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"Reporters listen to Arcade Fire; Romney listens to the Carpenters and Donny and Marie."
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2012/1/30/12632/2707How to Nurture the Press Corp
by BooMan
Mon Jan 30th, 2012 at 01:15:01 PM EST
snip//
To summarize, the press saw in McCain someone who embodied the courage they lacked, who suffered while they were comfortable. They saw him as absurdly virtuous, which he was not. And they liked him. They were drawn to his personality and appreciated that McCain treated them well and made their jobs easier.
snip//
Trippi comes closer to the truth when he talks about Romney.
Most plainly, there is the media’s antipathy to the kind of disciplined, unspontaneous, inaccessible campaign that Romney is running. Also to the fact that, hey, let’s face it, he’s not exactly a Roman candle of a candidate. Then there is the temperamental gorge that separates him from most journalists. “Reporters are the kids in the back of the classroom, throwing spitballs,” says Lewis. “McCain would be sitting back there, too, saying, ‘I’m not listening to this B.S.,’ and so would Gingrich. Romney is the guy sitting up in front, raising his hand to every question. Reporters listen to Arcade Fire; Romney listens to the Carpenters and Donny and Marie.” 
The suspicion of Romney is even deeper than that, however. Ever since his run in 2008, when his contortions on various issues earned him his reputation as an inveterate flip-flopper, the members of the media—and his rivals, then and today—have regarded him as a phony, his candidacy based on, as Smith puts it, “some really brittle half-truths about his consistency.” But now there is a creeping sense that he may be something worse; that on a range of issues, notably his finances, Romney is making claims that may be less than fully truthful.
The suspicion of Romney is even deeper than that, however. Ever since his run in 2008, when his contortions on various issues earned him his reputation as an inveterate flip-flopper, the members of the media—and his rivals, then and today—have regarded him as a phony, his candidacy based on, as Smith puts it, “some really brittle half-truths about his consistency.” But now there is a creeping sense that he may be something worse; that on a range of issues, notably his finances, Romney is making claims that may be less than fully truthful.
But, again, it's not that Romney is a liar. Newt Gingrich may be the most accomplished liar in the entire country. Romney's bigger problem is that he treats reporters as the enemy, denies them access, probably doesn't feed them all that well, and doesn't make their jobs easier. On top of that, the press corp can't relate to his personal biography. They may have skipped the Vietnam War, but they didn't do it knocking on doors in France as a Mormon missionary. They may admire personal wealth, but not really so much when the fortune is made as a vulture capitalist. And Romney doesn't tell any bawdy jokes.
The press may be pulling for Gingrich to stay in the race and do lasting damage to Romney, but it's not because they like Gingrich or strictly because they want to sell papers or get page-views. They just don't like Mitt. He's given them no reason to like him.
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