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Matthew Freeman is a Brooklyn based playwright with a BFA from Emerson College. His plays include THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR, REASONS FOR MOVING, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE AMERICANS, THE WHITE SWALLOW, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, THE MOST WONDERFUL LOVE, WHEN IS A CLOCK, GLEE CLUB, THAT OLD SOFT SHOE and BRANDYWINE DISTILLERY FIRE. He served as Assistant Producer and Senior Writer for the live webcast from Times Square on New Year's Eve 2010-2012. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Gamespy, Premiere, Complex Magazine, Maxim Online, and MTV Magazine. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., New York Theatre Experience, and Samuel French.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The media continues to be shocked by the obvious

CNN today writes:

"After enduring a week of political obituaries, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign proved Tuesday that it still has some life."

Apparently, all the polls that had her winning West Virginia by a large margin, the idea that Obama conceded the race well before it took place, and the fact that his delegate lead and popular vote lead are entirely unaffected is, if not entirely lost on CNN, a buried lead to say the least. Because, for the love of God, ratings are high, drama sells, and the illusion of a horse race is more accurate than an accurate analysis of the news.

Now she can go on to win Kentucky (don't bother to be surprised when this happens) and he can win Oregon and, finally, it'll be over.

We'll have to endure a see-sawing narrative by the national news media, despite that fact that Obama has actually had a delegate and popular vote lead for...months. That Pennsylvania, even, did not seriously change that math. That the race wasn't over after North Carolina, it's been over since Obama out dueled Clinton on Super Tuesday with a small state strategy and then won a series of contests afterwards. That the race has been in a holding pattern for a very long time.

Clinton's campaign consists of four things: a complicit media, a math that includes Florida and Michigan (which she's only dedicated to now that they matter to her election), the superdelegates overcoming the popular vote (won't happen, and in fact, he's won the lead in Superdelegates) and Obama imploding (which he has entirely failed to do for her).

Winning West Virginia only changes the national news media's coverage, and only briefly. But inaccurate and misleading statements like the one that leads that article are precisely why so many Americans believe she still has a chance. The media is perpetuating this fantasy.

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