Does it even really matter what the media does this time? Obama will be able to raise enough money from small donors to make sure every voter knows full well about how he and McCain differ on policy.

Or, they could just discuss Iraq.

But I note that Krugman didn't.

2000 was a year of peace and prosperity and the country was divided over whether Bill Clinton deserved to be impeached vs. whether the COngressional Republicans had run amok. Bush ran a nonideological campaign as a moderate who would give the surplus back to the people.

2008 is very different. There are two wars being fought, the economy is shaky with a mortgage and forclosure crisis coupled sith high gas prices, and a current president who is at near-record low approval numbers not yet seven years after the trauma of 9/11.

2008 is a more serious time. The two candidates are more serious about pointing out the differences. Obama will be glad that the Wright, Ayres, Rezko stuff will seem like old news this fall.

I don't think Barack Obama is going to make Al Gore's mistake and count on the press doing his job. I think we'll hear McCain's policies from Obama's mouth in a way that the press has to confirm that what Obama is saying about McCain's policies is true.

You'll never lose money betting against the professionalism of the corporate media.

in 2000, bush could point to his time dealing w the tex legislature and say he was a moderate. yes, that's only one thing to go on, but the press didn't just buy bush's crap w/o any sort of evidence.

Does it even really matter what the media does this time?

Yes. Until the majority of voters watch candidates alone on C-Span (or the campaign website, for moderns), those words are a few seconds not consumed except around the narrantive wisdom of the press.

Republicans depend on the press being lazy and absorbing the R's desired narrative. They're not just hoping.

George Bush ran as a moderate, and he and Al Gore certainly had their differences, but don't forget: Al Gore ran as and was a moderate in 2000. He ran far to the right of the progressive candidate Bill Bradley. Obviously, we'd have been better off today with a Gore presidency, but don't forget that it would be a moderate Democratic presidency, not a liberal or progressive one. Al Gore's views, at least publicly, have moved far to the left over the past eight years through what I think is a genuine conversion in ideology and presentation. It's always bugged me how much the press and public focused on John Edwards' changes from 2004 to 2008, which were relatively minor on the whole, but gave Gore (and Bush) a free pass in that area.

I hope that because both candidates in 2000 were moderates, and in 2008 we have a less moderate Democratic candidate against a conservative Republican that the press will do its job and discuss that, but I'm not holding my breath.

When the overwhelming majority of Americans want a change in policy in polls and support the same policy proposals as the Democrats and Obama in polls, but are split almost evenly between Obama and McCain, with whom they disagree greatly on policy in polls, it shows that we have a diliquent press.

am looking forward to the General Election campaigning!

Through the primaries, McCain had to position himself as a Kool-Aid Swilling Wingnut, or risk losing the nomination of his wingnut party. But post-primary, I suspect he may lean back towards his "I'm a moderate Maverick" approach, in order to mollify the sane people out there.

But he faces a Damned if he Does, Damned if he Doesn't scenario: Appear to talk less radically-Right and he large portions of his fever-swamp base will turn on him; continue to foam as a Rightwinger and more and more of the moderates and Independants will turn up their noses.

and go on to higher Cheap Wow Gold levels as you gain skill and experience.