Barack's Media Mojo

Once the darling of the media, it was actually liberal reporters from ABC who showed that they are willing, on occasion, to do their jobs and treat Barack like a guy who is running for President. Does that mean that the love affair is over? Now that Barack is human, does he stay human, or do they put him back on the media pedestal?

Much of Obama's success stemmed from his uncanny ability to charm the media and, through them, the voters, who often make up their minds based on what they see and read about a candidate.

John Friedman in MarketWatch says that this is the big challenge now for Barack:

To keep the momentum going, Obama will have to understand -- every day -- that he will face even more media scrutiny.

Mainly, he will have to try harder to be as assertive as possible. Journalists -- especially the New York Times' brilliant, acerbic columnist Maureen Dowd -- have hounded him and suggested that has looked weak because he couldn't vanquish Clinton.

Not to be forgotten, writes Friedman, is that John McCain is popular with the press:

Recently, when the New York Times published a story loosely insinuating that McCain may have had an improper relationship with a female lobbyist, the paper was blasted by politicians and members of the media alike. They saw it as a cheap shot, partly because McCain had built up so much good will.

I doubt that the sympathetic outpouring on McCain's behalf would have been so strong if a rather unpopular politician had been the target.