deal with it. The soft approach isn’t working. Worse, I do not see Kerry changing his approach. He is what he is. His only hope is that the Republicans overstep this strategy and start to feminize him in ways that insult women.
Great photos!
It was surprising to see “give’em hell” Zell’s name mentioned.
Haven’t heard much about him, recently. 🙂