Midterms: Failing Grades for Obama, McCain, and the Media

It’s rare to come across a blog post that fairly and objectively grades the performance of both the Republican and Democratic candidates and goes after the media as well. Carl Jeffer’s piece titled Obama-McCain -- They Fail Midterms, Now They Cram Debate Finals accomplishes that feat. Jeffers even nails the media for its misogynist attacks on Palin.

Jeffers writes:

“As we move into this week of the first Presidential Debates, it may be helpful to review how the two candidates for President have fared in the first half of the main fall campaign. In many ways, they have not fared well. And if we are passing out failing grades for performance to date, let's not leave out the media as they certainly deserve that same report card as well.

‘“For John McCain, he came out of his convention with a surprising level of new momentum thanks to his choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate. And in fact, for the first few weeks after the conventions, the McCain campaign defied the media predictions that the ‘Palin’ effect would wear off quickly and her "obvious" experience defects would doom the ticket. Indeed, from strictly the perspective of objective analysis of campaign strategy, if your campaign perceives that the media is out to ‘destroy’ your VP candidate, and if that candidate is creating even more excitement than you are, then it is absolutely good campaign strategy to pair the two of you together on the campaign trail and limit the exposure of your VP pick to a media that you perceive as "lying in wait." And on the campaign Ad front, McCain has done reasonably well in capitalizing on perceived missteps from the Obama campaign, going on the attack, and then getting response ads out quickly.

“But in the most important task the McCain campaign has had and still has, they have not performed up to what is required, and that failure not only gets a poor performance grade, it also bodes poorly for victory in November if McCain does not improve his grades. And what task is that - simply the task of continuing and emphatically making the case that not only is McCain not a third term for George Bush, but that McCain is also a change agent who can bring the American people the kind of change they really need.

‘“For a couple of weeks, the McCain campaign actually seized the momentum on ‘change’ as the Sarah Palin choice enabled them to assert that they would really bring change to Washington. But it seems as if McCain is still reluctant to openly break with George Bush and make a point of saying that he not only opposed many Bush administration policies in the past, but that he has, by choice, elected to go a very different route than President Bush and, in fact, rejects the path of the Bush administration. I simply do not believe he can skate on that issue to Election Day. He will have to make a choice, and if he doesn't, the American people will make that choice for him.

‘“For Barack Obama, it is actually easier to grade his performance. He is simply ‘off message,’ and in an environment where he should have a 10 to 15 point lead (even with the race issue), this election is still a toss-up both overall and in most of the key swing states. That is not good.

‘“I have heard many Obama supporters in the media suggest that he was going to ‘break out’ in mid September just like Ronald Reagan broke out in September of 1980 after being even or behind in the polls because the American people just weren't sure about him. Well, September is almost over, and there clearly is no sign yet of any national voter ‘break out’ to Obama taking place, although the economic bail-out crisis might provide a launch for that occurrence.”’

After several more paragraphs analyzing the campaign, Jeffers gets around to grading the media for which he deserves a round or two of applause:

‘“And finally, the last failing grade must be enthusiastically presented to the media. Frankly, the media has been so determined to destroy Sarah Palin with an ‘every one wants to be the first to succeed in ‘gotcha’ and bring her down approach that if I were the McCain strategists, I would do exactly what they are doing - keep her paired with McCain on the campaign trail and limit her press interviews. If I'm doomed and fated to walk into a Lion's Den of hungry lions and a couple of angry alligators as well, then I'm going to make you throw me in there - I'd be stupid to just waltz on in there on my own. But no surprise here as the general media is determined to help elect Barack Obama President of the United States. That's fine with me - but just be honest about it and stop any pretense that you are giving both candidates fair and equal coverage and treatment. Another ‘F’ midterm grade.

Jeffers concludes:

‘“The second half of the course Term is always the most important. As we now enter the Debate phase of the second half of the Term, let's hope the questions are not about Jeremiah Wright, Alaska Trooper Gate, and ‘how do you personally feel about your opponent.’ Both candidates and the media now need to elevate the level of discourse. If they don't, forget the midterms -- we all fail the course!”’

To read Jeffers’ post in its entirety – it’s well worth it - go here.