By Bobby Tingle

 

(Publisher’s note: love and hate for the purposes of this column are synonymous with like/dislike or agree/disagree rather than the literal meaning of each.)

 

It only seems natural to talk about the things you love most.  Baseball fans talk balls, strikes, runs, averages, and standings.  Music lovers talk tune, lyrics, beat, and rhythm. Food lovers talk seasonings, ingredients, presentation, texture, and taste.

We also talk about what we hate.

News reporters, in print and on the air, love and hate politicians.

If you are a politician, the way to win is to get your name top of mind.  You want people thinking and talking about you. One way to accomplish your goal is to buy time.  The other is to garner the love or hate of the news reporters.

If you can be hated or loved enough, then the goal of winning is much easier to accomplish.  The more your name is printed or spoken the more the people hear it the more likely you are to come out on top.

It is an unproven theory.

But, I suspect there is truth in the sentiment.

Three of the most hated and/or loved politicians, depending on which side of the aisle you are on, are Beto, Ocasio-Cortez, and Trump.

Beto has thrown his name in the ring to unseat our current president in 2020.  Ocasio-Cortez has recently been elected to serve in the United States House of Representatives.

Beto, it seems, is getting attention because he is loved.  Some news reporters adore him because he is good looking and is eloquent.

Ocasio-Cortez is getting attention because she is hated.  Some news reporters hate Ocasio-Cortez because she embraces socialism as if it were the panacea leading to utopia.

Trump, on the other hand, has both of them beat hands down.

He has managed to garner the attention of both haters and lovers.

Whether your favorite reporter is writing or speaking about how wonderful Beto is or how awful Ocasio-Cortez is you can bet they are writing or talking about Trump also.

Most national politicians are as unknown as your neighbor across our fair land unless they serve you and made themselves known to you.  

The national politicians, which are household names outside the circle of folks they serve, are the ones most loved and/or hated by news reporters and therefore get the most press.

They are all you read or hear about, 24/7 and 365, incessantly.

You will never escape hearing about Trump.  They all talk about him.

If he is smart (never doubt he is), he will never spend a dime on advertising when running for public office.  He doesn’t have to. He gets it free, 24/7 and 365.

This only proves news reporters are a little gullible, at least where Trump is concerned.  They mostly despise his tweets. Yet they talk about each and every one.

Sounds like he hit on a winning strategy to keep his name high on the recognition list.

Beto and Ocasio-Cortez are trying.  So far they are behind.

But the clock is still running.

Stay tuned.

 

Bobby Tingle is publisher of The Orange Leader.  You can reach him at bobby.tingle@orangeleader.com.