In yesterday's super hyped special election in the twelfth district of Ohio, the Republican beat the Democrat. It was close; the margin was just over 1%, but it was a win nevertheless for the GOP. The supposedly super-motivated Democrat base was not enough to provide victory.
That's the actual story, but I think it's more interesting to look at the coverage. First, there are the mainstream media outlets that still list the race as too close to call. So far this morning, I read two articles criticizing President Trump for congratulating the Republican on his victory since the race is too close to call. The problem, of course, is that the results are not close enough to force a recount. Also, there aren't enough ballots remaining to count to change the result. Even the provisional ballots won't be enough. The election is over.
Second, the media is also telling us how this is a moral victory for the Democrats because the result is close. That's much like the argument that Hillary won the popular vote, so it was a moral victory. Donald Trump is president, however, and the Republican will hold the seat from Ohio. If the Dems get a great many moral victories in November while the GOP holds the seats in question, America will still have a GOP majority in both houses of Congress.
Third, there are many media outlets that basically buried coverage of the Ohio race in favor of other stories. For example, reliably leftist Yahoo News has a featured article about the results of a referendum in Missouri as its top story but put the Ohio loss by the Democrat in a almost a footnote on its main page.
The reality is that the Ohio results really don't mean all that much. The victory shows that there is no overwhelming Blue Wave at least in Ohio 12. It also means that victory for the GOP in this same district is more likely in November; yesterday's win will give the Republican a boost in name recognition and the like. It means also that President Trump's support for the GOP candidate may have put him over the top, something he will be likely to remember when he gets to DC in a few days. That's about it.
That's the actual story, but I think it's more interesting to look at the coverage. First, there are the mainstream media outlets that still list the race as too close to call. So far this morning, I read two articles criticizing President Trump for congratulating the Republican on his victory since the race is too close to call. The problem, of course, is that the results are not close enough to force a recount. Also, there aren't enough ballots remaining to count to change the result. Even the provisional ballots won't be enough. The election is over.
Second, the media is also telling us how this is a moral victory for the Democrats because the result is close. That's much like the argument that Hillary won the popular vote, so it was a moral victory. Donald Trump is president, however, and the Republican will hold the seat from Ohio. If the Dems get a great many moral victories in November while the GOP holds the seats in question, America will still have a GOP majority in both houses of Congress.
Third, there are many media outlets that basically buried coverage of the Ohio race in favor of other stories. For example, reliably leftist Yahoo News has a featured article about the results of a referendum in Missouri as its top story but put the Ohio loss by the Democrat in a almost a footnote on its main page.
The reality is that the Ohio results really don't mean all that much. The victory shows that there is no overwhelming Blue Wave at least in Ohio 12. It also means that victory for the GOP in this same district is more likely in November; yesterday's win will give the Republican a boost in name recognition and the like. It means also that President Trump's support for the GOP candidate may have put him over the top, something he will be likely to remember when he gets to DC in a few days. That's about it.
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