Both offended me today. This is a short diary, but I think it is emblematic of how the punditry is blind to its own faults but not to Obama's. Follow me after the flip.
Take Mark Halperin in his "The Page." His poll is about why Barack is not showing up better in the polls. But none of his choices have anything to do with his own impact on what the voter gets to know except the questions marks about why Obama is not polling better. Why not an entry that "I, Mark Halperin, and much of the punditry, are in the tank for McCain and point out every Obama "failure" but not McCain's." Where are the comments calling out McCain on his Bush-like, war monger stance?
And Cokie Roberts: Suggests Hawaii is too exotic for Barack. Oh? Why is it exotic? Is she by any chance talking about the color of skin here in Hawaii? Well, sorry, Cokie, that is racist. The Asian Americans are AMERICANS of Asian extraction. Many have been here for generations just like Cokie's lily white ancestors. She ought to be called out for racism. Barack has pointed out that no one looks like a typical American, but Cokie obviously does not agree.
It feels right to me for Barack to come see the grandmother who can't come to see him. She raised him for the most part and she means a lot to him and he wants his daughters to be part of her life. It is clear to me that Cokie has not been listening to Barack's speeches, or does not believe them: We are all American. There is no red America or blue America. No white America or black America. He does not believing in slicing and dicing us. Neither do I.
So Mark and Cokie play the game of "I don't know why Barack is not more popular" while doing everything in their power to make sure he is not.