Bush Is Winning The Media War

TIME reports that Bush now holds a double-digit lead:

"For the first time since the Presidential race became a two person contest last spring, there is a clear leader, the latest TIME poll shows. If the 2004 election for President were held today, 52% of likely voters surveyed would vote for President George W. Bush, 41% would vote for Democratic nominee John Kerry, and 3% would vote for Ralph Nader..."

Can this possibly be true?

As Norman Solomon at AlterNet reminds us, Karl Rove is "more than a master manipulator of the news media. He's a stealthy smear artist who does whatever he can get away with. And Rove has gotten away with plenty. That's how George W. Bush became governor of Texas ... and president of the United States. What remains to be seen is whether Rove's techniques will again prove successful when this country votes on Nov. 2."

Unfortunately, Bush seems to be winning the media wars hands down (and that's from someone living in far away Australia, mind you). Sure, Kerry might have the edge in the high-brow market, but so what? 51% of the USA is certainly not tuned in to detailed political debate shows.

Michael Moore says Democrats shouldn't be scared, although many seem to be:

"Clearly, they're watching too much TV. Too much of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Zell Miller, Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani. Too much of swift boat veterans and Fox News commentators."

But that's exactly the point. Post-mortems on November 3rd could well identify the mainstream media as the battleground where Kerry lost the race. Being right won't be worth much if most voters don't know about it. Kerry needs to seize the initiative and start framing the debate. He needs to Do Something.