Politico Finds a 'Liberal Media' Against Hillary...But It's the Hard-Left Media

November 16th, 2014 11:01 PM

Back in 1967, William F. Buckley Jr. argued on his show “Firing Line,' that “It's easy for the New York Times to refer to ultra-conservative Republicans, but for some reason you'd have to...get a sort of special dispensation, the typewriters would reject it, if you referred to an ultra-liberal Republican." New York Times writer Tom Wicker shot back: "Well, I think so. Typewriters have a high regard for the facts." The national media is allergic to calling any liberal a “liberal.”

The same thought bubbled up when Politico wrote a headline about the “liberal media.” Politico wasn't writing about themselves, or the broadcast networks, or the top national newspapers. Maggie Haberman and Hadas Gold defined "liberal media" as hard-left opinion magazines.

The liberal media's not ready for Hillary: .

She has no viable opponent, so progressive outlets are trying to create one.

Elizabeth Warren says she’s not running. Kirsten Gillibrand and Amy Klobuchar have said the same. Even Martin O’Malley has refused to take shots at Hillary Clinton.

So the liberal media is taking matters into its own hands.

....The fight is less about ideological purity than it is about motivating the Democratic base, especially after the party’s wipeout in last week’s midterms.

The anti-Clinton drumbeat in progressive outlets picked up quickly as soon as the midterms were over.

“The Lesson from the Midterms: Elizabeth Warren Should Run in 2016,” read the headline the day after the elections from In These Times.

“Bernie Sanders is the Presidential Candidate America Truly Needs,” added Mic.com, a relatively new site aimed at progressive millennials, on Monday.

The Nation, which has been flexing muscle after a wave of economic populism swept over the Democratic Party, has been beating the drums for a Clinton challenger for months. At times, The New Republic has chimed in about Clinton’s weaknesses. And in October, Harper’s Magazine ran a piece by far-left writer Doug Henwood that ripped Clinton as a hawkish centrist out of step with the spirit of the times.

Politico reported that MSNBC has also displayed an affinity for Senator Warren:

The Clinton-questioning chorus isn’t just lefty magazines, either. Mika Brzezinski, the co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” has repeatedly encouraged Warren to go for it, and she was critical of Clinton’s gaffes about her wealth during her book tour. On Wednesday, Brzezinski said Warren challenging Clinton in a primary “would be great.” Her MSNBC colleague Chris Hayes has publicly questioned Clinton in recent months, including what he called her “bizarre” silence on the police shooting in Ferguson of an unarmed black teen.

The difference with MSNBC is they will line up aggressively with Hillary once it's clear she will win the nomination. The hard left might be more reluctant.