I've heard a lot of conservatives blaming the media for their loss this time around.

None of them seem to be able to admit that McCain's bad choices forced a lot of the negative reporting he got. When he "suspended" his campaign, canceled the upcoming debate, flew to Washington -- where the bill he supposedly flew to support failed to pass -- and then "uncanceled" the debate without any resolution on the matter he'd suspended his campaign for... how can you NOT expect negative press?

When you pick a woman who hasn't even spent a full term as governor as your VP, and you hide her away from all interviews, refuse to let her give any press conferences, and then when she finally gives an interview, she repeatedly utters comments that reveal her ignorance... how can you NOT expect negative press?

Obama got plenty of negative press of his own. Remember how Obama "couldn't close the deal"? Does the phrase "hardworking whites" ring a bell? How about the words "bitter" and "cling"? And who could forget, "No no no, not 'God bless America! God DAMN America!" we heard it every 10 minutes for about a month.

But Obama was and is a genuine phenomenon, and the press had to cover it, because it was genuine news. People like Halperin would have journalists ignore what's really happening in favor of reporting a false neutrality where each side is made out to have equal amounts of excitement, and run equally good campaigns, even when one side is surging and the other is stumbling.