On The Media is produced by:
Scott Brown's victory in Massachusetts surprised many in media and political circles. But surely the local press and pundits who followed the race closely for months saw it coming? Not so much. Boston Phoenix political reporter David Bernstein describes what he, and the rest of the local media, missed.
If Bernstein is correct in his "local" assesment, Gov Patrick should be on the losing end of the predictions for November.
You kept saying "there were no exit polls"...and I suppose that meant, as usual, "there are no exit polls the media, including me, is aware of." Just sayin' there is SOME data out there. May I direct you to
1) Rasmussen exit poll
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/massachusetts/a_final_look_at_massachusetts_election_night_poll
2) More targeted was MoveOn's poll of 1000 voters who voted FOR Obama for Pres:
http://pol.moveon.org/brownpoll/?id=18657-7595030-N61EDNx&t=7
As to your question about what the media missed I answer for them, they missed everything. They, like politicians, are so disconnected from the people that they just sail or float above our heads and seem to make determinations on what they think is a situation.
There is no proof that this result isn't the result of some form of election day hanky-panky. I only saw one report that pre-cast Brown ballots were arriving at some polls. The ones we heard about were discovered by the Coakley campaign. Is it possible there were others? I find it difficult to fathom the result but knowing their history I cannot put it beyond the Republicans to steal it. And knowing how much was at stake, I can't put it past the Democrats to not allow the theft to occur.
There were a number of factors ignored by the commentator from the Boston Phoenix as well as all the pundits that I've heard in various quarters, including NPR, ABC, and CNN.
As a Massachusetts resident and registered voter I was appalled at the number of callers, many from out-of-state, who were attempting to influence my vote - as much as if this actually was a national election. One person from West Virginia who called on election day even had the gall to ask for whom I voted. Our constitution protects the right to voting privacy.
Even more appalling to me is the fact that many AM talk radio stations were virtually campaigning for Brown. This, too, used to be against FCC regulations. I was not aware that those regulations had changed. And if they have I think that lawmakers need to look into it. Public airwaves are owned by the public and should not be used for unpaid advertising on the part of talk show hosts.
Third there has been a lot of smooth talking and word twisting and unfortunately we seem to have a poorly informed electorate who are gullible especially to fear mongering. Allegations that Coakley would not oppose terrorism, for example, can garner lots of votes for the opposing candidate but are not based on facts.
The lack of basic high-quality civic education in public schools and beyond puts all that democracy stands for at stake in coming years.
If the result of an election is surprising, there are two possibilities: that you are stupid and didn't know what was really going on, or that you were smart and the election itself was wrong (faulty or stolen). Why does NOBODY ever discuss the second possibility??
Exactly, but this is only a continuation of a patern. There was widespread evidence of voter fraud on a scale never before witnessed during the presidential election of 2008. Clearly that election was stolen and one can only hope that the truth will come out one day, hopefully soon as this nation is in a steep decline under its current absentee leadership.
As for MA, obviously the Globe was in the tank for Coakley.
Ms. Poole has obviously been out of touch with the entire change in the media rules since the Reagan era but I can truly empathize with her points. I was, actually, one of the out of state callers of which she complained. Organizing for America, the President's own outreach tool, asked for donations to the Coakley campaign (not happening here) and, in the person of John Kerry, to make at least five calls to Massachusetts voters in support of her. I made the calls.
I was disappointed to only speak to two voters (one speaking for her husband, as well) and left two messages with one number being unreachable. As a former Green party activist, I found it odd there was no reporting mechanism. Worse, I discovered later that the voters assigned to me were from Coakley's hometown! If she needed carpetbaggers like me to solidify her support there, I knew the election was already lost.
You kept saying "there were no exit polls"...and I suppose that meant, as usual, "there are no exit polls the media, including me, is aware of." Just sayin' there is SOME data out there. May I direct you to
1) Rasmussen exit poll
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections2/election_2010/election_2010_senate_elections/massachusetts/a_final_look_at_massachusetts_election_night_poll
2) More targeted was MoveOn's poll of 1000 voters who voted FOR Obama for Pres:
http://pol.moveon.org/brownpoll/?id=18657-7595030-N61EDNx&t=7
Most people don't understand a main reason Coakley lost Massachusetts
She let her opponent get away with misleading the public and media about the cause of the current major problems and shifting the blame for the things most are concerned about from the Republicans who primarily were the cause of the continuing problems to herself and the Democrats (similar to what is occurring elsewhere). The problems are still with us and won't go away soon. They will have to be faced and dealt with and the solutions aren't easy or to be resolved by wishful thinking.
The big one that has not been faced is:
Fiscal Irresponsibility of the last 3 Republican Administrations : debt, energy dependency, capital outflow, transfer of wealth, and economic decline
Fiscal Irresponsibility of the last 3 Republican Administrations :
Unprecedented massive U.S. national debt, trade deficits, capital outflow and wealth transfer to other countries, and redistribution of wealth from poor and middle class to the ultra- rich. (documentation)
www.flcv.com/natdebtS.html
Yeah, Coakley's problem was she didn't go negative enough. That really gets the voters behind you.
When's the statute of limitations up on blaming the adminstrations that came before you?
Please keep your comments relevant to this entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments on On the Media are moderated. On the Media reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the onthemedia.org Comment Guidelines before posting.
Back to Episode
