Follow-up

Matt Zeitlin, with his characteristic youthful impetuosity, hits the nail on the head...:

. . . all this pressure from the left might force the media to report issues of candidates personal wealth in a better way. It seems like if a public figure is wealthy (as nearly all of them are) and promotes downward redistribution, the media will go after them viciously for any alleged slip-up. And so John Kerry windsurfing and John Edwards getting a hair cut become more important class indicators than Bush’s plutocratic origins and lifestyle. If the media could go after rich politicians who look out for rich people as much as they go after rich politicians who express an interest in helping the poor, I’d be happy.

...and then doesn't quite:

Conservatives are great when discussing political theory. No comment on what they are in any other situation.

My response is, "You forgot karaoke." James's response is here (See my most highfalutin theorization concretized in real-world practice!).