From a column by former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel in the Wall Street Journal titled “Democratic Voters Smash Media Myths”:
In Washington, few lines are as hackneyed as Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s aphorism that “everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” That’s true, but it’s also true that pundits can sometimes twist a few “facts” into a false narrative. Consider three widely accepted misconceptions about the Democratic Party—each of them debunked by the outcome of the primaries to date.
First, those who see the party as a collection of self-interested identity groups get it wrong. Many assume that female candidates had a distinct advantage with female voters, African-American candidates with African-American voters, Hispanic candidates with Hispanic voters, etc. But neither Cory Booker nor Kamala Harris had a line on African-American Democrats. Julián Castro failed to dominate within the Hispanic community. Maybe most remarkable, Elizabeth Warren didn’t win female voters even in Massachusetts.
Let that be a lesson to everyone pontificating about who our nominee should pick as his running mate to “balance” the ticket. I know plenty of female voters who, while caring about day care and early childhood education, also worry about America’s forever wars and climate change. In the same way, Hispanic voters don’t necessarily believe new arrivals should immediately get free health care. And as the African-American community’s support for Joe Biden reveals, not all African-American voters rule out leaders who have a history of being “tough on crime.” . . .
Second, it’s time to reset the media’s obsession with money in politics. I got my start as a fundraiser, so I’m well aware that candidates need a certain level of support to mount a successful campaign. Moreover, I’ve been horrified to see excessive sums of corporate money pour into the process since the Supreme Court wrongly decided Citizens United. . . .
Third, it’s time to retire the absurd notion that the Democratic Party is beating a path toward Scandinavian-style socialism. For reasons that escape me, the media has come to presume that one’s reach on Twittercorrelates with one’s influence in the corridors of power and hold on the progressive electorate writ large. Gazing at social media is no way to gauge the opinions of Democrats. When it comes to politics, Twitter is a funhouse mirror. . . .
That leads to the most important misconception. While the Republicans have abandoned the center right for the crazy angry populism epitomized by President Trump, the last two weeks have proven that the Democrats are still a center-left party, not a far-left party. That’s been true for cycle after cycle, but much of the media simply isn’t able to differentiate what matters from what doesn’t. . . .
Here’s the problem. The media’s obsession with identity politics, the role of money, and the views of politicians who flourish on Twitter prevents citizens from getting a full picture of what’s going on at the heart of the campaign. If voters are going to regain trust in the world of journalism, journalists need to start explaining the world as it is—not as it appears on an app.
This year’s Democratic primaries remind us that beyond the fourth estate’s role explaining politics to ordinary citizens, pundits need to take a moment for self-reflection, and ask: What did I think I knew at the beginning of this campaign—and what have I learned?
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