Super Tuesday... it really was super

Super Tuesday was an exciting night as 22 states held their caucuses or primaries. For my Super Tuesday coverage I attended a public TV watching and analyzing event by CU-Boulder professor Dr. Elizabeth Skewes. She had a very interesting analysis of the political news coverage on the election so far. Some of her insightful points are included in the following:

1. The media killed John Edwards' campaign because he is not diverse.

I think that this point has great validity to it. The American public seems to be wanting a governmental change and it is exciting to have two diverse candidates in the Democratic party that actually both stand a legitimate chance of winning. Regardless of Edwards' campaign tactics and position on issues, he fits the mold of the wealthy, white male candidate. There's nothing new and exciting there. The media is definitely more intrigued by the fact that a woman or African-American could win the Democratic nomination.

2. In early campaigning, positive media references of Clinton occurred 27% of the time, while for Obama 46% of his media references were positive.

Dr. Skewes argued that the liberal media is rooting for Obama and could have tremendous sway in public opinion. Her reasons for the media's support of Obama were:
1. Obama makes great one-liners and soundbites
2. The media is afraid of being perceived as racist for bashing the Obama campaign.

I again think these are insightful reasons as to why Dr. Skewes believes the media is leaning towards, and may be influencing, an Obama victory. Obama is known for being a great public speaker, which translates into spectacular media production.

The last point in Dr. Skewes lecture about Super Tuesday that really struck me was the following:

3. A candidate can win the nomination, but must survive the election.

I think it will be a dramatic battle to the end. Not only to solidly determine the Democratic nomination, but also the final presidential election. No matter which candidates are the Republican and Democratic nominees, there will be a total tear down of each campaign by their opponent. The mud-slinging is often criticized as unprofessional but, truthfully, it's like a reality show to Americans. We want to watch the drama; I know I do.