Asked about the pre-election sense that Mitt Romney might win the election, CNN reporter Candy Crowley told viewers (11/7/12):
Candy Crowley
There was an optimism in the Romney camp. But it wasn’t based on the numbers. It was based on the feel of things. And one thing you know when you cover a campaign, the feel of things can be really deceiving.
She’s not alone–others had the same sense that the numbers couldn’t be what they were. A Politico story (10/31/12) reported that this feeling was fairly widespread among elite media:
Gov. Mitt Romney’s campaign says it still has momentum. President Barack Obama’s campaign says that’s all spin.
Meanwhile, there isn’t a single well-informed pundit between them who can tell you who’s right.
That was false, of course–there were people who had a good sense of how things would go. But here’s someone who didn’t know:
“I think more than any other race I’ve covered this is one where both sides genuinely seem to believe they’re going to win. That’s different,” ABC News correspondent Jon Karl said. “Given that, it’s hard for somebody covering the race to make a call. I’m completely confused. I have no idea who’s going to win. And I usually have a sense of who’s going to win.”
There’s no reason campaign journalism should be so focused on trying to predict the outcome of the election. But these reporters seem to be telling us that it’s not that hard for a presidential campaign to convince journalists that they’re going to win: You just need to be really convincing.
Right after the Karl quote there was a (as always) terrific Charles Pierce comment that in all the years of covering sports games–ANY GAME–will tell you that both sides are sure they are going to win.
It’s interesting (ironic?) that we on the liberal/left side of the political spectrum are often accused of being too ‘touchy/feel-ey’ about things… yet the right wing/fundies — when backed into an ideological or religious corner — like to just fall back on the unarguable point “well, that’s what FEELS right to me!”, as if that had some logical standing in a complex argument. ‘Feeling’ something is notoriously subjective, OFTEN inaccurate, and hard to use as a significant stand-alone justification for anything. Hell, I can say I FEEL like I’m Louis XIV, but so what? Who cares? I can FEEL like I could jump 10 ft or run a 4 minute mile, or write the great American novel, or have sex all night, or get all A’s in Calculus, but they’re fleeting chimeras that quickly crash-up against the reality of my physical, literary, and intellectual limitations. And almost every other time there’s some vicious murder by some young guy, the media plays the obligatory footage of the crying mother of the murderer saying something like “Oh, but he’s a good boy…”, obviously mostly a statement of feeling rather than fact.
This isn’t to say we should reject all feelings of sympathy, empathy, love, etc, but rather, as Bertrand Russell remarked, we should lead the ‘good life’ that he defined as “Love guided by wisdom” (paraphrased).
It seems so much easier and less risky for reporters to feel good than to do the hard work of discovering the truth and sharing. It would have been useful for many TV and radio journalists to do their job, use their ‘nose for news’ to ferret out the real issues and expose the fallacies. But maybe some ‘felt’ it wasn’t in their best interest to do that. As school budgets are reduced and teachers vilified and teaching methods are in flux, is it any wonder our populace doesn’t understand the role of understanding governance? Romney FAILED. Mostly, his ability to fool all of the people, at individual events, FAILED. In spite of the nearly 4-years of bombardment from the Republican leadership and the lock-step of some irresponsible repeating Obama’s “failings”, the Republican leadership’s project FAILED. I have yet to hear one one-stream reporter just tell the truth, YOU FAILED to get enough people to believe your platform and your candidate. It’s that simple.
I think the media reported a close race to generate interest among their readers/viewers. Also, corporate media certainly didn’t want to offend conservatives by giving widespread coverage to the pollsters like Nate Silver and others who predicted a big Democratic win.
I’m curious about what David Gregory is going to do on “Meet The Republicans.” Will he have another “exclusive” interview with John McCain?
