The other day on the show, Melissa Harris-Lacewell suggested media "need to be covering the left as much as we cover, with anxiety, the right.”
Anxiety reached a fever pitch Tuesday night with the Tea Party primary victory for Christine O’Donnell, anti-masturbation crusader, in Delaware’s Senate race. The New York Times breathlessly headlines “G.O.P. Insurgents Win in Del. and N.Y.” and goes on for several paragraphs without even mentioning Democratic primaries, let alone noting that there were some insurgent victories there as well.
Perhaps the outcome of the Attorney General’s race came in too late for a headline? Maybe the AG just isn’t a sexy enough position for the hometown newspaper? It’s only the position that launched Eliot Spitzer to the governorship and from which Andrew Cuomo is starting his campaign.
And Eric Schneiderman, who Katrina vanden Heuvel noted has been a leader on progressive issues such as overhauling the draconian Rockefeller drug laws, judicial reform, and transparency, won that primary.
Early in the day, New York bloggers were calling for poll watchers to the Bronx, where they suspected State Senator Pedro Espada of unethical activities. But just a few hours later, Espada conceded to Gustavo Rivera, whose campaign attracted the support of friends of GRITtv like Baratunde Thurston and Elana Levin.
Meanwhile, Carolyn Maloney easily fought off a Wall Street-backed “New York lawyer who emerged as a national voice for the financial industry” according to the Times. They may not be LEFT victories exactly, but they’re closer than the other stuff. And even those stories didn’t make headlines.
Should Democrats spend more time talking about masturbation?
The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com.
