So, the results from Super Duper Tuesday are in. What insta-narratives are our leading press outlets constructing? Let’s take a look:
The New York Times leads its coverage with the headline, “Lincoln Bucks Tide; Business Leaders Win in California.”
The Washington Post, meanwhile, picks out a different strand of Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman’s identity, one that ties them to the Arkansas senator, and teases its lead story on its home page as “A primarily strong night for women.”
The Wall Street Journal separates its coverage out into a couple key stories that echo the NYT’s approach: “Two Tech Chiefs Triumph in California” and “Lincoln Bucks Wave Against Incumbents.”
Politico, casting the events as a sequel to “rise of the activists” storyline it spun out of the May 18 primaries, banners its coverage with “The center fights back.” (Really, though, shouldn’t it be “strikes” back? Have we learned nothing from George Lucas, people?)
And finally, USA Today teases its coverage on its home page with the self-contradictory headline “Lincoln wins, insiders struggle.” Click through to the story, and the cognitive dissonance continues: a photo of a jubilant Blanche Lincoln under the headline, “A tough night for political insiders.”
So there you have it. The meaning of the elections couldn’t be clearer!
Greg Marx is an associate editor at CJR. Follow him on Twitter @gregamarx.