Dear Eddie:
The touchy feely part really is true, but a person has to separate that from the magical thinking of
” I want it, so I will get it. ” This happens a lot to little kids at Christmas time and birthdays when the horse requested doesn’t show up. Sometimes, politicians and pundits fall into this too, because there is an entitlemen that some adults can’t give up, and I think there might be a “divine rights” gene that affects about 1 % of the population. : )
However, there is a real touchy feely part that you can count on and it’s not magical; it’s just paying attention to your body’s physical reactions. It’s like recognizing the difference between a real smile and the kind of smile where the teeth are smiling but the eyes are little hard pieces of granite.
It’s found when shaking someone’s hand, but you suddenly get an an ick factor in your stomach. It’s found in turning down the sound when a politician speaks and looking at their body language. There are lots of good workable ideas in the book, BLINK, because the body seems to know, before the brain even figures anything out.
I sing the body PROPHETIC. I think Walt Whitman would agree with that too.
I guess Candy Crowley did not hear the news releases featuring mutual attacks between partisans of Ryan and partisans of Romney within the campaign where Ryan people were highlighting what Ryan would be doing after the election (just not serving as VP), while the Romney people were saying that Ryan wasn’t their first choice anyway. Falling out like this at the end is not a usual sign of a campaign confident of victory!
I thought Mitt would win because the last 4 years have been the worst in this countries history.They called Mitt(and all Rs) haters of woman ,the poor,the sick,the elderly,gays and pretty much everyone else.Now Obama stands with his family next to mitts and sings Mitts praise.If i were Mitt I would of thanked Obama for that phony performance.Remind him that I am the one who hates woman.My wife .My mother.My sister and nieces.Then I would tell the president to take his phony ass vile hand off my shoulder, and get away from my family so they are not infected.i would of said move laughing Joe(who would laugh in a cancer ward of children) and his family away from mine too.If Dems are not as phony as the president they will have the courage of their convictions.Follow Mitt to his home.Pickett everyday for years no matter the cost.Protest against this man and his party beyond the next election.If you truly believe what you said ,and that it was not just liberal chicago style politics as usual …you will do so.Let your true hatred for this man burn bright.Forever.Stand up.Be proud of who and what you are.Never let the world forget your hatred of this horrible man.Excoriate every member of the house and Senate people who are not liberal with the same broad paintbrush.This idea that you want to work with them is phony.I saw your Eva Longoria called all conservative woman the C word.Good .Tell the members of the house about their woman.They may not realize it.Lets all be honest here.We individual people look at you on the left as those people …our past friends and neighbors who have branded us forever with these scars.So we wear them proudly.Like people branded with nigger,or faggot.You are the party of hatred now .We the hated.So prove it.Be who you have chosen to be!
Nickie…Yes the rs did fail to wake people up.Did fail to show that this president was in fact IN Washington these last 4 years.Years without a budget even being presented(though it his constitutional duty and worthy of impeachment not to do so).They had a stupid idea they could save this country.Now with the fiscal cliff looming i hear bullshit about working together.Well news flash.If the Rs give him nothing- we are going over.If they give him everything…. we are still going over.We voted to continue borrowing,spending,and printing….and now yes taxing.That was the real vote.Live a little while longer in the fading sun.Refuse to see the coming night.So It will not stop the plunge.If Obama said i will stop immediately the things named above truthfully it would but give us a little more time.That is all even Mitt could of done.We spent too much.Borrowed too much.Printed too much.The end game comes.Out of the 4 of them Ryan probably did the best job trying to talk to people not as children.Even he fudged for political expediancy.But he knows the truth.Mitts positivity -though infectious……was wishful thinking.Obama is deluded ,or simply complicit.Joe ….well joe should just have another drink,and a good laugh.Looking at it coldly with a non partisan bent i wold say the r ticket from a financial standpoint was the best ever put forward in American history.The Ds the worst.The sick thing is is we are so bad off neither mattered.Whos fault?Every last one of them.Every president you can name.They spent us into Oblivion.America got soft.We want mummy and daddy to care of all our needs.Now poor mummy and diddy are dying.And we children will soon be out in the cold.
