Joe Scarborough, host of “Morning Joe” on MSNBC and former Republican Congressman, had the best line of the evening. “I know this is the heart of Palin Country,” Scarborough told a roomful of New Yorkers gathered at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan for a panel discussion titled, ‘The Media & The Presidency.’ (I loathe Scarborough’s politics, but props to him for that very well-timed zinger.)
The event, sponsored by The Week, was moderated by Sir Harold Evans, Editor at Large for the U.K.-based publication. It drew several heavyweights from media and political precincts. In addition to Scarborough — just what, as a host of a General Electric-owned media property, is he talking about when he refers to the “mainstream media?” — panelists included former CBS News anchor Dan Rather, who is now an editor and anchor with HDNet; Leslie Stahl, a correspondent for 60 Minutes; GOP consultant Ed Rollins; Democratic consultant Bob Shrum and Jacob Weisberg, Editor in Chief of The Slate Group (Slate.com).
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Evans, who gracefully glided from one end of the stage to the other, asked the panelists point blank whether the media were even-handed in coverage of the presidential election. Most panelists offered monosyllabic and unsurprising replies (Shrum, yes; Rollins, no), but Rather offered the most convincing answer. “Journalism is about the new and Obama represents the new,” he said. “If he could climb this mountain, that’s a great story. We didn’t do this because it was ideological, but bias for the story.” Rather, the elder statesman on the panel, also called the election the first “YouTube” election, with new media operating as Obama’s “basecamp.”
Weisberg said if there was any bias in the election it was on behalf of Hillary Clinton, whose bid for the White House was kaput as early as March but the media continued to egg her candidacy. Weisberg added that Obama’s strength as a writer (he’s authored two books) resonated with the electorate. “He has skill as a writer, sensitivity to language and an ability to move people with words,” he said.
I had the same reaction as Shrum (and probably many voters) to John McCain’s eminently gracious concession speech on Nov. 4. “I said, ‘Where’s this guy been?’” Shrum said. Indeed, there was a consensus from the panel that McCain had during the campaign sold out his principles on behalf of political expediency. (McCain still got 56 million votes compared with 64 million votes for Obama. It makes me wonder what the outcome of the election would have been had McCain’s Straight Talk Express not gone off the rails.)
Pretty soon the panelists’ comments started to resemble any political yakfest on Fox News or CNN, and I figure post mortems on the 2008 presidential election are just underway. I decided to beat the crowd and headed down from high above Manhattan into that dark, intoxicating, New York-night.
