Yes, Bernie Sanders has largely been ignored by national U.S. outlets, including The New York Times, during analyses of the Democratic primary race. However, this latest iteration is simply stunning.
Today, in its "The Upshot" section, The Times analyzed Hillary Clinton's dramatically sinking favorability ratings. After doing so, editor David Leonhardt considered what these numbers might mean for ... Joe Biden.
Below is a graphic representation of Clinton's troubles followed by Leonhardt's jaw-dropping take:
Does Vice President Joe Biden have an opening? Mrs. Clinton still has tremendous advantages in the Democratic primaries and remains a clear favorite for the nomination. She commands overwhelming support from the party’s elite, which has given her a big financial advantage, attracted a robust national organization full of the party’s most talented operatives, and deterred mainstream challengers. Her policy views are right in the middle of the Democratic Party; even if there is room to challenge her from the left in Iowa and New Hampshire, there is little room to do so in the rest of the nation’s primaries.
But Mrs. Clinton’s decline now extends beyond what I, at least, would have expected. It is still not enough to call her advantage into question, but it suggests that many analysts might have underestimated the resonance of the controversy surrounding her private email account and server at the State Department. And it creates a real quandary for Mr. Biden.
Bernie Sanders, who
recent polls have shown is leading in both Iowa and New Hampshire, is not mentioned once.
Now, one might think that Clinton's dramatic drop in favorability might create an opening for the person actually running for the Democratic nomination, as opposed to someone who has not yet entered, and probably will not enter, the Democratic primary.
But then again, I don't write for "the paper of record," so what do I know?
Just days ago, the paper's Public Editor, Margaret Sullivan, asked the following question: "Has the Times dismissed Bernie Sanders?"
Perhaps the better question to ask, despite an uptick in Sanders coverage, would be this: "Are NYT reporters and editors actively pressing Biden to run?"
--§--
David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, recently published by Oneworld Publications.