In Picking The Victors, Media Get Another Drubbing

The message was similar on Tuesday's newscasts. "Democrat Barack Obama may be heading for his second big victory in less than a week," said CBS's Katie Couric. "There is talk and evidence of an Obama wave moving through this state on the eve of its primary," ABC's Charlie Gibson said. His colleague George Stephanopoulos said the Clinton camp wanted to "squash any calls for her to get out of the race."

After MSNBC called the primary for Clinton at 10:31 p.m., the news business was left scrambling for explanations, such as whether some New Hampshire residents had misled pollsters about their intention to vote for a black candidate.

The comeback by McCain, who took a swipe at "the pundits" in his victory speech, was equally remarkable in light of the media's earlier verdict on his candidacy.

In recent days, the world was reminded that:

McCain had been "left for dead," in the words of Chris Matthews. "This is a guy who was left for dead," Chris Wallace said. "Left for dead months ago," said New York's Daily News. "Left for dead politically this summer," said The Washington Post. "Pretty much considered all washed up," Couric said. "Largely written off," said the New York Times. "Nearly written off just a few months ago," said Tucker Carlson.

And who, exactly, had been burying, writing off and otherwise performing last rites on the Arizona senator? It was, of course, America's journalists.

"With his presidential campaign in a state of near-collapse," the Los Angeles Times reported in July, "Sen. John McCain accepted the resignations of two top advisers Tuesday, then quickly named a new campaign manager in a bid to put his candidacy for the Republican nomination back on course."

The Washington Post said then that "the campaign's mounting problems have raised doubts about whether McCain can survive in the crowded but still-wide-open Republican nomination contest."

Did journalists go too far? "There's this world of Georgetown chatter and fun-house mirrors, then the voters show up six weeks out and drive the reality, and the media's shocked and annoyed," says Mike Murphy, a former McCain strategist. "Two-thirds of the press are caught in the cliches of the moment and the groupthink of the echo chamber in Washington and New York."

CBS's Greenfield disagrees, saying: "His whole staff imploded and he was broke. The press was covering McCain in deep trouble because he was in deep trouble."

With 18 White House wannabes at the outset, news outlets had to rely on triage, based in part on who is raising big bucks. If McCain is viewed as faltering and Rudy Giuliani is leading the Republican polls -- despite media predictions that conservatives would reject him -- the former mayor gets more coverage. If Huckabee is deemed a hopeless long shot, most reporters spend their time chasing the anointed front-runners. John Edwards got a fraction of the coverage lavished on his celebrity rivals, Clinton and Obama, even though he wound up finishing second in Iowa.

Mark Feldstein, a George Washington University journalism professor, describes political reporters as "superficial sportswriters. Covering the campaign is almost like joining a cult, with a cocoonlike bubble as you travel from event to event. There's a lemminglike quality."