Media

Healthcare vote another defeat for the doom-and-gloom media

by Joe Concha, opinion contributor - 05/04/17 2:50 PM ET

The failure of the GOP to repeal and replace ObamaCare in March was seen by some as such a devastating defeat, it marked the end of the Trump presidency.

“It is impossible — impossible — to exaggerate the enormity of what happened to Donald Trump,” MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell said on March 24 after a vote on a GOP healthcare proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act was pulled due to not having the necessary 216 votes in the House.

“His presidency effectively ended. He is a powerless president,” O’Donnell declared.

Celebrities, politicans and political pundits rejoiced.

Congratulations to the #Resistance for win on Health Care. Decency won, driven by you! Humbled to stand shoulder to shoulder with you!

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) March 24, 2017

Congratulations @realDonaldTrump on your complete and utter failure on repealing ObamaCare. #Loser pic.twitter.com/FEyziQo6RL

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 24, 2017

No vote. The Repubs decided if they couldn’t win the game, rather than play they would take their bats & ball & go home. Typical behavior.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 24, 2017

“Don’t be afraid to walk away. Make crazy claims you can’t back up. Blame everyone else. Whine. Sit in a big truck.” — The Art of the Deal

— Ken Tremendous (@KenTremendous) March 24, 2017

Hey Republicans, don’t worry, that burn is covered under the Affordable Care Act

— Senator Bob Menendez (@SenatorMenendez) March 24, 2017

SEVEN YEARS OF “WE WILL REPEAL AND REPLACE” AND THEN WITH CONTROL OF THE SENATE, HOUSE AND WHITE HOUSE, THEY COMBUST IN A BLAZE OF STUPID

— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) March 24, 2017

Stalled travel ban. Wire-tap lie revealed. Investigation on Russia ties. Health-care debacle. Trump must be getting really tired of winning.

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) March 24, 2017

It’s just another chapter in our society’s increasing refusal, led by many in political media, to think beyond that next tweet, that next knee-jerk reaction and think more in a long-ball mindset.

And on Thursday, less than six weeks after the Trump presidency effectively ended in the eyes of O’Donnell and others, the GOP passed a bill in the House to repeal and replace ObamaCare. It heads to the Senate next, where the Beltway version of “Extreme Makeover” will air on a C-Span near you.

Regardless of the final product, how many pundits in March do you recall talking about the chances of Republicans passing a bill just weeks later and making the necessary changes to the bill to appease both hard-line conservatives focused on lowering premiums and moderates worried about coverage of pre-existing conditions?

Not many, if any, right?

And that’s because of the aforementioned live-in-the-moment mindset employed since the every-day-is-a-crisis-for-Trump campaign season.

It’s a story we all saw in 2016: “The Media Who Cried Wolf.” This is the sequel, and like “The Hangover Part II,” it’s really no different from the original.

But here’s the thing about a political media that lives moment to moment and cries crisis in the process. After awhile, your readers and viewers may hear you but won’t take you very seriously, particularly when an actual political crisis occurs.

Our media, particularly in cable news, is all about countdown clocks and larger-than-life markers like the first 100 days.

But if this presidency is like an NBA game, winners and losers are being declared in the three minutes into the first quarter, just as they have 100 days into a 1,460-day first term.

“The first hundred days is going to be important, but it’s probably going to be the first thousand days that makes the difference,” former President Obama said as he took office in 2009.

Damn straight.

Today’s win for Trump, one that basically nobody in the chattering class saw coming back on March 24, truly illustrates how our political media is simply living one hyperbolic tweet and story and segment to the next without daring to look beyond one day.

Or in this case, six weeks.

Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) is a media reporter for The Hill.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

Tags ACA AHCA Bob Menendez Donald Trump Joe Concha ObamaCare