Like the living dead portrayed in so much of our pop culture, we seemed to slouch toward sad and contentious conclusions in our political discourse this year. But that need not be the theme for 2011, for life lived with promise is intrinsic to our better nature.
Over the next few days, various news networks, newspapers, magazines, and others will present a retrospective on 2010: what the media got right, what the media got wrong, best moments, worst moments, etc. Let me present what has to be the quintessential example of media bias in coverage of the 2010 elections. The candidate was the upstart upset. With the state’s political players all lined up in the primary for the other guy — including the party chairman, the congressional delegation, EVERYBODY — the candidate beat the establishment pick, upset the apple cart, had people crying foul, and went on to be annihilated in the general election. That candidate was not Christine O’Donnell, though you’d think so given the facts as I presented them. Certainly that was her story too. And the media covered the heck out of Christine O’Donnell. But I’m talking about Alvin Greene. Remember him? I’m sure you do, though not if any major news outlet had anything to do with it. The media was quite titillated at the idea that Alvin Greene was a Republican dirty trick. They clung to Congressman Jim Clyburn’s every word when he made those accusations. There was a great “whodunit” story the media circulated. But an investigation discovered Alvin Greene saved his money, paid his fee, and won fair and square. Then the media went silent on Alvin Greene, only pulsing when the drumbeat of YouTube clips turned into a roaring din of the absurb. Otherwise, the media pretended Alvin Greene did not exist. They only wanted to cover Christine O’Donnell. There were two candidates who rocked the boat, shocked everyone, and caused unforeseen upsets. I don’t know whether it was because of his party, his skin color, his IQ, or what, but the media willfully ignored Alvin Greene. Instead, they gave such over the top coverage to Christine O’Donnell many Democrats were left venting that other candidates escaped the media pat down. That’s also why Christine O’Donnell is my big hero for the 2010 election cycle. Because she so distracted the media, others had a chance to win they might not have gotten.
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The quintessential example of media bias for the 2010 election cycle
Here are the the last 60 years’ worth of midterm losses, going back to the second Truman midterm, according to Wikipedia for election-on-election losses, which is the standard I use all around. For 2010 I’m using the current CNN projection of a 65 seat Republican gain and a 243 R – 192 D House. Click for full size goodness. Congratulations, Mister President.
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Obama sets the modern record for Midterm losses
The time has come for the Senate Republicans to begin thinking about what to do with the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which this last cycle was run by Senator John Cornyn along with bureaucrat Rob Jesmer. Before any Republican endorses that team to go ahead and run the committee for another cycle, I urge them to consider alternatives. The NRSC has the name and the databases to be a tremendous force for good for the party, much as the RGA was this cycle. But to do so it has to make the right decisions with those resources that it has. I submit that it could have done much better this year. The NRSC’s scorecard: State Result CA L – General CO L – Primary DE L – Primary FL L – Party Switch IN W KY L – Primary NH W PA L – Party Switch UT No primary position The Cornyn/Jesmer team went 3-5 in the primaries and 2-1 in the generals. That’s a lot of primary elections to have spent on, throwing away money that could have gone to general election winners. It’s only remarkable that they didn’t do anything in Utah, honestly. But here’s RedState’s scorecard, where the site (and not just one writer or Erick Erickson) took a position: State Result CA L – Primary CO L – General DE No primary position FL W IN L – Primary KY No primary position NH No primary position PA W UT W RedState went 4-2 in the primaries, and 3-1 in the generals. Where we as a site split (Kentucky, New Hampshire, and Delaware) the grassroots conservative pick won a general, lost a primary badly, and lost a general election badly. We picked our spots and avoided two big losses. The NRSC showed no such restraint in states like Pennsylvania and Florida. Should he be retained at NRSC, Senator Cornyn ought to be begging for RS as a group to dictate primary strategy. We have better strategic sense than they had, with no loss in general election efficiency.
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Senate Scorecard: RedState vs NRSC
