Mitt Romney and the Media
Over winter break, I spent some time with my grandparents, both of whom are lifelong Democrats. They bleed blue and have never voted for a Republican candidate. Despite this, they are less than pleased with President Obama’s performance. Furthermore, they question why their perceptions of the economy and the Obama administrations’ failures are not fully reflected in the media. As a conservative, I was eager to explain.
Without question, the so-called mainstream media has a heavy liberal bent. Organizations like Newsweek and MSNBC are quick to pounce on perceived weaknesses of the GOP candidates, but tend to ignore or minimize the mishaps of the Obama administration, such as the recent Solyndra scandal. This same bias taints the media’s coverage of the Republican primaries.
An energetic and spirited campaign process is occurring on the Republican side of the aisle, in which several candidates are vying to become the Republican nominee and eventually displace the sitting president. Jake Tapper of ABC News recently claimed that out of all the Republican candidates, Mitt Romney was the favorite of the mainstream media. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth; Romney is the least favorite Republican candidate of the mainstream media.
The liberal media fears Governor Romney because he can defeat President Obama in November. Obama has no record to run on since the economy is still in bad shape, and has reneged on major campaign promises. He promised to keep unemployment below 8 percent and also to make drastic cuts to the national debt. The Obama administration is already using its new strategy that will be seen throughout the general election; diverting attention and placing blame on the Republican candidates for President and the Republican Congress. Despite these attacks, Romney continues to appeal to independents and moderates, the swing voters who decide elections. Democrats are paying attention to the numbers and would like to bring down Romney prematurely.
To attack Romney, the media works hard to minimize his success. Since the Ames, Iowa straw poll last summer, Governor Romney has had a relatively consistent standing in major polls. His poll numbers have not seen huge drops or surges, remaining around 25 percent, and he is constantly included as one of several frontrunners. His rivals have all taken turns rapidly rising to competitive numbers and then dramatically falling. Media outlets claim that many Republicans have continuously searched for the “conservative alternative” to Romney, because Romney is not widely trusted to be sufficiently conservative. Furthermore, they use this argument to paint Romney as a weak candidate “without a core conviction”, and then mock the instability in the Republican party. In reality, this volatility reflects well on the Republican party because Republican voters closely scrutinize and vet their candidates. The increased scrutiny of the candidates in this Republican primary is due in large part to the recent Tea Party movement, which is often more suspicious of establishment candidates. Tea Party voters hold candidates to a high standard during the vetting process, and expect them to maintain campaign promises.
Different candidates do not keep coming to the fore because Governor Romney is a weak conservative. Instead, they do so because this is a fluid, engaged electorate, and most of all because Romney is familiar to Republican voters. Romney ran in the 2008 election to become the Republican nominee and has stayed in the spotlight as a vocal critic of President Obama’s policies since his unsuccessful bid. Many Tea Party voters wish to see a fresh face as their nominee, and will come around to Romney if he gains further momentum.
Sixty percent of Republican voters believe that Mitt Romney is the Republican candidate most likely to beat Obama. Even more are willing and eager to vote for him against Obama. Romney consistently ties and sometimes exceeds Obama’s numbers in head-to-head matchups. If only more voters like my grandparents turned off the biased mainstream media, they would gain a clearer picture of Mitt Romney’s strengths as a candidate, and his lead in the polls could expand even further.
Ben Cristol is a freshman in The College of Arts & Sciences. He can be reached at bencristol@wustl.edu.