A lot of people in the news media seem baffled by the utter failure of Trump's law and order stuff to move the needle, at least if the polls are right. As many are now pointing out, 2020 isn't 1968; but why didn't everyone realize that? My answer is, examine thyself 1/
After 2016 many in the media effectively reached the cynical conclusion that white Americans are very, very racist. And a lot of them (us) are. But remember that Trump barely squeaked through — and he wouldn't have gotten close without a lot of help from ... the news media 2/
I mean, judging from media coverage the most important issue of 2016 was Hillary's email server; Trump's racism and dishonesty, while not ignored, were crowded out by breathless coverage of a fake scandal 3/
But rather than acknowledge the crucial role of this peculiar coverage, post-election takes emphasized the appeal of prejudice. Reporters talked to guys in diners, not the suburban women scared off by the saturation coverage of the Comey letter 4/
Biden hasn't received anything like the same treatment, at least so far. I guess there's still time for another massive media fail; and yes, there is a lot of racism out there. But not enough for Trump to transform the election by getting even more racist 5/
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