The other day on the show, Melissa Harris-Lacewell suggested
media �need to be covering the left as much as we cover, with anxiety, the right.�
Anxiety reached a fever pitch Tuesday night with the Tea
Party primary victory for Christine O�Donnell, anti-masturbation crusader, in
Delaware�s Senate race. The New York Times breathlessly headlines
�G.O.P. Insurgents Win in Del. and N.Y.� and goes on for several paragraphs
without even mentioning Democratic primaries, let alone noting that there were
some insurgent victories there as well.
Perhaps the outcome of the attorney general�s race came in
too late for a headline? Maybe the AG just isn�t a sexy enough position for the
hometown newspaper? It�s only the position that launched Eliot Spitzer to the
governorship and from which Andrew Cuomo is starting his campaign.
And Eric Schneiderman, who Katrina vanden Heuvel noted has
been a leader on progressive issues such as overhauling the draconian
Rockefeller drug laws, judicial reform, and transparency, won that primary.
Early in the day, New York bloggers were calling for poll
watchers to the Bronx, where they suspected State Senator Pedro Espada of
unethical activities. But just a few hours later, Espada conceded to Gustavo
Rivera, whose campaign attracted the support of friends of GRITtv like
Baratunde Thurston and Elana Levin.
Meanwhile, Carolyn Maloney easily fought off a Wall
Street-backed �New York lawyer who emerged as a national voice for the
financial industry� according to the Times. They may not be LEFT victories exactly, but they�re closer than
the other stuff. And even those stories didn�t make headlines.
Should Democrats spend more time talking about masturbation?
The F Word is a regular
commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on
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