Over the past week, the media have been obsessively attributing the GOP’s election loss to the party’s embrace of conservatism. It began with a predictable assault on the standard bearer of conservative thought over the airwaves, Rush Limbaugh. On election night, NBC’s Brian Williams opined that Rush was a liability for the GOP. And it didn’t stop with Williams.
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe David Frum seconded that sentiment by claiming that Republicans were “fleeced, exploited and lied to” by the “conservative entertainment complex,” another obvious dig at Limbaugh and talk radio. Scarborough agreed, proclaiming that the GOP needs to stop listening to the “most extreme people” in the Party. Rounding out the week on Sunday, the all-liberal panel on NBC’s Meet The Press, piled on the anti-Limbaugh message: the loss was due to Limbaugh and the “loons and wackos” of the conservative base.
All throughout this past week of post-election coverage, the blame was not only directed at the messengers, but the very folks who make up the conservative movement -- grassroots conservatives. According to the liberal media, these patriotic Americans are dangerous radicals and virtual troglodytes lost in a time warp.
The morning after the election, ABC’s Barbara Walters assailed the GOP for being “behind” on social issues. The Washington Post went on a mission to look for the right-wing nuts who plan to buy more guns as a result of the Obama presidency. Cleary, these are the same folks who want to “cling to guns and religion.” Not to be outdone by his network colleagues, CNN’s Anderson Cooper rhetorically questioned how the GOP will overcome party “extremes” to attract Latino voters. No doubt Cooper was alluding to the Tea Party, which the pontificating Piers Morgan was only too happy to dump on after the president’s “convincing victory.” The brilliant solution according to CNN: Move to the center.
Of course as the week wore on, the liberal media’s post-election analysis emphasized the notion that the GOP is, according to the New York Times, a dwindling collection of “angry”, “grumpy old white men.” Suggesting that’s why the GOP avoided taking a more moderate and diverse direction with their pick of Paul Ryan as the vice presidential nominee.
So what can we expect from the liberal media moving forward? While there may be some surprises along the way, if the most recent cover of Newsweek is any indication, the Democratic Party is a triumphant, Napoleon-like figure and the GOP?: “old,” “white,” “history.”
But will there be a Waterloo?
