Clinton/Obama: Tonight’s Episode
I try to keep lemonwade a relatively Clinton/Obama-free zone. But the major American media have done such a relentless job of packaging the Presidential race as a reality show rather than an occasion for examining the issues that it is difficult not to view the election as a multi-million-dollar entertainment sweepstakes. And here, I predict, will be tonight’s chapter in this ongoing reality show: as long as the Wisconsin primary stays close (within two or three points either way), the media will spin it as a “comeback” for Senator Clinton. The fact that Obama will crush her in the night’s other contest, Hawaii, will not matter to the media narrative-builders, because: 1) Obama partly grew up in Hawaii; and 2) the Hawaii polls close long after most mainlanders have gone to bed. The media shaping of the election has become much too predictable.The only way to inject some life into it at this point would be to have Bill/Hill and Barry/Mich face off in the season of “Dancing with the Stars” that begins next month: “Ballroom Smackdown: Presidential Edition.”
