Palin Coverage

Now, all throughout the presidential race, I noticed that the media was a little . . . nicer to Obama than it was to McCain. And Joe Biden, despite his controversial (and hilarious, and questionable) past, remained unmentioned. But as old and doddering as the media portrayed McCain, it was nothing like what they did to Sarah Palin.

I realize that this is a sensitive issue. I realize that, when people read this, many of them will think that I'm just a whining, hyper-sensitive, Conservative sympathizer. None of that is true. Okay, sometimes I do whine. But not about this.

And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Seattle P-I has an article that discusses the bad press that Palin inspired:

"Whatever Sarah Palin's future in politics outside Alaska, she will go down as one of the most trashed and controversial vice presidential candidates in American history, a victim of some bad journalism, a negative atmosphere she helped create . . ."

Yeah, I agree. Of course, the media did not make up quotes like:

"As Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where– where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border." - explaining why Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience, interview with CBS's Katie Couric, Sept. 24, 2008

Or like this little gem:

"I'm the mayor, I can do whatever I want until the courts tell me I can't."

But the media also didn't make up this, by Joe Biden:

"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs."

Or this one, also spoken by Joe Biden:

"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking."

But I had to look up the Biden quotes. The ones from Palin flowed freely into my mind, placed there by the news anchors and papers that I read so often. Biden, on the other hand, was rarely discussed.

And while I love SNL more than almost anything, how many times did they spoof Obama or Biden? They did a couple of shorts about McCain (and how ancient he is), and of course everyone remembers this:



I love it too. Don't get me wrong.

But I do think that the media has a large influence on public opinion, and I think that their coverage of Palin was unfair, biased, and kind of . . . mean.

But what does everyone else think? I know that Palin brought much of it on herself, but all the candidates said really stupid things during the campaign. Why her? Why did the media choose her as their comedic relief? Or did they? Do you think their coverage was fair?