I agree Kerry got closer than most would have liked. But there was another dynamic going on that doesn't get a lot of scrutiny. Kerry only won one state that Gore didn't win in 2000, and that was a small EV northeastern states. NH maybe? But in all the states that Gore and Kerry won, The percentages they won by were much slimmer in 2004 than 2000.
At least some of that is due to the candidate, but everyone knows, even the Demwits, that some of that is the increasing irrelevance of the lame stream, old media. And once that toothpaste is out, it's not going to be easy to push it back in the tube. 2008 will see even less relevance of the LSM, and I think the kid gloves they treated Kerry with and the overwhelming rejection of their "Kerry Good, Bush Bad" message taught them that that play isn't going to work anymore.
Another thing is that I think with Kerry, the LSM showed unbelievable restraint in what they didn't cover. But that was a game they can't play anymore either, because the Beast wouldn't be an unknown to people outside of NY and MA. They may as well try to stop night from falling than not report the stench that comes from the klintoons. There's so much stench that comes from them that the only thing that would smell worse is if LSM ignored it completely.
I'm not saying the LSM would like it, but I think their little trick with Kerry won't play the same with Shrillary and they know it.
I don't know if that's true. It seemed to me that the more intense the internet criticism of Kerry became the more the MSM dug in their heels. They didn't get more balanced, they just dropped the pretense of unbiased reporting and became more openly partisan.