OPINION:
The liberal media is pushing a narrative that the Romney campaign is crippled by poor management and indecision. Central to this storyline is the premise that Republican challenger Mitt Romney should be headed for a landslide victory given the economy and President Obama’s low approval ratings. A neck-and-neck race is thus a GOP loss before the final lap is run. Never mind that Mr. Romney is up by 2 points nationwide in the latest Rasmussen Reports survey, and forget that a majority of Americans disapprove of the job the president has done over the past four years. The pro-Obama media campaign is trying to convince the public this election is over before voting has started.
Of course, the reality of modern American politics is the leftwing media juggernaut in favor of Democrats is a major handicap for Republicans, making it an uphill battle for any conservative to win nationally. The 2012 election might be the most extreme example yet of overt media bias. The networks, almost all cable news channels and most big-city newspapers are going all out, leaving no stone unturned, to try to make Republicans look bad and Democrats good. Helping their case are skewed polls based on flawed methodology that surveys significantly more Democrats than Republicans. It’s no surprise Mr. Obama comes out on top when significantly more Ds than Rs are asked who they will vote for in November, which was done by several prominent polling firms.
Exhibit A of today’s media slant is a bogus story that the Republican National Convention in Tampa last month was a major failure. This claim is complete poppycock. The Romney campaign successfully used primetime to showcase individuals from Mr. Romney’s past to dismantle what are perceived to be his three personal vulnerabilities as a candidate: his management of Bain Capital, his tenure as governor of Massachusetts and his Mormon religion. Instead of hiding from controversy, the GOP convention put it all out there and addressed these issues head on by introducing the world to job creators who owe their success to funding provided by Bain, political appointees of Gov. Romney’s in Boston who explained the context of his governorship in a state where only 13 percent are Republican, and a bunch of people from his church who have experienced the candidate’s generosity first-hand. This convention avoided major gaffes and got the job done to make Mitt look more human and air out his background.
The real convention disaster was the Democrats’ Charlotte meltdown, marked by the delegates thrice booing and rejecting floor amendments to put God and Jerusalem as Israel’s capital back in the party platform. Watch the two candidates’ speeches back to back and Mr. Romney comes off ascendent and optimistic and Mr. Obama looks like he’s avoiding his record — and for good reason. The economy is by far the biggest issue in the election, and only 37 percent of Americans say they are better off today than four years ago before Mr. Obama took office, according to CNN. That’s bad news for the incumbent who’s been in charge.
It’s true the electorate has yet decide who the next president will be, but there is still a lot of time — and three presidential debates — left in this race. That provides ample opportunity for Mr. Romney to score points by holding Mr. Obama accountable for his broken promises and the broken economy.
Brett M. Decker is editorial page editor of The Washington Times. He is coauthor of the new book “Bowing to Beijing” (Regnery, 2011).
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