McCain and Huckabee...the media darlings

by David Alvord

The latest NH poll shows Romney is up 14 points! Where is the huge headline: "ROMNEY SURGES IN NH"!!!? Or, "Romney Rises"? Can you imagine how the press would have reacted had McCain or Huckabee showed up that high on a poll. In that case of Huckabee, we don't have to imagine, because they did have a huge reaction to his temporary win in the polls of Iowa.

The press seems to have a narrative that Romney has got all of that money and organizational strength. But where did he get all of that money? From the American people! The press wants to say that Romney has the money, and Huckabee has the passion. I think that the press has got it wrong. Romney has inspired passion, therefore got the money. Think of the passion it takes to donate to a candidate! Would you donate to a candidate that you were not passionate about winning? So where is the passion for the McCain camp? The guy had to take out a loan to keep his organization afloat. Where is the passion for Huckabee supporters? I think that the two combined have raised only about 10M. Romney? He has raised somewhere in the ballpark of 50M. Sure, he has donated some of his own money too. Again, we are dealing with passion.

It is inaccurate to say that Romney has all of this money and is dominating the airwaves...and somehow that makes it all an unfair fight. Where did Romney get the money? It was donated by Americans who want to see Mitt win! If you look at the proportions of the money Mitt has used, you will admit that most of it has come from donors.

Huck, it is an unfair fight because Romney has more passionate supporters than you have! McCain, why has Romney raised so much more in New Hampshire than you have?

The other flaw to the money-buys-votes argument is that it doesn't always work. Just look at Obama. He is not doing as well as Clinton, but has raised more than her. All money can do is get a candidate's message out. If the voters like your message, it helps. If they hate your message, it won't help.

I believe that McCain and Huckabee are the media darlings because they are so much more liberal than Romney. McCain and Huck refuse to change their liberal stances, yet they want the republican nomination! Romney has really only changed on one position (abortion). The rest of his conservative credentials have been his all along. I think that a candidate should change his positions to conform to the party he wants to represent.

The media are salivating over the possibility of a Giuliani or Huckabee or McCain nomination. That way, they can't lose. Come this fall, Americans will be forced to choose between a liberal or a super-liberal. And they love the idea of a grumpy old man (McCain) running against a woman.
They would love to see a guy who wears his religion on his sleeve (Huck) go against a person who could "unite all Americans".

What the media does not want to see is an articulate candidate who knows how to deal with and defeat northeast liberals. The media does not want a candidate who will make conservative ideals sound sensible and, dare I say, cool.

So what is the strategy? Downplay Romney successes and spaz out over the success of the RINO republicans.

This January, I am praying that the "silent majority" will ignore the media bias. I hope that we won't be fooled by these "Republicans In Name Only". Not only is Mitt Romney the only one who can defeat the democrats this fall, he is also the only nominee that can do so while maintaining the integrity and core principles of the the Republican party.