TX SEN: hy Does The Mainstream Media Continue To Believe Money Is All That’s Required To Defeat John Cornyn?

If money were all that was necessary for a candidate to win an election in Texas, then we’d be addressing Tony Sanchez as “Governor” right now and Rick Perry would be sitting alone at a table in the back of the Dairy Queen out in Haskell drinking stale coffee and hoping someone recognized him on their way to the bathroom.

Although money is important in Texas political campaigns, it’s not the only thing that can propel a candidate to the top. We’ve seen examples of this time and time again.

This is why I fail to understand why the Mainstream Media fails to treat Rick Noriega’s candidacy with the seriousness it deserves and continues to buy into the Republican talking point that Cornyn’s money will turn goose droppings into gold. A case in point is an article from today’s Dallas Morning News:

Because the state legislator from Houston is short on money, name recognition and big assists from his party, he’ll have to rely on getting lucky breaks like a sudden scandal or Democratic tsunami at the polls to threaten Mr. Cornyn, political operatives from both parties say.

“Until he raises $10 million, he doesn’t control his destiny,” said Democratic political consultant Jason Stanford, who ran Democrat Chris Bell’s lightly funded bid for governor in 2006.

“It’s frustrating that Noriega isn’t already winning. He’s got so many advantages, and it’s not taking him as far as anyone would like, ” Mr. Stanford said. The advantages include Mr. Cornyn’s vote against expanding children’s health insurance, Barack Obama’s potential to drive up turnout and growing Hispanic political strength in the state.

Put aside whether or not you can consider Jason Stanford as a legitimate barometer of what’s going on in Democratic political circles these days (or of exactly what it takes to win, given his recent record), and you can still pick apart his argument.

First and foremost, Stanford claims Noriega should be “winning already.” Evidently Stanford and the Dallas Morning News slept through the release of the Texas Lyceum Poll, an independent poll that showed Noriega and his rival neck-and-neck–in spite of the fact that Cornyn holds the cash advantage and that Noriega supposedly lacks name recognition.

Of course, the argument that Noriega lacks “name recognition,” would be moot if the mainstream media in Texas would actually, you know, cover a statewide election in Texas with real stories instead of “news analysis” garbage like this before Labor Day. Texas newspapers and television stations don’t pay enough attention to any Texas races. If they did, perhaps their readers would know what is on the ballot. Yes, there are a few exceptions, but by and large, Texas newspapers’ coverage of political elections is lacking. The DMN even noted that to a degree:

They said he also must generate free news media coverage to offset his money deficit, and stress more pocketbook issues.

To the mainstream media, the question must be asked, “where the hell have you been lately?” Rick Noriega’s been doing this. The Texas media, however, has (by and large) simply not paid attention. I’m not aware that the Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American Statesman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, El Paso Times, Amarillo Globe News, Tyler Morning Telegraph, Valley Morning Star, Lubbock Avalanche Journal, Waco Tribune Herald, Galveston County Daily News, Corpus Christi Caller-Times or any of the state’s other large daily newspapers have embedded a reporter with the campaign (even the AP and NPR did this with Barbara Radnofsky in 2006) for any serious length of time, or have bothered to really go out and cover much since the primary that hasn’t happened on top of their own back yards. The Associated Press, too, bears much of the blame since many of the papers above have, as a result of budget cuts, had to trim their political staffs.

The point being: Noriega has done everything right to get the mainstream media’s attention. The MSM has simply failed to pay serious attention. Noriega’s race isn’t the only race this has happened with, either. When was the last time you read about any of the candidates for Texas Court of Criminal Appeals or Texas Supreme Court in your local daily newspaper? How about your local race for State Senator or State Representative? Again, with only a few exceptions, Texas media seems to be simply too busy to be bothered to cover elections.

When the media does manage to cover the race, with half-assed “news analysis” stories such as the one in the DMN, they can’t even be bothered to get the facts straight:

Still, as one of 150 members of the Texas House, the five-term state representative isn’t well-known beyond his Houston district. And he trails Mr. Cornyn by double digits in most polls.

What polls would these be? Some the Cornyn campaign fed you? Some that someone “heard about” in Austin? The DMN failed to even mention the most credible public poll done to date.

Money isn’t all it takes to win a race. And, Noriega is doing everything right. He’s out there, among the people (although, by and large, the media fails to take notice of this), and he’s talking about a lot of issues, while John Cornyn continues to “one-note” the campaign with “drill here, drill now” arguments.

Tweet This Post   Ping This Post

Bookmark It