Bending the media

Earlier tonight I was on an online forum reading a post from a Clark supporter who was bitching about some unfair media coverage. It suddenly occurred to me that I rarely find myself getting pissed off about distorted Dean stories anymore. Why? Because I know that those stories can be counteracted.

This person's specific complaint was that some reporter said that Clark didn't have much of a domestic policy compared to his foreign policy. She correctly pointed out that Clark has plenty of position papers on domestic issues but that "the media just doesn't want to talk about that."

My immediate thought was that the media didn't want to talk about Dean and his positions either, but he somehow managed to get them to do it anyway.

It was then I had my epiphany: Dean is controlling the media cycle rather than letting it control him. He doesn't rely on the media to do what he wants it to do. He forces it to do what he wants it to do.

Not even Clinton managed that.