One thing about political press media criticism I don’t like is referring to it as ‘horse race coverage’ or other similar metaphors. I think that metaphor gets something very wrong and misses why we’re in the trouble we’re in. Instead, a better metaphor would be Super Bowl coverage.

Here’s the thing about ‘horse race coverage’: horse race touts do provide a useful service. Yes, there are people who go to the Kentucky Derby and similar races to be seen wearing snazzy outfits and big silly hats, but most people who care about most races are gamblers. An edge in determining the outcome of a race is useful to them. But that’s not the model for the political press corps.

The political press corps want election coverage to be like Super Bowl coverage. Yes, there are gamblers (professional and amateur) trying to make money, but most people watching don’t have that kind of investment in the game. They might care about a particular team, they might love or hate a team, players, coaches, or owners, but, ultimately, the outcome of the game is inconsequential. It doesn’t matter. That’s what most election coverage is like. People might be passionate about the outcome (and the Savvy say, “Suckers!”), but the outcome really doesn’t matter. That makes the cost of reporting to the reporter trivial.

But imagine if, when a team would lose, people suffer or die. That’s not fun for the reporter. At all. Instead of fun, it’s now desperate. It’s essentially war reporting brought home. And that journalists (and editors) would have to make choices. Huge buzzkill.

I think this one reason (obvoiusly not the only one) why the press corps is desperate to normalize any election involving Trump. Because viewing the Democratic coalition, not as a political fan base, but as a desperate anti-fascist alliance, which is arguably the story of the election, raises the stakes of what those reporters/editors do and (understandably) that’s very depressing and scary. If nothing else, that would mean the political press corps would have to describe the Republican Party accurately. Better just to treat it like the Super Bowl.