Two campaigns are being waged right now for the presidency of the United States. No, I’m not talking about the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign. I’m talking about the real-world campaign and the meta-campaign.

We’re all part of the campaign now. Every single one of us. Our opinions, our actions, are bundled together as a group and used as weapons in the race for the White House. When the media reports on what people think, either through public-opinion polling or reportage about anecdotal incidents, it becomes an endless feedback loop, in which the media’s representation of most people’s purported thoughts is supposed to influence everyone else’s thoughts. And then they take another poll to determine how effective the first poll was in influencing public opinion, and the cycle starts all over again. Since everyone now knows that any public expression of their political opinions might be reported by the media, even the most innocent activity becomes a calculated campaign action. Saying how you intend to vote is not simply an expression of how you intend to vote, but rather a component of the public barometer of how the majority intends to vote, which is then used by the media and the blogs to influence everyone else. Nothing is done in all innocence anymore.

It’s no longer a matter of dispute that the mainstream media, overall, very strongly leans to the left. Over 90% of journalists classify themselves politically as “liberal” to varying degrees, and innumerable instances of left-wing bias on the part of the media have been pointed out by bloggers over the years. Yes, a small subset of media outlets are identifiably conservative, but they are vastly outnumbered, both in sheer numbers and in influence, by the liberal media. This fact takes on intense importance in an era when the “news” becomes (as it has become) a subjective matter. Nearly any fact or incident can be “spun” to Obama’s benefit.

Those intense thoughts are just from a few of the leading paragraphs from a brilliant new analysis that has already drawn over 260 thoughtful comments. The entire article can be read at zombietimes.

Not to put too fine a point on it, that site is not for the idealogically squeamish. It’s archive is chockful of pictures, news articles and views of some extreme and extraordinary range of opinons on public display. Like I said, if you are venturesome, you will be rewarded.

Now back to the main article, zombie posits what many have suspected for a long time, the media is out to win the hearts and minds of Americans for Obama. The campgaign itself is based on this modern day variant of the Piper theory that if you begin with a few followers, more will follow; if you annouce a procession going by, more will join the procession. The trick is to control the procession.

Admittedly, the Obama campaign is brilliant at organizing, after all it’s leader is a professional one. But, is it too clever by half? Zombie seems to think so. The article is highly recommended. I wouldn’t copy all of it, first it isn’t ethical, but more importantly, you will be richly rewarded by actually visiting the site. I know, it’s late in the season, so many web sites to visit, so many links to follow. But pumas, will certainly enjoy the delicious details of thought and argument presented by zombie. Be sure to comment!