Television Sick of 2012 Campaign

Even as voters hit the polls in Illinois Tuesday, Fox and MSNBC hosts focused on other matters. The next day, neither Today nor Good Morning America included the 2012 election in their top three stories. There's a reason for that, writes Howard Kurtz at the Daily Beast: Cable news knows that the presidential race is bad for ratings. "Television, in short, has pretty much decided the race is over, Mitt Romney has won, the thing is boring everyone to death, and it’s time, at least for now, to move on," he writes. Newspapers and political websites are also giving the campaign short shrift.

For one thing, the debates are over, eliminating the "reality show" feel of the race. And it's now impossible for Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich to reach the 1,144 delegates needed to win—Romney's just too far ahead. But the fact is that the campaign is still fascinating, showcasing a split among Republican voters as Santorum keeps winning states; it's also still entertaining, since "Newt is Newt." But with so little coverage, we're seeing a "strange limbo, a campaign that’s neither here nor there," Kurtz writes. "The media’s interest is fading like a freshly shaken Etch a Sketch." Click through for the full piece. (More Mitt Romney stories.)