Interesting how the thoughtful comments are couched in good grammar, spelling, etc. I’m always fascinated by the people who write to the newspaper about how important the three R’s are (and schools shouldn’t be teaching health, sex education, music, art, etc) and their letters are half-literate.
Gloriana, your physical descriptions are so true, but only if one is relatively healthy. People raised in very dysfunctional families identify the smile with the cold eyes with mommy and daddy and grandpa, and they respond to it (think Ronald Reagan — so many people loved him, but if you watched him on TV, you could see what an angry man he was). I am fascinated by people’s positive responses to very stupid politicians, drunken politicians, nasty politicians, and, in the case of Romney AND Obama, men whose empty souls shine forth. I had to turn off liberal radio yesterday when a caller was rhapsodizing about her grandson who said Obama loves us so much. Whew, if the last four years have been love, I’ll pass, thank you!
Wow! What a whiner michael e is! Now you know how the sane part of the country felt during the “w” administration.
Wow The gibberish from our right-winger is even more pronounced, even more incoherent than usual. Do yourself a favor, dude: At least try to spell a few words correctly (good God, man, the plural of “woman” is “women.” You can’t even get that right?). I realize you’re upset, but too goddamn bad. You’ve been believing your own lies and the lies of your masters over at Fox for too long. You don’t like it? Run for office, protest, write gibberish-filled letters to the editor of the third-rate newspapers in your town. Hop to it! We’re all looking forward to more of the same from you over the next four (Eight? Sixteen? Forever?) years. Seriously. Really!
The whole campaign of Mitts was based on Delusion and outright falsehoods; take a good serious look at everything he said, it will stand out exactly what he was doing; Everything Obama said was turned upside down and repeated nearly verbatim, but with the R’s and D’s reversed in the process. If the R’s did something, it was always turned into “Those evil Democrats…”, if the D’s said something about the R’s it was again flipped and turned into those “Those Democrats did this…”
It became clear when Obama spoke the truth about Mitt and Ilk sending our jobs overseas to make their profits higher, and the next day Romney comes out and says almost exactly the same thing, only with Obama’s name inserted in the place of his. It was at that point I realized no matter what was said the R’s would simply turn it upside down and spew more garbage in the hopes of fooling the electorate. The finally straw was election day when, after Nate Silver predicted a win with 303 electoral votes for Obama, the R’s jumped in and claimed that they KNEW they were going to win with 303.
So anyone who thinks that the Republican Ticket was the best ever, is in serious need of some reality check because they are not residing on any planet in this solar system.
michael e says, “Years without a budget even being presented.”
Good lord, michael. You are so uninformed. Obama did present a budget. Just because the GOP refused to bring it to the floor for a vote doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.
And enough with the doomsday Chicken Little crap. Living with such pessimism and fear must be miserable. Step away from the Fox box and try joining us in reality. You’ll feel better.
Tim thinks Im upset.Why would any American be upset>Things are going so well.4 years from now things will be better.I swear.Ha ha ha ha ha ha.What a bunch of uneducated morons you all are.Timn for the love of God man you write like a 5th grader.Let me be clear(i always am to people who are not a might slow).Mitt could not of saved this country.Just added a little time.Obama is a sub moron.Peddle to the metal.Lets try to hit that tree DUHHHHHHH,Over the cliff we go yippppee!See we tried to be nice.But he really is such a dope.Community activist…Christ.Half assed lawyer teaching a half assed class on the constitution and racism.Never really practiced.Entered school on affirmative action.Half assed senator.Only thing he has ever done well is lied his ass off like a pro during the campaigns.Became like Jello .Bigger dope than Joe Biden.President dope and his Vp who called him a clean black man who can speak.Ha ha ha ha.You cant make this stuff up.President dope.Vp dope.And an army of dopes who re elected a man who did so well the first time.God I wish I had patients as dumb.I operate and take out a healthy appendix.And you morons tell me to work on your arm next.Ha haha ha!Morons
tee jae he floated it.Did not present it.HIS own side said they would not vote it in besides all the Rs,so he never officially presented it.I dont watch Fox anymore than Democracy now.A little of both every day.Bet your well rounded.When did you listen to Rush last.How about…never?
