Art Brodsky has written an excellent blog post at TPMCafe on how progressive lawyer Donna Edwards’ demorcatic primary challenge for incumbent democrat Al Wynn’s seat has gone virtually unnoticed in the press.
Like the much better covered competition between incumbent Joe Leiberman and challenger Ned Lamont, the Edwards/Wynn race pits frustrated progressive democrats against a multi-term incumbent they feel has become too much a part of the system. But for all the coverage of the challenge to Senator Joe Leiberman up in Connecticut, no one in my local media has seen fit to cover exactly the same sort of challenge right here in our own backyard.
This makes the Edwards/Wynn race much more a microcosm for elections around the country. We bemoan the high rate of incumbent reelection, but fail to notice the local media plays in all this. Not by exhibiting famed media bias, but by refusing to cover local races, denying challengers an opportunity to discuss issues with the electorate and denying challengers the exposure they need to overcome the enormous advantage an incumbent has in name recognition and organization.
Contrary to popular belief, we really can do something to give challengers like Donna Edwards a fighting chance to get the exposure they need to make incumbents actively defend their seats and worry about being accountable to voters every two years. The FCC has siting in front of it a rulemaking that would give candidates free air time and force broadcasters to provide substantive coverage of local news.
At the same time, the FCC also has in front of it proposals that would make the situation for political challengers even more difficult. If the Republican majority on the FCC succeeds in relaxing the media ownership rules and allows the same company to own a daily paper, up to three television stations, the local cable system, and radio stations all in the same market, that company decides who gets exposure and who disappears from view. The odds may be bad for challengers now, but they could indeed be much worse.
Details below.