The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Pickin' on Woster (a bit)


I know it's not just me, but does it seem to anyone else out there that Kevin Woster has become a Herseth-Sandlin campaign machine?

First there's the innocuous Noem speeding ticket non-issue story...

Then he followed that up with a column about his own driving record, but made sure he got in another jab at Noem declaring that she "seems to lead the pack" for driving citations.

Then there was more on Blogmore....

Then, there's the press release style story on how Herseth-Sandlin will come to the rescue of forlorn ranchers out here on the lone prairieeeee and oppose Tim Johnson's Great Grasslands Land Grab....

Then there's the story on how Herseth Sandlin said NO to the Senate Healthcare Bill...page 1

But there's the much smaller story on how she'll refuse to repeal said same bill...

And then there was the 100 - percent-Sandlin-serving piece about how Stephanie is shifting her politics to the right and how Tim Johnson still likes her and thinks she an effective legislator.

It's not difficult to tell where Kevin's politics lie from his posts on blogmore. For the most part however, I feel he has successfully separated his personal opinions from the news pages.

The buckets full of coverage every time Stephanie breaks wind, and the meager coverage of anything positive about Noem, including a lack of credible coverage of the more than 300 supporters who showed for her meet and greet at the bandshell recently, would indicate that the Journal and Woster are openly supporting Herseth Sandlin's campaign. That's too bad. I know Kevin worries about credibility and fairness. Might be time for him to step back and analyze his own coverage of the House race.

13 comments:

Douglas said...

Gee whiz, what a revelation to me. I sort of guessed that Woster's conservative predilections were what caused him to delete some of my comments at Blogmore.

The RCJ has given the wingnut right in the TEA Party plenty of glowing coverage and refused to cover the Koch Industry money and workers behind the TEA Party "movement".

Years ago, somebody noted how important sincerity is in politics and added you were on the trail of political success once you learned to fake it.

It now appears that "spontaneous grass roots uprisings" are important, and the big money behind it knows they are on the trail of success now that they have learned to buy it.

Duffer said...

. . . not buyin it Mike. There are a number of stories from Woster out there that one could argue lean for Noem. He gave her a lot of press during last legislative session, the primary, and especially afterward. His comments on Dakota Mid-Day (SDPB) today would further bolster my contention.

Are you not being sensitive? Kristi is, by some polling, now trailing. I don't intend to vote for either come election day. Neither of them deserve it.

Hard to be further right than the Journal. If you want to probe journalistic support for a candidate - follow the Journal/Woster trail for John Thune.

Bill Fleming said...

Did Kristi make any news at her meet & greet? Has she done anything a reporter could consider a story?

Like cancel her whole ad buy or something? That's a pretty good story.


*femings* (no kidding)

Bill Fleming said...

Duffer, I hear ya. Good piece here from Sam H. about why we should maybe hold our nose and vote for Stephanie anyway. I'm trying to warm up to it.

http://www.dakotaday.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=148:the-logic-of-binary-politics-compels-democrats-to-vote-for-herseth-sandlin&catid=9:archives&Itemid=19

Wayne Gilbert said...

Whose ox is getting gored? Kristi is not a candidate well-suited for public exposure. Senator McGovern's succes in SD was in part due to the GOP's choice of opponents. I think maybe Rep. Sandlin is getting the same luck. And no, I don't think Woster has demonstrated a Herseth bias--not even slightly.

Wayne Gilbert said...

oh, and Duffer: I don't think you can say there is favoritism to Sen. Thune. Understandably, no one was willing to take him on, so no one is running against him and he is one of our Senators in a politically volatile time. I am not happy about the foregoing but they are real and they lead to news stories.

Wayne Gilbert said...

Boy that was grammatically embarassing. I did not include the word "facts" after "I am not happy about the foregoing..."

Leadfoot said...

Noem's speeding and subsequent tickets and her not paying them are SO an issue. and it's not going away. She's a lawmaker and a lawbreaker!

Duffer said...

I'll stand by my Journal/Thune comment. The Journal has never been critical of his vote on any issue; and he's been dead wrong and always far right following the D.C. GOP program in lockstep.

DDC said...

Beware the Kochtopus!!!

Michael Sanborn said...

Good comments all. Perception is often reality, though. My perception and the perception of others with whom I occasionally speak, is that the Journal and Kevin in particular appear to have a Stephanie bias.

It may be that Stephanie is generating more news, as Bill Fleming suggests. I may be that Kristi's news is less compelling.

I still think this is going to be a close one. And, I think the negativity will come hard and heavy from Stephanie in the end.

Douglas, I think the Journal has given the TEA party stuff more coverage than it deserves, but with Gordon (I'll pay my taxes when more people donate to my campaign) Howie at the helm of the original group, they are hardly a credible threat to anyone but Republicans.

undecided said...

If we're talking negativity, look at what is out there now. The TP is slamming Stephanie pretty hard now.

Speculating on how bad the other side might become seems to be negativity projected.

DDC said...

Undecided,

What the tea party folks are saying about SHS is pretty tame compared to what the far left has been saying about her for the last few years.