THE press is in love, really in love, the kind of love that comes twice in a century. Sure, it has had crushes before-on John McCain and Bill Clinton-but those were mere infatuations, and the ardor ebbed quickly. In the cold light of day, the press is finding McCain not quite as cute as they thought him; and as for the old flame, Bill Clinton, when the going got tough and he took swipes at its new love, the press tossed him under the bus and backed over him, most notably with a particularly salacious hit piece-by the husband of one of his former assistants!-in a recent issue of Vanity Fair. That previously Clinton-loving magazine now has a passion for Barack Obama, as do Time and Newsweek, which embarrass themselves on a near-weekly basis. NBC exists mainly to ooze Obamadoration, with other news outlets not far behind.
“Many journalists are not merely observers but participants in the Obama phenomenon,” write John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei of Politico.com. Harris thinks some of his reporters need “detox” to get over their rapture, while VandeHei adds, “There is no doubt reporters are smitten with Obama’s speeches and promises to change politics.” What causes this madness in rational people? Nothing too mad: similar outlooks and interests in common. The press and Obama are a match made in heaven. This isn’t insanity, but the product of wholly predictable forces, coming together in an outcome that seems preordained.
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