COVERAGE OF "SUPER TUESDAY," ON SUNDAY, A DISGRACE

One might say, being just one day out from "Super Tuesday," that the pundits, media (both print and television), and all of the people in the "Blogosphere" would want to have as many candidates still alive. By having all four of the republican candidates and both democrats (Hillary and Obama), the whole coverage system wins. Due to ratings, actual advertising dollars, and the sense that some media outlets are "in the bag, biased, or just don't care," they should not be negating Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee, or where John Edwards' delegates are going to go.

After the Patriots got the shock of their lives, with their first loss of the season to the Giants, Fox News and CNN both had major time slots just for the "Super Tuesday" clash. However, both of the major cable news outlets took major looks at the "McCain vs. Romney" and "Hillary and Obama" showdowns, but they left out Mike Huckabee (who has almost as many delegates as McCain and Romney), Ron Paul (who has virtually no shot, but is still in the race), and did not even mention the "delegate factor" (for Huckabee, or Edwards). Both coasts and the majority of the elites in America, think that Fox News is a shill for the republican party. In the coverage on Sunday, Fox News has eliminated all of the "extras," (Huckabee, Paul, and Edwards, not to mention Alan Keyes and the possibility of Mike Bloomberg coming into the race), tossing all ideas and possibilities as yesterdays garbage.

What the country does, in voting, is the essence of our democratic process. By discounting any candidate prematurely, the outlet covering the elections (at whatever level) is doing the country and the candidates a complete disservice. On "Meet the Press," "Chris Wallace's Fox News Show," ABC's "News with George Stephonopolus," and the two CNN and Fox News shows (focused only on the election), had Obama, Clinton, Romney and McCain on them, with "FULL INTERVIEWS." However, there was little coverage, no interviews, or actual time on the networks with Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, or John Edwards (where he could discuss his electoral votes). When the media bets on the middle and lower class of people in America to not follow the politics of the media, the candidates, and the actual third parties who are making call after call to their homes, because they have to raise a family and work (not actually having time to research two to four hours a week, to get the truth), it is a sad day. Although, that is exactly what is happening, as of now. Not only are the candidates not getting the same coverage, but the "third parties shill" are blanketing America with inflammatory emails, lies, and calls smearing the majority of the candidates running.

After the "Super Bowl," both CNN and Fox News were brutal in their coverage on the upcoming "Super Tuesday," where twenty-two states will cast their votes. Watching Fox (especially), one would have to assume that there is only two candidates in each party, John McCain and Mitt Romney and Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama. Nothing could be further from the truth, when a person sits down and looks at the electoral map, which actually decides who will be the candidates for their respective parties. Only 12% of the electoral map is decided, and even after "Super Tuesday" there is not actually a certainty that there will be one candidate, for either party. When Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, and John Edwards' (who is out of the campaign, but has gathered delegates, before his departure from campaigning) drop out of the campaign and are no longer a factor, then coverage should stop on the perspective candidates. Until then, the fact that ALL candidates are not getting the same amount of time in debates, in overall coverage in the print and Net media, and most of all in the cable and other news media outlets is a complete disgrace to our media and all that are behind the coverage.