Why Press Bias Is a Losing Issue for Hillary

Will Saturday Night Live rescue Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign? Of course not, although you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise in light of the amount of ink (and pixels) inspired by two recent skits: a debate parody lampooning the media's fondness for Barack Obama and a frank endorsement by Tina Fey.

Clinton herself referenced the former in Tuesday's debate, causing Time's James Poniewozik to ask:

[W]as it a winning strategy? Politically, I'm not sure. Clinton's barb was a little insider-y; it was phrased in such a way that it made most sense to people who have seen the SNL skit and are already familiar with the charges (that the press is in the tank for Obama) -- in other words, involved viewers who likely know who they're voting for already.

The sketch's writer, James Downey, also doubts Clinton gained anything by citing his jokes as proof that the media's been unfair to her. "It might, on balance, make her look a little whiny," he tells AP. "She might have been better off if other people pointed it out for them."

Even worse than whiny, however, it makes her look weak. If there's one thing this election cycle has proved, it's that blaming the press is nothing more than a consolation prize for the losers. Witness:

John Edwards:

"If they had treated us like we were a credible contender all along I'm pretty confident we would have won Iowa."

Mike Huckabee:

"The media had come to this conclusion that [McCain] was the inevitable...and that's one of the frustrations. The media shouldn't be picking the president."

Fred Thompson:

"[F]or you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, kind of skews things a little bit."