Book Review: A Slobbering Love Affair

A new book by Bernard Goldberg is worth bringing back the book review feature of this site. Mr. Goldberg’s book, A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media, is a very critical look at the way the media covered the 2008 Presidential campaign. Mr. Goldberg does not blame the media for McCain’s loss, nor does he attack President Obama. He does ask a few critical questions of Barack Obama, but this book is more a critique of the media, and not any one person. A sentence from the inside book flap really sums up the major theme of this book. Talking about the media’s coverage of the 2008 presidential race, “…the media crossed an important line…moving from their usual unthinking liberal bias to crass partisanship of the crudest kind, practically acting as spin doctors for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama.” Mr. Goldberg argues that some of it was intentional, but worse, some of it was done with the best of intentions. Many in the media honestly believed (and probably still believe) Barack Obama was a better candidate that McCain, and that by electing Obama, the United States would be brought into a new golden age. I have no problem with that belief. However, the media crossed the line by acting on it. By not reporting on stories that were critical of Obama or Biden, while digging through dumpsters in Alaska looking for any controversy regarding Sarah Palin, the media ditched their role as observer and instead became an active participant.

A Slobbering Love Affair does point out some concerns the author had for candidate Obama. The author provides a list of interview questions he would have asked the candidate that no one in the press thought of. For example, Mr. Goldberg would have asked:

1. “How willing are you to disappoint liberals?”

2. “Name two or three conservative ideas you find useful and would be central to your ‘post-partisan’ political philosophy.”

3. “Some people believe that the reason so many young black people are behind the eight-ball in this country is not because of old-fashioned racism, but because of dysfunctional behavior: fifteen-year old girls having babies, teenagers dropping out of high school for example. You spoke forcefully and eloquently on Father’s Day about this kind of behavior. But then you dropped the subject. As someone who enjoys tremendous support in the black community, you might have had some positive impact on the lives of these kids if you made it a recurring theme of your campaign. Why didn’t you?” {emphasis in the original}

These questions appear in Chapter Eighteen, Ten Questions for Barack Obama. I would have liked to have heard the answers to these questions, but there were few in the media willing to ask them. Mr. Goldberg points out that the media is protected by the First Amendment because, “…the press has constitutional protections for one main reason: to keep watch over a powerful government.” When that press becomes active players in one campaign or another, their credibility is lowered, or destroyed. Want to know why Democratic Senators are trying to bail out newspapers? Because the American public no longer trusts print media.

A Slobbering Love Affair is a very quick read. I would encourage everyone to read it regardless of your political leanings. If you believe the mainstream media is fair and unbiased, Mr. Goldberg has done some homework for you that just might open your eyes.