In his LAT book review of Sarah Palin’s book, Tim Rutten makes the following observation:
Palin is genuinely convincing in her admiration for Reagan, but one of the things she misses about his appeal was the utter absence of resentment from his persona. This book, on the other hand, fairly seethes with resentment, particularly in the more than 100 pages devoted to the McCain-Palin campaign.
A thought that is continued down column:
her connection to her base is grounded in a common set of resentments and grievances, a sense of being always on the defensive.
I think that this is a key observation, as there is clearly a segment of the Republican base that feels constantly under assault in a unique way by the media “elites.”1 Now, I do understand how, say in the 1970s, that conservatives felt like they did not have major media figures on their “side” given that national news was dominated by the Big Three broadcast networks2 and the anchors of said broadcasts leaned to the more liberal side of the ledger. 3 However, given that at the moment the Fox News Channel is the highest rated cable news channel at the moment and that the most prominent voices in the commentariat these days are Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity, it is far more difficult to argue that conservatives have no voice in the public square. It is worth noting that Limbaugh has been a national media figure for roughly two decades, with the commensurate growth of conservative talk radio following in his wake. And, further, FNC has been in operation for ~13 years.
As such, while much of the GOP base may feel persecuted and therefore Palin’s sense of resentment resonates with them, the overall argument about constant attack is not going to be a useful argument for building a broader electoral base for Palin.
I will say that the GOP base has something of a point in the sense that if they feel like their views are a minority in mass media this likely is because their views are in the minority in the country as a whole.
I would also note that every sector of the political spectrum gets a fair share of criticism in the broader media environment—it just never seems like one’s one side is getting a sufficiently fair shake because, after all, we take our view personally. Progressives, for example, will gladly note how their views are not adequately represented in the mainstream press, even as hardcore conservatives are convinced that the mainstream press is the controlled by socialists.
Back to Palin’s sense of being under siege and sharing it with the public, as though on cue she has a Facebook post today about this week’s Newsweek cover wherein she uses the situation to chastise the news media and paint herself as a victim of its biases. Now, I will concede that this will play with the base. However, if she really does want to be a candidate for the presidency, she is going to have to demonstrate an ability to be able to ignore the slings and arrows that comes with such a high profile position. At some point she has to be a bit above the petty fray about media sleights.
The review actually makes a number of useful observations about Palin’s political circumstances. How good of a book review it is, however, I cannot say given that I have not read Going Rogue and am rather unlikely to do so (which has nothing to do with Palin, but rather my general disdain for these types of books).
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- Indeed, this is nothing new. It was a prominent part of the RNC convention, for example. [↩]
- A fact that Fox News recognized and filled that niche. Their slogans, regardless of what one thinks about them, are clearly and brilliantly aimed at these concerns: “We Report. You Decide” and “Fair and Balanced.” Conservatives long felt like the news was not simply reporting, but rather editorializing and felt that it clearly was not balanced ideologically. Again, one may wish to debate such evaluations, but the bottom line is that Fox tapped directly into such resentments of the major broadcast nets and CNN. Rush Limbaugh had a similar approach saying years before Fox News Channel existed that “ I am equal time” i.e., that he was the balance to the liberal media. [↩]
- Although it is worth noting to be fair that the programs in question were straight news, not the commentary type programs that dominate the national discourse at the moment. [↩]
November 17th, 2024 at 10:24 am
[...] David Brody isn’t too pleased with the Newsweek cover I noted in the previous post. You’ve got to hand it to the folks at Newsweek. They have accomplished being biased and [...]
November 17th, 2024 at 11:26 am
However, if she really does want to be a candidate for the presidency, she is going to have to demonstrate an ability to be able to ignore the slings and arrows that comes with such a high profile position. At some point she has to be a but above the petty fray about media sleights.
I wrote to exactly this problem the other day at The Moderate Voice. Essentially, I think she’s too thin-skinned to lead this country anywhere.
I will say that the GOP base has something of a point in the sense that if they feel like their views are a minority in mass media this likely is because their views are in the minority in the country as a whole.
Great point!
November 17th, 2024 at 11:26 am
ack! Blew the closing tag on the first paragraph — sorry!
November 17th, 2024 at 11:32 am
No worries–fixed.
November 17th, 2024 at 5:12 pm
[...] her. Steven L. Taylor on Poliblog also said that Ms. Palin’s complaints of unfair treatment no longer ring true, what with the dominance of Fox and conservative radio commentators: Given that at the moment the [...]
December 5th, 2024 at 2:06 pm
Agreed!If she wants to lead this country, she has to learn to ignore all the media frenzy that comes with a position as important as this.