Media Miscarriage

"Thompson, 64, went on Fox News Channel to talk to Neil Cavuto, an anchor who has waged a public battle with multiple sclerosis; posted an encouraging message on one of the largest conservative blogs; and released a note from his doctor."

And Thompson is surging--without doing anything at all:

"Sen. John McCain, once considered the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has fallen to third place in a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, and is running behind Fred Thompson, an actor and former senator who has not even entered the race.

"Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani leads the crowded field of announced and potential contenders with support from 29% of Republican primary voters surveyed, followed by Thompson with 15% and McCain with 12%. Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and fundraising powerhouse, had 8%.

"The Arizona senator's showing in the poll is his lowest in any national survey to date, marking a new benchmark in his flagging fortunes. The surge of interest in Thompson is a sign of conservative dissatisfaction with the established field of candidates and underscores just how unsettled the Republican race remains."

The problem, says Jonah Goldberg, is not with McCain but with his (potential) voters:

"McCain plans to make his candidacy a referendum on victory in Iraq. It is a truly bold and courageous gambit. At a time when the polls advise running away from the war, McCain will embrace it. By positioning himself to the hawkish right of the Bush administration, McCain might be able to make the election a referendum on the future of Iraq, rather than a referendum on the last four years. As a war hero with two sons in the military, McCain can argue with obvious moral authority that while we may have blundered our way into Iraq, it would be an even greater blunder to get out before winning.

"There are many reasons to have reservations about McCain: his love of regulation, his animosity toward free-marketers or simply his age and temper. But conservatives who claim that the war trumps everything but won't even consider pulling the lever for McCain have some growing up to do."

But his media enablers are off the bandwagon. Ana Marie Cox gives you the flavor:

"At our regular edit meeting/wine tasting hour, there was much discussion of McCain and a theory was floated: The man is uncomfortable being anything but the underdog. Too much success and he gets to feeling guilty and uncomfortable. This hypothesis leads to two different predictions, each of which got some support last night:

"1) As he continues to flail, he will become more desperate and make increasingly stupid attempts to pander to supporters, even as he is clearly uncomfortable doing so and thus sheds credibility among both would-be supporters and the press.

"2) He will continue to slide in the polls, but as soon as it becomes clear that there is no way he can possibly win the nomination, he'll right himself and unleash a can of that Straight Talk Whoop-Ass on the rest of the field. It will be too little, too late and by then the nomination will be locked up (Thompson-Romney?), but the media will have time to fall in love again and there will be a series of quiet little cookouts at the Arizona ranch and at least one journalist will write a elegiac book."