Centerfield

A Report From The Cold

I stood outside two polls on Tuesday. For 4 hours, I was outside the Mary Fisk Elementary School in Salem, NH holding a Clark04 sign. After returning to Clark's Derry office to warm up (and blog an update in Bopnews), I went out for three more hours outside the West Running Brook Middle School in Derry, NH. Around 7:30PM, after most polls had closed, Wesley Clark himself dropped by to greet last-minute voters at our poll, which was open until 8:00PM. His entourage handed out welcome cups of hot chocolate to the volunteers. I'd shaken Clark's hand one time before, but this time I did not bother to remove my glove. Clark himself was barehanded.

During the day, there was gossip among those of us standing outside the polls that Clark had fallen to fourth in the exit polls or that (God forbid!) he might even finish behind Lieberman. So by the time I arrived at the post-primary party at C.R. Sparks in Bedford, New Hampshire, supporters were relieved and even pleased that Clark was in third place, narrowly ahead of Edwards. With a bank of more than 20 cameras focused on him, Clark gave an upbeat speech. In the back of my mind, I wondered whether he would "scream" or do anything else that might embarrass us, but of course he is too dignified. The heavy and obvious media presence made me even more incredulous that Dean, the third place finisher one week ago, would have pitched his post-caucuses speech at those in the room rather than those behind the camera.

It had been a tough week for Clark. Michael Moore's endorsement had clearly backfired, with media coverage of Clark being dominated by demands that he disavow Moore's remark that Bush was a deserter. There was a sense among Clark supporters that the press saw Clark was an easy mark for gotcha journalism. One example of this was a report on CNN this week which pounced on Clark statement that in contrast to other candidates, "I didn't go to Yale" This was characterized as yet another gaffe, both in being a stealth negative attack on Kerry and failing to recognize Edwards humble roots.

In contrast, it seemed to us that Edwards was getting a free ride from the media. Just like the standard answer in a job interview, when asked to name a personal flaw, is to admit that one "tries to hard" the knocks against Edwards seem to be limited to his being "too good-looking" and "not ready yet." If he has any actual flaws, I've not seen reports about them. But even media bias does not explain the lack of professionalism I heard on my drive home after the party, as CNN radio news announced the results of the New Hampshire primary: Kerry first, Dean second, Edwards fourth. There was no mention of who came in third.

One conclusion I make from this experience is that "free media" of the broadcast variety still trumps advertising and Internet. The new model may be to use the Internet to raise money to spend on TV advertising, and that may be critical to reach a minimum level of credibility in order to receive serious media coverage. But even if the media is considered by many to be biased, it retains more credibility than information received from advertising or blog enthusiasts. The news cycle remains critical, and the impact of blogs on the news cycle remains the exception rather than the rule.

(cross-posted with BOPnews) Posted by rickheller at January 28, 2004 07:25 PM