still, its not as if the media is purely at fault. Look at this quote from John Edwards (courtesy of Andrew Sullivan):

"I think this President has shown a remarkable disrespect for his office, for the moral dimensions of leadership, for his friends, for his wife, for his precious daughter. It is breathtaking to me the level to which that disrespect has risen," - John Edwards, on Bill Clinton, 1999.

By accepting media and right wing narratives Democrats have legitimized and enabled the coarsening of public life. There's plenty of blame to go around.