Pacific Views

They Wouldn't Say It About A Republican

Last night, to close a report on John Edwards' announcement of his candidacy, Rudi Bakhtiar read out approximately the following on CNN Headline News:

The millionaire trial lawyer promised to [fight for the working class.]

Why didn't they say something like 'the successful son of a mill worker promised to fight for the working class'? I've heard people make fun of Edwards for saying that over and over, but there's something nice about the idea that a person from the lower rungs of society can make good and run for president. Yet it mucks up the clever juxtaposition, and we can't have that.

So again the media follows the political storyline they're most comfortable with. Democrats get to be out of touch college professors, vapid actors, hippies, poor single mothers, atheists, and hypocritical rich people. Republicans can always be assumed to be honest, salt-of-the-earth types, because even the screaming rich ones never believably promise to do a blasted thing to help the working class.

So, here are some one-liners we never heard about the Bush-Cheney ticket during the 2000 election:

• The two former energy company executives promise to respect the environment.
  
• The ticket, with three drunk driving arrests between them, promises to encourage a culture of personal responsibility.
  
• The veteran of several failed companies promises to bring the best traditions of the business world into the Oval Office.
  
• The man who called a reporter an ***hole on mic promises to end the climate of bipartisan rancor in our nation's capital.
  
• The former governor who mocked a woman on her way to be executed promises to serve as a compassionate conservative.
  
• This wealthy son of a wealthy family claims direct knowledge of the concerns of those who have a hard time feeding their children.

I could probably continue, but I'd be here all day. None of that fit the script, but would have been far more telling than the casually dismissive line against Edwards. A trite continuation of the 'hypocritical, lying Democrats' theme which manages to ignore the most blatant contradictions of the other side.

It must be obvious that Edwards isn't my horse in the race, but if they'll do it to one of us, they'll do it to all of us.