For the dwindling band of folks who doubt the existence of liberal bias in the media, there's fresh evidence they have their heads in the sand. Remember when John McCain tossed hand grenades at George W. Bush in the Republican presidential primaries? Every bit of criticism was lovingly reported, to the detriment of Bush's campaign. Now, move ahead to March 21, McCain's first day of heavy public activity on Capitol Hill after pulling out of the presidential race. The senator held a press conference with virtually the entire press corps in attendance, and he zinged Vice President Al Gore for claiming to be a campaign-finance reformer. First, he said, Gore must come clean on his own 1996 campaign corner-cutting by calling for a full investigation.
The press jumped all over the story, right? Wrong. The Washington Post dutifully ran a piece and Fox News Channel and CNN did segments, but ABC, NBC, and CBS couldn't be bothered. The New York Times mentioned McCain's challenge in one paragraph. USA Today also devoted a paragraph; the Los Angeles Times not a word. So here's the bottom line: When McCain attacks to his right, it's news, but when he attacks to his left, it's not. The name for that is liberal bias.