Horse race journalism

Horse race journalism is a term used to describe instances of political journalism of elections that resemble coverage of horse races because of focus on polling data, public perception instead of candidate policy, and almost exclusive reporting on candidate differences rather than similarities. "For journalists, the horse-race metaphor provides a framework for analysis. A horse is judged not by its own absolute speed or skill, but rather by its comparison to the speed of other horses, and especially by its wins and losses."

It's been known to be a very negative subject in politics. Though it does show the standings of a poll or caucus, it fails to display the strengths/weaknesses of each politician.