Look, I am by no stretch of the imagination a fan of Trump, but I think I have a problem with Huffington Post’s decision.
Yes, Trump is a buffoon whose chance of becoming president of the United States is so far in the negative that it has created a vacuum in spacetime, but I think HuffPo is doing a disservice to the election process by deciding not to cover a candidate in a serious manner who is by any measure pulling very decent polling numbers.
I am actually not sure how I feel, to be fair. Something about HuffPo’s decision rubs me the wrong way, but if I think too deeply about it, my concern begins to fade, although I am pretty sure my utter distaste for Trump accelerates it.
I don’t believe Trump has any interest in actually becoming POTUS; he’s all about promoting Trump and that is really what his candidacy is about. That stated, he is running, and I think the news outlets “should” have an obligation to cover all the candidates in a serious manner. Just because Trump is an oafish buffoon doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be given the same considerations as any other candidate.
For me, it’s not about fairness to Trump but about keeping readers informed. Trump is running for president (the people who keep saying he’s not running are inventing ridiculous definitions of “running”). If a person running for president says ridiculous things, reporting that is a good thing. If a person running for president leads the polls, reporting that is a good thing. You don’t have to respect him as a person to keep readers informed.
Based on his previous actions, everyone thinks Trump is just in the race for publicity and will soon pull out.
Therefore the Huffington Post are correct.
If Trump does stay the course, then the Huffington Post will owe him an apology (and a big interview.)
But what it’s telling me is that their “election” (I’m borrowing the quotes they used in their piece) coverage is biased right out of the gate, and, thus, utterly worthless.
Then again, it’s been a long time since I’ve taken HuffPo seriously.
See, but candidates do that CONSTANTLY. And they cover them.
People throw their hat in the ring for the sake throwing their hat in the ring (wasn’t it established that Herman Cain ran just to promote his book?) & they’re treated like serious candidates.
Nothing is stopping HuffPo from putting the reports of his campaign in Politics & moving them into the Entertainment section once that happens.
Unless they can read minds or have a time machine, I wouldn’t call them “correct” in doing so from the get go.
Very true. It’s hard to say exactly what his goal is because, well, he’s not normal. But whatever it is, I think he’s closer to it while running at the head of the pack than if he were to drop out.
Politicians run with no hope of winning for various political reasons, like VP nominations or Cabinet posts. Trump is running just to build his entertainment brand. So Entertainment coverage seems appropriate.
However, I’d rather see the coverage in Politics so that we can keep reminding the public that the Republican electorate is so stupid that he is polling in first place.
Again, I have to disagree with the first part (again, Cain has been accused of doing it to just sell his book)–a lot of candidates who knew they had no chance are content to just drop out of the race & political eye at the same time in exchange for a private sector contract & a book deal, which suggests they did it solely to make their name bigger for their own sake, not for the political careers.
Trump is running so that Trump stays relevant. I don’t see that as any different than the actions of other candidates who just want a nice book deal.
Is it really so simple to just dismiss them as “stupid” or racist? Liberals (I’ve become less and less of one the older I get.) need to try to understand WHY his comments are resonating with white voters, rather than this automatic “stupid/racist” reaction. For example, please explain to them why we didn’t need to print everything in English and Italian, or English and German, or Engish and Chinese, etc., etc., when those groups immigrated. Is the “makers vs. takers” thing really so far from the actual truth???
Regardless of anyone’s suspicions about his motives, Trump is a declared candidate, leads the polling and has filled out and submitted the paperwork. He’s as much a legitimate candidate as anyone else in the race and should be reported on the same way.
is incorrect in that we did have to print stuff in both English and Italian, and English and German when those groups immigrated. Enough so that NYC had daily German-language and Italian-language newspapers.
*And, as far as I’m concerned, a finish since it’s a distraction from the central HuffPo issue.