janus.thumbnail.jpgThere’s nothing shocking or scandalous about candidates, during the course of a presidential campaign, adjusting their message as they go along. The double standard that mainstream media outlets apply in reporting on these changes, though, can be pretty outrageous.

For example, in the New York Times today, Patrick Healy decides to emulate Maureen Dowd, applying maximum snark in discussing a Democratic candidate:

There has been Commander in Chief Hillary Rodham Clinton, the steely leader who, voters were assured, would “destroy” terrorists and be Thatcher-like tough.

There has been Strong-and-Experienced Hillary Clinton, but that proved to be so uninspiring that Change-Agent Hillary and Likable-Since-I-Was-a-Kid Hillary were rolled out.

And Teary-Eyed Hillary, of course, won the New Hampshire primary last week, after the candidate choked up describing the rigors of the race.

. . . Her newest public face is a blend of policy and persona. She held two roundtable discussions with average people, experts and activists on Wednesday in Nevada, which holds its presidential caucuses on Saturday, focusing on a proposed nuclear waste repository near Las Vegas and the economic ills and mortgage foreclosures in the state and the nation.

That was where I-Feel-Your-Pain Hillary emerged, a reprise of her husband Bill Clinton’s touchy-feely message from his 1992 campaign.

Mrs. Clinton listened. She nodded. She expressed sympathy. She promised to fight for the people in the room.

Compare this with Dave Lighthouse of McClatchy Newspapers, writing about a Republican:

As Americans grow increasingly anxious about whether the economy is sinking into recession, Mitt Romney may find that just being himself is the best way to campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

The former Massachusetts governor has spent months, and millions, trying to convince voters that he’s the true heir to Ronald Reagan and a devout social conservative. For that he’s drawn scorn from critics who remember his moderate views a few years ago on matters such as abortion and gay rights.

Romney scored his first big Republican primary victory Tuesday in Michigan largely by emphasizing his background as a successful business executive who knows how to foster innovation, change and prosperity. That may be his best, and most authentic, sales pitch.

Yes, you read that right — GOP presidential candidates don’t flip-flop, they just become more authentic. NYT op-ed columnist Roger Cohen echoes this mantra today in writing about St. John McCain:

McCain does not win the wavering as [a] policy wonk; he’s flesh and blood. The straight-talking survivor of more than five years of Vietnamese imprisonment is at home in his own skin in a way Bush will never be.

Sure, Cohen implicitly criticizes a Republican (our beloved Dubya) as inauthentic there — but one who’s not currently a candidate. Back when he was running for president, Bush’s straight-shooting, from-the-gut honesty was never questioned.

Similarly, even though Healy up above contrasts Hillary Clinton’s supposed falseness (because, you know, being initially reticent about showing emotion in public but eventually learning is something real, genuine people never experience) with Barack Obama’s "intuitive talent" at bonding with others, you can rest assured that should he win the Democratic nomination, Obama will be revealed as a phony in the eyes of the jaundiced media as well.

None of this is an accident. Since voters inherently tend to side with Democrats on issues, the GOP has long since learned to campaign in ways that try to nullify specific policy stands as a consideration. It doesn’t matter if that other candidate is saying things you agree with, the Republican argues — he or she is insincere, a flip-flopper, a waffler! Whereas the GOPer always manages to lay claim to superior personal characteristics, including "knowing where they stand" (who knew that always wanting to give money to rich people and corporations, regardless of the subject at hand, was such a virtuous moral attribute?).

The amazing thing about this authenticity charade is how effortlessly the corporate media promotes it, even though it’s utterly untrue. But if Democrats want to debunk it, they’d better be prepared to do it themselves, because the press seems quite content with their false narrative.

Related posts:

  1. The Media’s Generous Double Standard For Republican Extremists
  2. The Torturer Times: The Washington Post’s Partisan Press Release Service
  3. Hey John Nichols: Pointing Out That Fox News is Partisan Isn’t “Whining”
  4. Von Spakovsky Accuses Obama Civil Rights Team of “Nakedly Political” Acts; NYT Fails to Note HvS’s Own Partisan Work
  5. Frank Rich Annoints Palin the GOP’s 2012 Favorite