ISSUE: Campaign double standards

OUR VIEW: If Obama to be president the way media treat him must change 

Even Fox News, which claims to be fair and balanced but in fact is right-leaning, is treating Republican John McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin, as defeated candidates.

The question to McCain was: Will you be bitter? Saying no, McCain was reminded that he yet could be president.

Not if some of the other major networks have their way. MSNBC is so obsessed with ridiculing Fox that it would seem hardly to have time to spend so much energy on McCain-Palin, but the commentators indeed do.

Some recent examples:

* McCain is like a Shakespearean tragedy in which you dont want the villain to die yet.

* McCain would get a Tampa Bay Rays Mohawk haircut if it would gain him 5 percent in Florida.

* Palin defies her image as a Wal-Mart mom by wearing clothing from a $150,000 allotment by the Republican National Committee.

If it is so certain (and were continually reminded that polling says so) that McCain is a loser, why all the focus on tearing him down? And by people who are telling America they are journalists? Fact is, the networks do have journalists, but the lines they are willing to cross carry them into the competitive world of entertainment. It is troubling for journalists who strive day in and day out to be objective and straightforward.

Equally as troubling is the double standard? Why no similar treatment of Democrat Barack Obama?

Consider that the media pounded on Bill Clinton in 1992 for his use of marijuana. You remember. He didnt inhale. There has been scarcely a mention of Obamas long-admitted use of cocaine.

What about the Obama clothing allowance? He is a well-dressed man in suits that clearly do not come from Wal-Mart. Fact is, the media hit at Palin is sexism. She is a woman, so the clothing is a bigger issue? Shouldnt be. Does anyone really expect the vice presidential nominee out trying to win the election will not be dressed to impress?

And what about Obamas former minister, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his anti-American positions? This is the man who married the Obamas, the man who led their church for 20 years.

The hands-off nature of such issues is illustrated best by none other than McCain. He does not hesitate to connect Obama with Bill Ayers, the former Weather Underground extremist whose link to the Democratic nominee is tenuous at best. But McCain wont mention Wright. And the TV media dont either.

Were not advocating dirty campaigning, but rather making the point that if the Republicans are willing to go negative with an issue such as Ayers, why not make the Wright connection?

It goes to the root of the matter: a double standard. The same rules that apply to McCain as a veteran white politician do not apply to Obama. Anyone can say anything at any time about McCain and it will just be par for the course. When it comes to Obama, certain issues and topics are off limits, more because the media make it so than because they really cant be openly discussed.

If Obama is to be the next president, and nearly every indicator says he will be, this much change. Presidents are under a microscope, subject to every criticism for any and every reason under the sun. There simply cant be some unwritten set of rules about what can be said about or asked of the president. There certainly has been no rule like that where President Bush is concerned.

Obama steadfastly maintains he will be the president of all and a leader who favors none -- save the middle class, which he says has been trounced during the last eight years. Successfully moving America away from double standards that see African-Americans and minorities treated differently, for better and for worse, would be a monumental achievement for Obama on a personal level and real legacy for his presidency, if in fact he is the winner of the election.

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