The Final Days of the Election

While the decision of whom to elect President of the United States is up to the voters, the media can help to frame the situation by reporting on their status up until Election Day. The way they do so can impact the situation, as they can choose to evaluate the issues behind the race and the ongoing processes within in order to help the voters understand how it came to where it is, or they can merely highlight the statistics, believing that it is all the voters care about and that anything else could distract from them.

-The Washington Post appropriately puts the tone of the campaign first, with the insightful revelation that this stage of the election is unusually negative, and also goes into what McCain and Obama are saying to take or keep the lead, respectiely. It briefly goes into why each state may be important, but does so from a historical perspective, rather than a demographical or statistical one. While this is more about the current status of the campaign than the issues behind it, it does a significantly better job of putting the status in context than the Huffington Post or Fox News. The article mentions a Washington Post-ABC News poll that puts Obama’s lead at 11 percentage points.

-The Huffington Post eagerly published statistics about the election in the top story on the front page , possibly because of a horse race mentality, or because the numbers heavily favored the Democratic ticket. It mentioned a CBS poll indicating Obama had a 13-point lead, and a USA-Today Gallup Poll giving him an 11-point lead. This article presents an interesting poll statistic about whether Palin is seen as an asset or a liability for McCain, but could have been publicized earlier.

-Fox News’ “Closing Arguments” is a highly misleading title for the news section about the last days of the election. The segment almost exclusively went into what chances both candidates had of victory, what states would be favorable to them and who would vote for them. The titular arguments were only mentioned in the context of how it would affect their polls. The section attempted to cover the issues, but with not much of the little time they had remaining, it came off as a half-hearted effort to cover too much ground. Its estimates of Obama’s lead were considerably more cautious than Huffington Post’s, suggesting that it was 6-8 points, and arguing that the lead could be overturned- noticeably lower than the Huffington Post or The Washington Post, suggesting that Fox does not wish for the reports to sound too pessimistic about McCain’s chances.

The Washington Post is by no means perfect, but it takes the important first step of considering the past when talking about present events. While it may be important to discuss the impending result of the election, it is more important to discuss what is at stake, what the candidates are- or are not- talking about, and what ideology will guide the country for the next four years. The election is more than a race between two politicians with the public eagerly awaiting the outcome and attempting to shift it toward what they desire, but also a clash between ideologies and a contest to determine the direction of the nation, and news outlets that treat it as such will help the citizens make the best choice for their country.