Ed Gillespie says Mitt's campaign has a 'no whining rule'. Not sure he knows what that means.

I am now expressing an unknown emotion. Sheesh:

'Fox & Friends' co-host Steve Doocy asked [senior campaign adviser Ed Gillespie] whether he believes the media will convince Republicans that there is no point in voting this November because of recent polling that shows Romney down in a number of key swing states.

'Ed, do you buy into this theory, and there are some people on the right who say, look, mainstream media is going to talk down Romney's chances of winning. They're going to show Mr. Obama way up in the polls just to tamp down enthusiasm so Republicans go, 'You know, why even bother voting because it's a foregone conclusion the guy's going to get four more years?'' Doocy said.

'Well," Gillespie replied, "we have a no whining rule in Boston about coverage in the media. We just deal with the facts.'

A no whining rule? Oh, sure they do. No question about it. Well, except for the time ...

On April 15, Romney told attendees at a closed-door fundraiser held in Palm Beach that most TV commentators "tend to be liberal." Two days later, Romney said in a Breitbart.com interview that "many in the media are inclined to do the president's bidding and I know that's an uphill battle we fight with the media generally." He also spoke of a "vast left wing conspiracy" against him.

Oh, but that was from 2011, so maybe the no-whining rule is more recent than that? Let's see:

Mitt Romney said on Tuesday that he is fighting an "uphill battle" for fair coverage with some media outlets.

Romney's complaint came during a town hall session in Colorado. He was asked about media bias by a potential voter.

"Now and then I'm fighting an uphill battle in some organs of the national media," he said, according to NBC producer Scott Foster.

That was from July, so probably still the pre-no-whining-rule era. It's probably something they only instituted for the convention.

Now that [Hurricane Isaac] has moved west ' and is on the same trajectory as Hurricane Katrina, the storm that devastated New Orleans in 2005 ' Sununu complained on Fox News today that the media is 'obsessed with mother nature' and is unfairly covering the storm instead of the convention [...]

Sununu's callousness has been echoed by other members of his party. Rep Darryl Issa (R-CA) said he'd be 'fine' if Isaac made landfall in New Orleans, as long as Republicans could win in November, and radio host Rush Limbaugh suggested yesterday that President Obama intentionally messed with the storm track predictions of Isaac to scare Republicans into canceling their convention.

All right, fine, but in fairness Sununu wasn't technically complaining about the media giving the Romney campaign bad coverage, he was just noting, along with fellow Republicans, that maybe a hurricane headed for New Orleans was probably not really news compared to the upcoming extravaganza of speeches and chairs and slideshows and whatnot. So it was mother nature's fault, not an inherent pro-Obama bias.

During a radio interview Wednesday morning with WKXW-FM in New Jersey, Mr. Christie accused news organizations of jumping on Mr. Romney's comments made at a May private fundraiser in an effort to help the Obama campaign by shifting focus away from what he considers the president's "poor performance" and "lack of a plan for the next four years."

"Some people in the media should just turn in their media credential and get an 'Obama for president' credential, the way they focus on things that people said back last May," the outspoken governor said.

All right, but Christie was only speaking about the campaign, not as part of the campaign, and technically Christie was not in Boston when he said those things. Gillespie specifically said they have a no-whining rule in Boston. If it's not in Boston, it doesn't count.

A frustrating week in Boston. 'The polls are close, and so the media starts cheering on their guy,' says one adviser.
Sep 13, 2012 12:26pm EDT

As Mitt Romney finishes his second week of dismal news coverage ' with slipping polls and a combustible international crisis driving the narrative that the campaign is flailing ' the campaign's frustation with the media that covers it is approaching the boiling point. [...]

Another adviser expressed frustration with horserace reporters declaring Romney's campaign fatally behind, as President Obama pulls ahead in the polls. He said he suspects the press is projecting their own hopes for an Obama re-election at best ' and purposefully cheerleading the incumbent, at worst.

"I mean, I was expecting this narrative in October," he said. "You know, the polls are close, and so the media starts cheering on their guy, saying Romney's doomed. But I didn't expect it to happen this early. They just seem really eager." [...]

[O]ne plugged-in Republican who spoke with top advisers earlier this week, said the campaign's frustration with the press is unfeigned.

"Boston is a bit amazed," the Republican said. "Experienced political operatives say they've never seen the press be so unhinged and determined to write 'Republican in disarray' stories. Many conservatives concerned this is becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy are urging Boston to change the tone and the topic; they think the best way is to go on offense and be substantive, talk about the big issues."

Ah, screw it.