I think I am going to be sick. The art of media spin has gotten to be so ludicrous, my stomach hurts. In the good old days, the "Spin Doctors" used to take unshaped information and frame it to help move the media narrative in support of a certain premise or argument.
Now, we have spin doctors that not only try to advance the framing of an argument, but also try to introduce the very information they are trying to spin. The spinning these days often requires the suspense of logic and realism.
Take for instance the whole "popular vote" argument being made by the Clinton campaign. We have heard several time the last several weeks, Hillary making the claim she has the most votes. To agree with that, you must suspend logic to believe that 1) Barack Obama gets ZERO votes in Michigan; 2) The Florida and Michigan primary, which went uncontested as unsanctioned, are a legitimate way of measuring the will of the voters 3) the 4 states that held caucuses and did not publish poplar vote totals (Iowa, Nevada, Washington, Maine) somehow shouldn't count (Obama won all four of those states-yes, he won Nevada as he won more delegates than she did) 4) Puerto Rico counts, even though the have no votes in the General election. 5) You can count Puerto Rico but not Guam, the Virgin Islands and Democrats Abroad (all voted for Obama).
Not only does the spin require the suspense of logic, but also it introduces the very information the campaign is trying to spin. The popular vote means NOTHING. The nominee is determined by one metric, and one metric alone, delegates. This race was always about delegates, but when that measure became unwinnable by Hillary, they just introduced a new metric. A metric they could spin, because there really isn't an official total since more than a dozen states hold caucuses instead of primaries.
It is a metric that is also ex post facto. Had it been an important metric then the campaigns would have planned for it and had a different approach. Changing the rules of the race after the race is 80% done is not fair and is not democratic.
I can't wait for Tuesday, when this race is over and we all focus on beating the piss out of John McCain. Maybe by this time next week, I will be over my nausea.
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