Hey…anybody want to know how bummed I am?Just like wall street I hedge my bets.If Mitt lost I would buy a ton of gun stocks(I did).I figured the market would crash but not that.Wanna know how much I made when gun stocks exploded day after election?Probably made more than half you geniuses make a year.Like taking candy from a baby ,so predictable.How did you folk do? Ha ha ha ha ha :)
Michael, the problem with diatribes like yours is that you have to LEAVE OUT half the FACTS in order to even have a point to plug.
For instance, you say that the President was “IN Washington these last four years,” but have to leave out that “other” Reich Wing Meme that the President has been on vacation for the last four years. True, it’s a lie, but it’s still YOUR SIDE’S lie, isn’t it? As such, you ought to be working it into your narrative.
As for your budget meme, Obama DID present a budget, but was assured by the GOP that nothing would be done about it at all… And it WAS the GOP Congress’s job to approve the budget, isn’t it? Hmm? So NOW who is not doing their job?
And now this is your stated predicament: “Live a little while longer in the fading sun.Refuse to see the coming night.”
But remember, the whole thing is built on debt. NOT debt of or by the government, but debt by and for the BANKS. THAT debt is what drives our system, and it would not EXIST but for the way the Banks are given control of our money supply.
It is ALL the fault of the Banks, and their media puppets.
Debt exists ONLY at the word of the Banks, who run the whole system in a way to ensure the payment of those debts.
We could solve this “crisis” tomorrow, by simply wiping out that debt. Sure, some Bankers would then go hungry, but WHO THE HELL WOULD EVEN CARE?
Oh, and THANK YOU Michael, for going the extra mile to show us just how cynical and uncaring you really are.
Do you really think the THINKERS on this site are going to take your word for anything at all, when you demonstrate how culpable you are? So this election was just something to bet on, for you? Matters a WHOLE LOT MORE to me, and I didn’t make any money on it, as you say you did.
And how? BY INCREASING THE STOCK OF GUNS IN THE US, yet. You create destruction of lives and property — for your own profit, yet — and you think that somehow increases your stock as a truth-teller?
Not in my world.
“Wanna know how much I made when gun stocks exploded day after election?Probably made more than half you geniuses make a year.Like taking candy from a baby ,so predictable.How did you folk do? Ha ha ha ha ha :)”
Typical Republican bully. It’s like they’re an entirely different species or something. Does he really think the rest of us believe, as he apparently does, that making more money — and doing it on guns — makes you a better or more admirable person? Or that trying to taunt people is something you’d want associated with yourself? He must identify with those over-the-top bully-criminals on tv crime shows who like to laugh at the cops and the district attorneys who are working to put them in jail.
Lightning Joe….Good piece.I feel you among all these people glimpse a “reality”in all this.We could probably have a good conversation.Ok so some are mad I made a boatload on gun stocks.Tough…..The truth is a lot of people who understand “the coming night” are scared shitless.lets extend that big caring,understanding, liberal heart to them too…..Ok?Look with the demise of the filibuster role you will see what the left voted for.Or at least 70% of them if polls are right.The exact thing 90% of the right voted against.More government central planning and expansion.Yippie.More government free stuff.Yippie!!!!!Higher taxes……yippie!!!!!!A return to unfettered and government subsidized abortion(yes that means late term too).Yippie!Free birth control.Free health care.Forget that weird fact that although Obama said it would cost 760 bill that we are going to near 4 trillion before implementation.Hell its free!!!!!Free food(food stamps)Free housing (section 8)An explosion of SSI benefits(free of course)The first shot across the bow to legalize pot and in fact all drugs since the legal hurtles will mirror each other.End of prohibition on drugs.Hey good for me.No more writing Oxy prescriptions for pain or people who medically need it..You can go pick it up yourself at the drug store(sic)Yippie.No more war on drugs.No more drug cartels.Happy happy.No more need to fast and furious.Our government can make the heroin and all that money.Double yippie!!!!Obama wants to unilaterally cut our nuclear arms down to 300 from our parity with Russia at about 1500 and china at 600.Russia and China will stay where they are.China is building nukes,and a massive blockading sub fleet and just bought their first aircraft carrier.Russia is re-arming as we move to disarm and disengage.Im sure they both have wonderful motives for our lives….. Yippie again.Israel will be left alone to enjoy the Arab spring and find love and kindness at the hands of her sharia law neighbors Yip yip yippie.Yeah lots of FREE stuff.FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE :) Haha ha ha ha ha ha. Sorry my laughter is not mocking like Joe Biden’s was.It is nervous laughter.
