How the media fell into the Biden trap

The media will never learn.




How the media fell into the Biden trap

The press corps breathlessly tracked the vice president's emotional months-long journey to no.

By Hadas Gold

10/21/15 06:07 PM EDT




Senate Daily Press Gallery at the U.S. Capitol watch Vice President Joseph Biden announce that he will not run for president. | Getty




The burning Washington question of will-he-or-won’t-he was finally answered on Wednesday when Joe Biden said, no, he’s not running against Hillary Clinton for President.

In some inner media circles it was quickly replaced by another question — how did we fall into this trap again?

In the tense days leading up to Biden’s Rose Garden statement, media reports were heavy with mostly anonymous insider accounts of Biden’s process suggesting he was “leaning” toward yes—including some reports here at POLITICO (notably in this report from Mike Allen—though POLITICO also featured lots of skeptical voices on Biden’s deliberations). Some reports went as far as to speculate not on the if, but the when, why and how.

Fox News’ Ed Henry took to Twitter as recently as Monday night with this: "Three sources close to [Biden] telling me he's expected to announce he is running but the sources are all urging caution on 48-hr timeline.” And: “The three sources say [Biden] telling supporters in calls planning to jump in race but not rushing — watch [Saturday’s] Jefferson Jackson dinner Iowa."...................

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/joe-biden-2016-media-215033#ixzz3pIgdKUOd