Why does the media keep saying this election was a loss for Democrats? It wasn't.

[BlueSky3]

I wish this article in the Guardian would actually be read by the folks at the New York Times and Washington Post. Here's how it starts off:

"The election swept in a number of women and politicians of color at the state and local level. Yet pundits want to pretend this was an electoral catastrophe.

"Pretty much anything that happens to the Democrats is a sign that they’re weak and losing and should be worried, according to the storylines into which mainstream media tends to stuff news. Pretty much nothing, including losing, seems to signify that the Republicans are losers. In so habitually and apparently unconsciously fitting a wide array of new and varied facts into familiar old frameworks, the media shape the political landscape at least as much as they report on it.

"It’s in the language. The New York Times editorial board thunders that “Democrats deny political reality at their own peril” and then insists that this election in which a moderate lost is a sign that the party needs to get more moderate. Bloomberg News found a way to make a victory sound like defeat."

[link:https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/nov/06/democrats-election-victory-loss-media-republicans|

[LakeArenal]

1. I believe media is why trump is still relevant.

[onecaliberal]

2. That is 100% correct.

[SheltieLover]

3. Absolutely!

[TigressDem]

5. Propoganda is seeping into everything

Reading "The Hidden History of American Oligarchy" by Thom Hartman

In small doses. Otherwise, I get too depressed.

Taking over the media is one of the main parts of getting control of the government away from the people.

When the Fourth Estate falls, we are screwed.

[Bristlecone]

6. There is no doubt in that statement

[PortTack]

8. Yup yup yup!

[FBaggins]

4. I want some of whatever she's been drinking/smoking

Of course it was a loss for Democrats.

It was not an "electoral catastrophe" - but it was a significant loss.

Some students do poorly on an exam only to feel better when they find out that the professor grades on a curve and they did better than many other had in the same situation.

But politics doesn't grade on a curve. Better than someone else might have done at some time in the past does not make for a positive performance.

[PortTack]

9. One governor loss in a state that flips governors to the opposite party than the president for the

Last 35 yrs should not be seen as a big loss.

NJ dem gov re-elected for a second term..first time in 40 yrs. dozens of county and school board elections went for Dems while bannon was trying to push RWNJs into those seats..failed miserably.

McAuliffe lost by less than 5k...it’s too bad..but far from a blood bath!

[FBaggins]

10. True - but that isn't at all what happened

If we can’t even describe Tuesday honestly - how can we debate how good/bad it was?

[PortTack]

15. How was I not honest? Even Rachael Maddow played down the loss. McAuliffe lost by less than 5k

And we did win in NJ which was monumental and as I said bannon trying to take over school boards was an abysmal failure.

We won several races..and we lost some

[FBaggins]

16. I meant honest with ourselves. Not any intentional dishonesty on your part

We would all like to find ways to make the best of a bad situation.

McAuliffe lost by less than 5k

The current SoS count is almost 72k

You also appear very selective in which races you're paying attention to. There were quite a few shocking losses and almost every victory saw huge decreases in margin compared to expectations or 2020's results.

The second most powerful legislator in NJ (longest-serving Senate president in state history) lost even though he was effectively running unopposed. Republicans unexpectedly swept all of the statewide judicial races in PA and did unexpectedly well in local elections.

The biggest error is in looking at just the win/loss of the two largest races... rather than the huge shift in the vote itself. Sure... we won PA but it appears that the vote shifted 14% against us in a very blue state. Anything close to that nationally would be another 50-60 house seat disaster.

[former9thward]

18. Why do you say he lost by 5k?

He is down by 67k with 99+% of the vote counted.

[jimfields33]

12. The Virginia house flipped.

[Polybius]

13. And the NJ State Senate leader (D) lost to a racist

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142823018

[Fullduplexxx]

7. They do it because they are in concert with the gop to make dems look bad

[shrike3]

11. I used to work in the media.

Narratives are definitely a thing. There are a number of reasons for that, and laziness is among them. If you decide what the story is before you go in, it's easier to play it, position it. Plus, the media is like a herd: one goes in a certain direction there the others go. One of the reasons I'm glad I'm not in the media anymore.

[BannonsLiver]

14. Probably because that's exactly what happened.

[Duppers]

17. We Virginians aren't happy with Youngkin.