“Elizabeth Warren is being erased by the media,” says @joanwalsh, a reporter for The Nation. “I understand why she’s upset but having done as poorly as she did in New Hampshire, she can’t just blamed the media.”https://t.co/0pi6QY2o5z pic.twitter.com/fKTxh7U1ek
— Reliable Sources (@ReliableSources) February 16, 2020
Are the Media Erasing Elizabeth Warren’s Presence in the Presidential Race?
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Political observers are speaking up about which candidate they aren’t observing
Media figures and politicos have begun discussing just how much they’re not discussing Sen. Elizabeth Warren and her presidential campaign.
Calling it “erasure,” some political thinkers and Warren supporters are questioning whether a perceived lack of serious Warren coverage is the cause or effect of her recent slip in national polls as competitors for the Democratic nomination, like Sen. Bernie Sanders and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, have risen.
“I’m not sure anyone appreciates the deep well of anger and pain among Warren supporters — many of whom are the women whose activism drove 2018 — listening to experts write off Elizabeth Warren’s campaign,” podcaster and former Yahoo News and Time journalist Amy Sullivan wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Vulture’s Joe Aladian agreed: “The media erasure of Warren is a real thing, and extends even to outlets like John Oliver’s HBO show. Last night, he focused on Medicare for All, which he repeatedly framed as ‘Bernie’s plan,’ reducing her to a few ‘Warren’s for it, too’ mentions. No, she has her own plan.”
A campaign fundraising email mentioned that the media can’t be counted on to cover it “fairly.”
On CNN Sunday, The Nation’s Joan Walsh addressed the topic as well. “I’m a reporter. I understand some of why this happened,” she said, noting that Sanders and Buttigieg led in delegates in the Iowa caucuses while expected front-runner Joe Biden’s disappointing performance was a “big story.”
“But the woman who finished third — a decent third, not her dream — was really… I was watching multiple cable stations that were jumping around and skipping her,” Walsh said. “Even on the night of the Iowa caucuses, lots of people cut from her to Biden because Biden is the bigger story in that it was a very sad performance.”
Last week, the Massachusetts senator finished a distant fourth in her neighboring state of New Hampshire, behind Sanders, former South Bend, Indiana, mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota — and failed to secure a single delegate.
Ultimately, Walsh said Warren can’t “just blame the media” without also acknowledging there must also be “stuff going on in her campaign” that is contributing to the less-than-stellar performance in early primary contests.