Is Barack Obama Being Treated Unfairly by the Media?

Barack Obama, having been given a free pass by most of the media, has encountered increased scrutiny, mostly due to his relationship with the fiery, hate mongering pastor of his church, Jeremiah Wright. Is the media just being mean or is there substance to the scrutiny?

The pattern in the past for neophyte politicians has been for the media to build them up, only to tear them down. For most of Obama's Presidential run, the main story of his campaign has been of a African American John F. Kennedy who had somehow transcended race to bring Americans of all ethnic backgrounds together. TV stories of Obama rallies, filled to overflowing with enraptured fans fainting in the aisles, abounded. MSNBC commentator Chris Matthews, who might well have fainted in Obama delirium had it not been unseemly to do it on the air, once suggested that if one wanted to know what the 60s were like, there it is, referring to an Obama rally.

Obama was very lucky also to have as an opponent Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated in a series of primary and caucus contests. Hillary Clinton may have a little more political experience (though not nearly as much as she has claimed), but she lacks Obama's charisma on the stump. Most polls have given her a high unfavorability rating. She's just not well liked.

Also the fact that Obama was judged fairly to be the most left wing member of the Senate was shunted aside as irrelevant. Terms like "liberal" and "left wing": were just labels, after all.

The bloom started to come off the rose because of a statement Michelle Obama, the candidate's wife, made at a rally in early February. "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

The statement gave a lot of people some pause. Has Ms. Obama not been proud of her country, which overthrew Nazi and Soviet tyranny and landed men on the Moon, before her husband's run for the White House. That struck people as a lack of patriotism unbecoming of a potential First Lady of the United States. Naturally, talk radio stars such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity pounced.