How to Make a Crushing Victory Seem Like a Sign of Weakness

How would you describe a competition where the winner scores twice as many points as his opponent?

Let’s say it’s a golf game, and the winner had 10 under while the next closest was 5 under.  How would that victory be described?

Okay – let’s say it’s not one game but a best of seven series in Baseball.  When one of the games ends 12 – 6, what would be the headline the next day?  Would it talk about the crushing victory the night before?  Would it talk about how the winner of that game is winning the series over-all?

I can tell you how the major news outlets would describe it:

Wall Street Journal: Winner Ekes Past Second place
New York Times: With No Knockout Punch, a Bruising Battle Plods On
Los Angeles Times: Winner’s Slim Victory Leaves Race Uncertain
USA Today: Winner and Second Place See Momentum
CNN: No Knockout Blow for Winner
Reuters: Winner Narrowly Wins, Fails to Knock Out Second place


Yep.  Mitt Romney won 6 states on Super Tuesday compared to Santorum’s 3. 
Romney earned 211 delegates, Santorum earned 84 (that’s 2.4 times fewer)


Why does the Media seem to hate Romney?  Why do they feel obligated to spin his wins as losses?  It really makes you wonder.

Here are the actual Headlines:

Wall Street Journal: Romney Ekes Past Santorum in Ohio
New York Times: With No Knockout Punch, a Bruising Battle Plods On
Los Angeles Times: Battle in Ohio Reinforces GOP Divide; Romney’s Slim Victory Leaves Race Uncertain
USA Today: Romney, Santorum See Momentum
CNN: No Knockout Blow for Romney
Reuters: Romney Narrowly Wins Ohio, Fails to Knock Out Santorum