Inside the Beltway

TIME TO STEAM

It’s “tea party” time on the West Side of the Capitol, site of the near-spontaneous “Super Bowl of Freedom” scheduled for noon Thursday, starring Rep. Michele Bachmann and a potential cast of thousands intent on voicing displeasure over health care reform. The Minnesota Republican’s grass-roots event has garnered some luminaries, including silver-screen conservative Jon Voight.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” WMAL morning talk-radio host Chris Plante tells Inside the Beltway. “It’s a continuation of the one-two punch that’s being delivered to Speaker Pelosi and the Democratic leadership. This is the sleeping giant, awakening and pushing back, the silent majority that is silent no more.”

The two-hour event has implications for citizen journalism. Mrs. Bachmann has suggested participants bring video cameras and seek on-the-record opinions about heath care legislation from their own representatives.

“There’s really something remarkable happening here. Tuesday’s elections were a wake-up call for the Democrats. But events like this are an even bigger wake-up call. They have got to pay attention. This situation has shaken middle America right off their couches and forced us to take action against the Democratic agenda,” Mr. Plante says.

THE ENVELOPE PLEASE

Wait, was there an election? Something to do with Republicans winning stuff? Maybe not, according to prim press coverage that neutralized party victories in Virginia and New Jersey with language like this:

“Republicans revel in wins but ideological fissures loom.”

Oh, but of course. That came from the Washington Post. There’s more, though.

“These races turned on local and state issues and circumstances and on the candidates in each race - and despite what some will certainly claim - the results are not predictive of the future or reflective of the national mood or political environment,” says Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine. “The all-out war between Republicans and the far-right wing is a disaster for the Republican Party.”

There were other sins of spin, according to the Media Research Center (MRC), which singled out a quartet of journalists for a “Dewey Defeats Truman Award” for their coverage of conservatives this week.

They are: Mike Allen of Politico, who said conservative influence was “suicidal” for Republicans; CBS News anchor Katie Couric, who called conservatives the “party fringe”; the New York Times’ editorial board, which condemned “right wing zeal”; and Ron Brownstein of the National Journal, who said conservatives held a tight “leash” on Republicans.

“The pundits have egg on their faces after touting the last ABC poll saying that somehow, Republicans were at their lowest point in 25 years. That doesn’t come anywhere close to accurate now. For them to warn people not to over-interpret these election results is rich. Media outlets love insisting that their polls of 1,000 people should move mountains in Washington, but when the entire public votes, it’s cast as an insignificant marker of public opinion,” the MRC’s Tim Graham tells the Beltway.

“The overprotective media’s worried about Obama losing all of his momentum long before the midterms. Bad election returns coming along at the same time [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid is saying ‘no health care bill this year’ just underlines that the agenda is stalling as Democrats’ popularity is tumbling,” Mr. Graham adds.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

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