KIMBERLEY STRASSEL: A Landslide Against the Media.
Democrats now face a choice. On one side are party grown-ups who are publicly acknowledging this defeat as a sharp voter rebuke of progressive policies. They are admitting that lawfare was a mistake, that the party is culturally out of touch, that lunatic interest groups are running the asylum. They worry about a growing political realignment that threatens the party’s future. That we are hearing these voices is an improvement over the past eight years.
Yet on the other side are the progressive architects of the mess, already rationalizing away the night as a function of racism, sexism and America’s supposed love affair with “fascism.” They mark the loss down to “tactical” errors—the failure to court pro-Palestinian voters, a misallocation of door-knockers, poor timing in ad buys. The party just needs better “messaging” of its “historic achievements.”
No surprise, the media is already running with this latter narrative, again providing the party a soothing alternative to the blunt reality of its ideological fail. Will Democrats be lulled again? If they really want to reconnect with voters, they will at some point have to break with what is proving to be a debilitating feedback loop.
The media itself was put on sharp notice this cycle, pushed aside by podcasters and influencers whom voters now trust more to provide reality. Nearly 50 million people have listened to Joe Rogan’s interview of Mr. Trump, as it provided a more accurate assessment of the GOP nominee’s positions and the concerns of the country than “news” articles about the “authoritarian” intent on destroying the climate, abortion rights, democracy—choose your obsession.
The DNC-MSM are always shocked when the candidate they went all-in on supporting loses, and invariably spend about ten minutes after the election publicly feigning introspection — and then nothing changes, and their bias and hatred of all politicians with an (R) after their names only gets worse. Why should this election be any different?
Related: Good news: The public has stopped listening to mass media.