On the way to exploring who tells or does not tell political stories, and to considering why that happens, we may start with the last presidential election. Barack Obama's win in 2012 was modest compared to those of most recent, re-elected incumbents. Furthermore, his margin of victory, which was smaller than in 2008, probably came more from the President's get-out-the-vote organization than from his liberal platform, which wandered from issue to issue and did not project a powerful narrative of where America was, whether that was good or bad for its people, and how the country should proceed.

Friendly journalists complained all along that the President needed an attractive narrative – or “story,” in popular terms. Thus Thomas Friedman wrote in 2009:

Or, as Paul Krugman wrote in 2011: “What have they done with President Obama? … Who is this bland, timid guy who doesn't seem to stand for anything in particular? … Arguably, all he has left is the bully pulpit. But he isn't even using that – or, rather, he's using it to reinforce his enemies’ narrative.”

At the same time, Mitt Romney's candidacy in 2012 was weak. The former Governor went very far right during the Spring primaries. Moreover, in a leaked parlor talk to potential Republican donors, he offended many independent voters in the Fall by characterizing 47 percent of Americans as “takers” from government and therefore automatic supporters of Obama.