It isn't your imagination.
There is a steady background noise: "Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. . . "
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| Fox News: Trump 24/7 |
I go into my office and turn on my computer to the NY Times and hit the politics page at 5:15 a.m. Pacific Time. Here it is. Take a moment to look closely at the articles with bold headlines. Left Column: 1. What Trump should say at black church. 2. Excerpts from proposed Trump script. 3. Explaining Trump on Immigration. Middle Column: 1. Trump effect on Senate. Right Column videos: 1. Trump on border security. 2. Trump on immigration. There were zero headlines regarding Hillary Clinton, but in tiny type at the top there were teasers to two stories on inside pages, one advancing a future Hillary speech and one entitled "Emails Raise New Questions about Clinton. . . " See for yourself.
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| Peter Coster |
A regular reader in Virginia, Peter Coster, a retired businessman, took time to count the headlines in a variety of news sources yesterday. I paid attention this morning because of his heads up and demonstration of the value of actually counting what we observe, the better to observe it.
"It occurred to me that most of the political headlines I'm seeing are regarding Trump. I'm not seeing much on Clinton. So, to confirm my suspicions, I checked various major news sources and took a count. I noted every headline with either Trump or Clinton in it, today only. It didn't matter what it was about, just so their name was mentioned in the headline. Here's what I found:
Trump Clinton
Yahoo 2 1
Boston Herald 5 0
Boston Globe 1 0
Huffington Post 7 2
NY Daily News 1 0
Washington Post 10 2
CNN 13 3
NY Times 7 0
LA Times 5 0
Chicago Tribune 4 1
Chicago Sun 4 0
Dallas Morning News 2 0
Seattle Times 4 0
Wall Street Journal 4 0
Philadelphia Inquirer 2 1
Atlanta Constitution 2 0
Total 73 10
So, it was not my imagination. Trump is getting over 7 times more publicity than Clinton, today alone. That's why he has a chance. As they say in Hollywood, it doesn't matter what they say about you, as long as they're saying something."
Trump represents change. He says things are terrible now and he will fix them. Trump is making news. Hillary is letting him. I infer a strategy here within the Clinton campaign: an assumption the more people see of Donald Trump the less voters will like him. Trump's speeches are interesting and obviously draw viewers because even MSNBC covers the speeches in full, then puts on pundits to talk about them. Trump had a hyped discussion with Hannity hinting at a policy change on immigration, a hyped trip to Mexico, a hyped speech on immigration in Arizona, hyped outreach to blacks, resignations by Hispanic advisors, another speech on jobs in Ohio all amid talk by pundits on the cable talk shows about whether there was a change or not, whether it was a "hardening" or a "softening", whether Ann Coulter was happy or sad, on and on.
Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton disappeared into private fundraising meetings. The news on Hillary regards emails, the Clinton Foundation, and why she is invisible, whether he lack of press conferences is smart or cowardly. What it is not about is how she might make the lives of Americans better. This is strategy, not accident. The Clinton campaign did not forget to be in the news. It is intentional.
Coster's letter concluded "it doesn't matter what they say about you, as long as you are saying something." Trump in the news is simultaneously making the argument that each campaign considers the centerpiece of its message. Trump's: Elect me and I will be bold and active and shake things up and make things better. Clinton's: Elect Trump and he will shake things up so clumsily the world will be worse off.
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| "Donald Trump is great TV" |
Either way, it is all about Trump.
That's OK with the candidates and it is OK with the networks. Trump is more interesting TV, and the networks know it.
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