Look one answer could of been fiscal education at the youngest level.Right on up to graduation.Nothing to do with politics.Show people that in a balanced government you cant reap more than you put in.But we have no time for education.We are in fact now truly out of time.We need to be honest about that.i will say it again…WE NEED TO BE HONEST ABOUT THAT.We are screwed ladies and gentleman.I guess the question is truly what should the government not pick up the tab on in the last scramble for remaining funds.And to hit on your topic ..How much funds should be drained from peoples personal bank accounts to keep banks funded,to stave off collapse.Certainly we cant lower interest rates anymore.We cant print money any faster or buy back anymore of our own bonds.We cant borrow more from China.So lets all be nice.Some people see this coming and want to be able to protect their families.Their food,and water.Their dwindling property.Lets understand to them that means guns.See they have no faith in your vaunted Fed governments helping hand.To them it is the pickpocket or iron fist.I will let something personal slip here.An acquaintance (lets say) who is worth near 300 million has configured ALL his wealth to be moved to Canada and offshore at the push of a button when things begin to…………deteriorate.He is an elbow rubbing friend of George Soros and other movers and shakers.He tells me this is common place among the muckitty mucks.Of course even that is only a stop over on the road to exile and oblivion.Where America goes…….So Tim how will all this help socialist like you and Gloriana?Even socialism need to take other peoples money.What happens when there is none?Im not being mean.I wish you would stop attacking and truly tell us.
Again, witless false bravado, crazy lies, and gibberish. You understand nothing about liberalism or conservatism. And you are upset. No big deal, dude. You’ll get over it. Tell your rich “friend” that Canada’s a wealthy, very liberal country–they eve have single-payer! Just like we will one day. And your vulgar,rotten threats about violence with guns doesn’t mean a goddamn thing. The poster above is right–you are a bully. Get used to losing.
What happened to the comment’s functionality? I have yo logg in for every comment, and I can’t see half of what’s in the comment box. Hence, the mistakes. I guess I’ll use Wordpad and transfer the text over, but this is crazy.
Never feed trolls, especially not the resident FAIR troll.
Yes, one_who_reads–how soon I forget my own advice. It’s tough sometimes, but that’s great advice.
Tim I did not write any of this to attack you.You of course cant say the same.And somehow….yes somehow,IM the bully?What is that -more liberal judo?As far as me being upset…Tim everyone is upset.Some are happy for a moment because their”football”team won.Some have won a battle ,but we have ALL lost the war as I see it.So what is your answer?Your a socialist.Obama is whatever he is. Between the two of you what is the answer?Do you think you will be able to repair the economy sufficiently to save this nation?And what part will the constitution play in that foreseeable future?And Tim ,Canada is not preferable soon- because of their healthcare.The super rich can afford that .It is simply the best place to safeguard their money.But it is only a stop gap measure.Where America goes….So answer the question.Im sure your follower here want to know your ideas even more than I do.This is your moment to do more than correct peoples gramer,and make snide remarks.The floor is yours sir……………………………
Notice even after a couple days has passed….Tim has not one answer.Nothing.