Political coverage indistinguishable from sports, and you are the bouncing ball.

[JackRiddler]

So the NYT headline reads that Clinton upset Obama in NH.

Just five days before, Clinton was the juggernaut heavily favored to take NH, but please forget that. Five days is an eternity in entertainment programming. Obama won a caucus, so they spun Clinton back into the underdog and portended the imminent end of her campaign. This was done entirely so as to generate drama.

Every day they're going to play with the expectations and irrelevant personal nuances to keep up interest and to keep the focus entirely on the heads, never the issues. (Unless "the issues" means to hijack a debate format by forcing the candidates to pledge allegiance to war and homeland fear-mongering, as happened during the first half-hour of the Democratic debate when ABC focused the discussion on an imminent nuclear 9/11.)

For the most part, this stuff is structurally indistinguishable from sports coverage. (Sample: I hear the Patriots are feeling the pressure this week because they had two weeks off to think about how embarrassing it will be if they don't go undefeated.)

The best political analysis of the season remains this top-rated video from The Onion:

Poll: Bullshit Is Most Important Issue For 2008 Voters
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/poll_bullshit_is_most_important

[JackRiddler]

1. Or soap operas, and you are the wad of kleenex

[Echo In Light]

2. Exactly. The public is sold a movie script to follow along...cuz it's FUN

I would've thought more people would've questioned why this "election" began so early?

Distraction = preoccupied

[JackRiddler]

3. From the moment it began, talk of issues was suspended...

A year ago it was already Hillary or Obama, "hope and change" rather than impeachment - justice for high crimes - ongoing wars - planned wars - ecocide - dollar and oil - corporatism - globalism, rich and poor - no, none of that. Pick your happy face. Pick your matinee idol.

[Echo In Light]

4. You got it...the MSM was in a tailspin over loss of viewer/readership re:

A very, very long list of scandals, omissions, cover ups and other issues. Get em back in line by following the bouncing ball...

[Anarcho-Socialist]

5. I agree with your point

The underdog coming from behind to win is deemed a more interesting story for the news networks to tell. For them to actually report the news as is seems to be beyond them.

[JackRiddler]

8. thanks

[Old_Growth]

6. And the officiating crew

Is brought to you by Diebold Premier.

[JackRiddler]

7. Not to be underestimated.

This has nothing to do with whether any given result is a fix - any time and anywhere there is black box voting, we cannot know. Doubt should be the default position.

[Supersedeas]

9. issues require pundits like Matthews, Russert et al to do homework--they'd rather talk out of their

@$$ and get paid handsomely for it.

[JackRiddler]

10. If you don't mind...

Issues would first require a clean sweep of the current punditocracy - fire them all. Give them blogs.

And then... Issues would require reporters to actually report!