NEWS AND OPINION:
The Media Research Center is vigilant about monitoring liberal bias in the press. The Democratic National Convention, however, has prompted the conservative watchdog to go round-the-clock, says founder Brent Bozell, who has assembled a “massive team of analysts” to track news media transgressions and tingling hysteria in Philadelphia — hour by hour if need be.
“The media’s love affair with Hillary Clinton will reach its apex this week. They have been in the tank for her since the beginning. We can safely predict that at the Democratic National Convention, the media will need smelling salts to recover from their fainting spells,” says Mr. Bozell, who vows to fight any attempts from the left-leaning press to “coronate Hillary.”
He calls the “pandering love triangle” between the media, the Democratic Party, and Mrs. Clinton disturbing.
“This already notorious convention kicks off with scandal and corruption at the highest levels of the DNC and the media yawn. Their bias is over the top. Ted Cruz gets booed and the media go crazy. Delegates at the Democratic convention boo the entire first night and they cover it up,” Mr. Bozell continues.
The organization has taken out a half dozen billboards around the host city, and is also running a new outreach ad in Philly taxicabs to make their point. Find it here.
The tendency for journalists to lean left has been documented for decades. Consider one recent significant number: An Indiana University survey found only 7 percent of American journalists say they are Republicans. In 2008 the Pew Research Center revealed that 6 percent of the press said they were “conservative.” And going way back, a 1988 survey of 1,037 newspaper reporters by the American Society of Newspaper Editors found 15 percent leaned conservative or Republican.
“We intend to show all of America the media’s role in propping up, promoting and defending the most corrupt person to ever receive a major party’s nomination,” says Mr. Bozell. “From Benghazi to illegal Clinton Foundation donations to criminally dangerous misuse of classified information, the media have held Hillary’s hand every step of the way, and they ought to be ashamed. It’s time they started to report the truth. It’s very simple: Cover Hillary Clinton like you’re covering Donald Trump. Nothing more, nothing less.”
EYE-OPENER NUMBERS
“Who will win the presidency?” asks Nate Silver, founder of the meticulous FiveThirtyEight election blog, where the “Now-cast” constantly gauges voter sentiment. Mr. Silver says Republican Donald Trump has a 57.5 percent chance of victory if the election were held today, rival Hillary Clinton a 42.5 percent chance.
CHANTING FOR BERN
“Lock her up.”
“Hillary for prison.”
“Hell no, D-N-C! We won’t vote for Hillary.”
— A selection of group chants from fans of Sen. Bernard Sanders outside the Democratic National Convention in the last 48 hours.
BERNIE’S FORGIVENESS
The shine has gone off the Democratic National Convention, and the threat of tarnish lingers.
“The WikiLeaks development and Tim Kaine as vice presidential pick are a sort of one-two punch for liberals. They may feel marginalized, both by the evidence that the Democratic National Committee actively conspired against their progressive champion, Sen. Bernard Sanders, and by Hillary Clinton’s choice of a relatively centrist, pro-business running mate. Hard-left activists didn’t trust Clinton and the Democratic establishment to begin with, and this won’t help,” says Matthew Wilson, associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University.
As an ongoing side show, the many ferocious fans of the aforementioned Mr. Sanders are not willing to give up on their candidate, though he has already asked them — and asked them — to put aside their annoyance and support Mrs. Clinton at any cost.
“It will be interesting to see if Bernie Sanders himself is actually more forgiving about this than his supporters,” notes Mr. Wilson.
NOT FORGOTTEN
“We pay tribute to the American patriots who fought for freedom and democracy throughout the Korean War, leaving behind everyone they loved to secure the blessings of liberty for a country they never knew and a people they had never met. For the heavy price they paid, we will forever honor the legacy of their service and uphold the ideals they secured through this hard-won victory.”
— From President Obama’s official proclamation recognizing National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day, which is Wednesday. During the three-year conflict, 36,574 U.S. soldiers died; 103,284 were wounded and 7,817 still remain unaccounted for.
VICE PRESIDENT MEDIOCRE
Meh. The vice presidential race appears to cast so-so against mediocre.
“U.S. voters’ initial reaction to Hillary Clinton’s selection of Sen. Tim Kaine as her running mate is similar to their muted response to Donald Trump’s selection of Gov. Mike Pence a week ago. Thirty-five percent say Kaine is an excellent or ’pretty good’ choice, nearly matching the 37 percent who said the same of Pence just after Trump chose him,” says Gallup poll analyst Lydia Saad.
“Kaine is still largely unknown to the majority of voters, highlighting the important role this week’s Democratic National Convention will have in establishing his public identity. Kaine is now the third consecutive newly named vice presidential pick to garner mediocre initial ratings from voters. By contrast, the five such nominees preceding them between 2000 and 2008 were viewed much more positively,” notes Ms. Saad.
The pollster cited historic records for vice presidential nominees dating to 2000, when 55 percent of voters said Dick Cheney was an excellent or pretty good choice; 53 percent said the same of his Democratic rival, Sen. Joe Lieberman. In 2004 John Edwards managed a tidy 64 percent. Four years later, then-Sen. Joseph R. Biden drew 47 percent; Sarah Palin rated 46 percent the same year. And finally, as Mitt Romney’s running mate, Rep. Paul D. Ryan rated 39 percent in 2012.
POLL DU JOUR
• 61 percent of Democrats overall say the U.S. is the “greatest country in the world”; 39 percent of those who support Sen. Bernard Sanders agree.
• 56 percent of Democrats say it’s very important to maintain superior economic power; 34 percent of Sanders supporters agree.
• 54 percent of Democrats say it’s very important to maintain superior military power; 29 percent of Sanders supporters agree.
• 41 percent of Democrats say the next generation will be worse off than today’s adults; 57 percent of Sanders supporters agree.
• 37 percent of Democrats say the U.S. is no greater than other nations in the world; 61 percent of Sanders supporters agree.
Source: A Chicago Council/GFK Survey of 2,061 U.S. adults conducted June 20 to 27 and released Monday.
• Pesky details, polite applause to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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