Democrats Win Morning-Show Primary

Watching network morning show anchors interview the Democratic presidential candidates often makes you wonder if you've seen tougher interviews on overnight acne-care infomercials. Their questions are often so simple and promotional that you wish they'd just go ahead and wear their "Hillary!" or "Obama '08" buttons on the set.

There is no pretense of political balance. They are actively rooting for a Democratic victory next year, and they have the power to make a real difference. Notwithstanding their overall loss of audience in the last decade, ABC, CBS and NBC morning shows draw nine times the audience of their cable-news competitors and are geared toward the mostly apolitical mainstream, which makes them an important free-media showcase for presidential hopefuls. A new study shows that if this year's campaign coverage on the TV morning shows were a primary election, the Democrats would win in a landslide of attention and hyperbole.

Read on.