Why the Media Wants To Make It Close

The media is a for-profit endeavor, the only pure-profit part of most political processes, and this is A Bad Thing(tm).

The television news business managers know that certain types of stories attract different types of viewers.  Stories about strippers attract rats, stories about kidnapped kid and murdered wives attract sheep, while stories of war and politics attract good numbers of viewers of those pretending to be informed (or just wanting to criticize how bad the television news is). 

In fact, if you think about it, it is in the vested interest of every television broadcast news "service" to make the Presidential race appear as close as possible.  And they can do it all by just claiming to being fair, by giving time to "both sides" of a debate.  If the race were lopsided (it is, but only a bit) people would tune out, and the networks would lose money.  They are legally obligated to make money.