Thread by @RAlperstein

So, based on the media stanning as they careen from fawning over unvetted white guy to unvetted white guy, crapping on the female candidates and Hillary Clinton as they do so, I think we can fairly conclude that the MSM really, really wants the Dem nominee to be a white guy. /1

The disparity in how male v female candidates are treated, in terms of both quantity of coverage and the nature of it, is staggering (if also unsurprising given, you know, history and implicit bias). /2

You might think that after what they did to Hillary they would try to better, but you’d be wrong. /3

Almost all the coverage of the women is negative or even when positive seeks to diminish them in some way, often by comparing them to a man. /4

Politico ran a piece on Harris suggesting her ability to connect with voters is somehow suspect. Hmmm, I guess she is too likable? /5

Gillibrand and Kobluchar and Warren are all asked about whether they are likable or hit pieces appear suggesting they are unlikable. Reporting on their policies and ideas and backstories? Not so much. /6

Ryan Lizza diminished Harris’s fundraising to elevate Pete Buttigeig. Funny how he did not compare Pete’s fundraising accomplishment to that of Bernie Sanders, who came in second in the last Dem presidential primary. /7

The media wants to talk about how women eat their salads while giving no air time to their ideas. Meanwhile voters claim all they want to hear about is policies and values, yet voters too are flocking to each new shiny white male toy and skipping the women (except Kamala). /8

Kamala is looking like the most viable female candidate and the men in the media don’t seem to like that one little bit. /9

In public and private Democratic discussions I see fear, fear, fear of not running a white male candidate. /10

Most voters I have seen and so much media commentary seems to have coalesced around the fear that only a white guy can win in the general, at least against Trump. /11

I get the fear, but I do not see evidence for it. Hillary beat Trump by 3 million votes due a perfect storm that included Russia's attack on the election, Comey’s repeated violations of DOJ guidelines, 25 years of hate against HRC, $2 billion in free media coverage for Trump, /12

Jill Stein’s nonsense, Bernie’s damage to Hillary that Trump and Russia ran with, the media's fixation on her emails and relentlessly sexist coverage, and some campaign errors. But she still only “lost” by 78000 votes across 3 states. It took all of that combined to beat her /13

Dems took back those 3 states -- MI, WI, and PA in 2018 -- along with others. Women ran and were elected all over the country. Women drove and drive the resistance to Trump. /14

Trump is despised by a large majority of Americans. We cannot reach his cult but his support is capped. There is no evidence to support the idea that having a female candidate was the reason he prevailed in 2016 or that Dems will lose unless a white male heads the ticket. /15

Except that everywhere we turn all we see are media narratives that foster the idea that a white man is needed to recapture the "lost" voters; along with other narratives that hamper and impede the female candidates. /16

The narratives also come from fear — fear that we cannot get enough of the white vote back. And Dem voters are so afraid of a Trump repeat that they buy into the narratives even though the facts of 2016 and 2018 don’t support this at all. /17

Constant emphasis on how Dems allegedly don’t pay attention to white voters’ concerns and focusing endlessly, like the NYT does, on Trump voters' issues suppresses narratives about what concerns Democratic voters and erases the reality that Dems’ policies focus on ALL voters. /18

It is a dangerous myth to suggest that policies that lift everyone up somehow leave white men out or do not consider them. And when the media fanboys all over white male candidates who promote this myth, it hurts the Dem party generally and female/POC candidates specifically./19

All of this combines to metastasize fears of losing to Trump and promote white male candidates at the expense of arguably more qualified women. /20

And men who say lofty things without experience or policies to back them are lifted up and amplified as visionaries or intellectuals. Women can't get away with this kind of thing. /21

The double standards are everywhere but rather than unpack them, the MSM promotes them. They will make it a foregone conclusion that a white guy wins the nomination because they believe that is what it will take and their narratives and headlines push this. /22

And I gotta tell you I am sick unto death of this. I like the Dem male candidates just fine. But I don’t want a white male savior; that is the last thing this country needs. It is going to take a huge amount of work to reclaim this country and get it back on track. /23

It will require sustained effort, vision, policies, judgment, political savvy, knowledge, experience, toughness, and yes, compromise. Instead of any focus on these traits, I am seeing a desperate ricocheting of support from white male candidate to white male candidate. /24

And part of the reason has to be that the media coverage of the women in the race has been so negative and devoid of substance. I will end where I started: it sure seems to me like the MSM is kneecapping the women out of the gate. Do they really not see this? /25 (End).