The politician who received the most favorable treatment by the news media was U.S. Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois. He has been in the Senate for less than two years and already is being treated like a big star. Obama, now 45, made a big splash at the 2004 Democratic National Convention with a highly personal keynote speech. The Washington Post called him ?the party?s new phenom.? Newsweek put him on its cover. And that was before he was even sworn in as a senator. During the last couple of months, he was given lots of positive news coverage as he made appearances in support of Democratic candidates. He was on the cover of Time magazine, and Time ran an excerpt from his new book, ?The Audacity of Hope.? His presidential potential was the subject of op-ed pieces in The New York Times. He was asked on NBC?s ?Meet the Press? if he will run for the White House in 2008 and...
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HOST INTRO: Which politician received the most favorable treatment by the news media during the run-up to the midterm elections? Media commentator Paul Janensch says it was someone who was not even on a ballot.

HOST OUTRO: Media commentator Paul Janensch is a former newspaper editor who teaches journalism at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. You can read his column in Connecticut Post of Bridgeport.