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It appears to me that the Republican has a winning strategy when they start complaining about the Democratic candidate getting all the media attention. The result seems to be that the media turns more negative on the Democratic candidate, and the Republican party can celebrate their success. This approach was used against John Kerry, and it is succeeding again against Barack Obama.

Throughout this year I can remember many negative things about Obama. He had the whole Wright issue, the Ayers issue, his wife saying she wasn't proud of her country, people on his saying that being a POW does not make you a good president and several other things. The fact that he went to a gym in Germany even turned into a negative issue!

Looking at McCain, I remember very few negative things about him. Sure there has been some gaffes, but they have barely been covered by the media. Journalists were probably too busy writing about Obama to take notice of those. McCain has furthermore received some negative press concerning his changed positions, such as recently when he admitted a 16 month timetable is not a bad idea. The coverage must, however, be said to be very limited. The one issue I remember was the New York Times story that McCain had an affair with a lobbyist. That story proved to be partly or entirely false, however, and harmed the newspaper more than McCain.

Regardless of these differences, the conventional wisdom appears to be that Obama is favored by the press. A clear majority of Americans feel this way, and many Democrats even believe Obama is favored.

The reality, however, appears to be different. Obama is receiving more press, yes. That is obvious. Yet, getting a lot of media attention does not have to be favorable. I am sure bin Laden has received more press than Al Gore following 9/11, but the press isn't more favorable to bin Laden than Al Gore for that reason. It does not work that way. The reality is that Obama is receiving more press, and he has a higher percentage of negative stories, according to a study by Center for Media and Public Affairs. Thus the amount of negative stories is much bigger. You, as a voter, has a much bigger chance of reading something negative about Obama than about McCain.

It should be noted that this difference also appears to hold for the wives of the presidential candidates. While both Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain could be considered controversial candidates for the position of first lady, a study by People Press has found that Michelle Obama is receiving more press coverage than Cindy McCain. The coverage of Michelle Obama is also more negative than that of Cindy McCain.

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