I know it's Saturday, and there is not much else going on in the world (except for a little pesky storm in Florida). But the three major cable networks are wall-to-wall on the Biden story. That's fine, although I was not impressed with O.J Simpson-esque motorcade media chase as Biden rode to the Wilmington airport.
The media has been camped out at a number of potential picks' homes for days. In that time, the smart money has moved from Kaine, then Bayh, to an unknown Edwards. The media freeding frenzy has been so intense that Joe Biden had to hand out bagels to reporters at his doorstep a couple days ago:
Even for a "news-politics geek" like me, the coverage has been a bit overkill. Stories based on sources, speculation and paid pundits usually end up biting you in the you-know-where. Just ask Matt Drudge, who was pretty confident that he had the Bayh story nailed down not 24 hours ago. We should keep some prespective in these events. One thing to keep in mind, Biden is, after all, just the No. 2 guy. Nobody in their right mind chooses who they are going to vote for based on the No. 2 guy.
It will be interesting to see if McCain gets the same blanket coverage next week. Will CNN camp out at Mike Huckabee's home? Is MSNBC going to chase Mitt Romney's motorcade? Will Tim Pawlenty have to hand out lunch to reporters from FOX?
The presidential candidates haven't received even play from the large news organizations this year. For example, The Washington Post and Time magazine have admitted running many more prominent stories about Obama than McCain. It is a disturbing trend. As we enter the election prime time, when most Americans will start to pay attention, will we start to see more balanced play?
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