2014 Governors

Nets Filibuster for Wendy Davis
By Katie Yoder | and By Matt Philbin | October 23, 2014 | 11:59 AM EDT

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In June 2013, when then Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis staged an 11-hour filibuster against a bill restricting late-term abortions, the national media claimed they’d found a rising liberal superstar, and they’ve been campaigning for her ever since. Davis has few more enthusiastic backers than ABC, CBS and NBC.

From the beginning, Davis’ network fans were enchanted. Here was an attractive blond woman in pink tennis shoes (as the networks reminded viewers 23 times) who “took a stand” over a cherished liberal issue amidst the circus-like atmosphere of a Texas State House overrun with vocal abortion supporters. It was great TV, and the networks made the most of it, giving Davis three times more coverage in 19 days than they did the entire 58-day murder trial of abortionist Kermit Gosnell.

Press Covers For Crist's Tired Excuses For Florida's Jobs Freefall on His Watch
By Tom Blumer | October 22, 2014 | 8:40 PM EDT

At their debate Tuesday night, former Florida governor (2007-2010), former Republican (1974-2010), former independent (2010-2012) and current Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist got out the crying towel over why the Sunshine State's economy was so bad on his watch. He also refused to acknowledge that incumbent Republican Governor Rick Scott deserves any credit for the state economy's overachievement during the past 45 months.

At the debate, Crist tried to explain away the economic disaster which occurred during his term in office by claiming that — quoting from the debate transcript — "I was serving during the global economic meltdown. And we did the very best we could to get Florida through it and we did." As seen after the jump, the "best we could do" for Crist was far, far worse than the rest of nation's "best" could do. As would be expected, I haven't found any establishment press coverage which has made the comparisons which follow.

AP Downplays Key Poll Finding: Democrats' Advantage Among Women Is Gone
By Tom Blumer | October 22, 2014 | 9:28 AM EDT

In relaying the results of their polling partnership's latest survey, Associated Press polling director Jennifer Agiesta and reporter Emily Swanson held their most important finding until their report's seventh paragraph.

Despite their effort to downplay it, Matt Drudge, whose nose for genuine news is legendary, spotted it. Accordingly, his current headline screams: "POLL SHOCK: WOMEN WANT REPUBLICANS!"

Wasserman Schultz Runs Away From Obama
By Mark Finkelstein | October 22, 2014 | 8:31 AM EDT

Add Debbie Wasserman Schultz to the list of Dem politicians running away from Barack Obama.  Kind of ironic, no, given that DWS is Chair of the Dem party and President Obama is its standard bearer? On today's Morning Joe, repeatedly pressed by Joe Scarborough as to whether voting for Dem candidates means a continuation of President Obama's policies, Wasserman Schultz refused to answer.  Instead, the DNC Chair trotted out shop-worn lines about Obama not being on the ballot, Dems "having your back,"  etc.   

After she departed, Scarborough got in a goodbye shot: "It's ridiculous. People that voted with the president 95, 96, 97, 98% of the time can't say his name."

WashPost First Ignores, Then Spins Walkout of Obama/Brown Rally
By Ken Shepherd | October 21, 2014 | 4:20 PM EDT

On Monday, Maryland conservative political blogger Jeff Quinton explained how The Washington Post ignored crowds streaming out of the October 19 Democratic campaign rally for Anthony Brown featuring President Barack Obama. On Tuesday, Post columnist Dana Milbank admitted that the crowds did thin out well before the event was concluded, but he made sure to put the best possible spin on the matter.

WSJ Doesn't Explain Graph Showing Biggest Midterm Right/Wrong Track Gap In at Least 28 Years
By Tom Blumer | October 21, 2014 | 4:02 PM EDT

Elizabeth Williamson's coverage at the Wall Street Journal of the latest WSJ/NBC News poll has a very strange omission.

It contains a graph showing "right track/wrong track" polling percentages heading each midterm election going back to 1990. But Williamson, while addressing why the American people feel as they do right now in larger historical context, never commented on the graph's specific message, which is about as damning as it can get:

Will Press Note White House Deletion of Obama's 'Unpaid Bills' Joke in Illinois Speech?
By Tom Blumer | October 21, 2014 | 1:24 PM EDT

Josh Lederman's report this morning at the Associated Press, aka the Administration's Press, treats President Barack Obama's return to Chicago as a trip down memory lane: "Obama got glimpses of a simpler time when his life was for the most part, normal: the unpaid bills on his desk, the volunteers who pitched in on his first Senate campaign, the day he marched in seven Fourth of July parades."

The reference to "unpaid bills" is from the President's remarks at a DNC event at a private home in Chicago. But the speech transcript now posted at the White House web site has scrubbed the related passage, as Daniel Halper at the Weekly Standard noted early this morning. There may have been an additional development since that post appeared.

WashPost Describes Charlie Crist's Bizarre Obsession With Sweat
By P.J. Gladnick | October 21, 2014 | 10:19 AM EDT

While most of the MSM has focused on Florida governor Rick Scott for somehow being unreasonable for objecting to challenger Charlie Crist breaking the debate rules to place a fan between his legs, the Washington Post provides us with some insight as to Crist's bizarre obsession with preventing sweat at all costs.
 

Wendy Davis Plays the Race Card and It Blows Up in Her Face, Will Nets Report?
By Geoffrey Dickens | October 20, 2014 | 4:01 PM EDT

Wendy Davis keeps failing. The one-time media darling keeps whiffing in her attacks against her Republican opponent in the Texas gubernatorial race. On Monday she implied Texas Republican Attorney General Gregory Abbot was against interracial marriage - even though Abbot’s wife, Cecilia, is a Latina. 

New MSNBC ‘Lean Forward’ Ad Urges Dems To ‘Organize’ At The Polls
By Jeffrey Meyer | October 20, 2014 | 1:13 PM EDT

In the latest “Lean Forward” ad, which aired during Sunday’s Up w/ Steve Kornacki, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews continued the network’s theme of pushing liberal policies on its airwaves. The Hardball host declared that “the one lesson we learn again and again is that it matters who is elected. Whether it’s in a small suburb of Missouri or in the American presidency.” 

Arizona's Democratic Party Candidate For Governor: 14 Year-Old Shouldn't Need Parental Consent to Abort
By Tom Blumer | October 19, 2014 | 11:16 PM EDT

To the relief of sex offenders throughout the state, Arizona Democratic gubernatorial candidate Fred DuVal, during a Tuesday forum at Redemption Church in Gilbert, said that, in the words of an unbylined Washington Free Beacon story, "he is opposed to mandating parental consent for a girl as young as 14 years old to get an abortion."

This is a non-story in the establishment press, which made it a mission to take out two GOP U.S. Senate candidates two years ago over abortion-related remarks with far less real-world impact. Based on a search on "DuVal parental consent" (not in quotes) at the Arizona Republic, the paper hasn't done a story specifically noting DuVal's outrageous position — even though it did manage to notice that DuVal, like Ed FitzGerald, the Democrat who is running for Governor in Ohio, has been known to drive without a valid driver's license, though far less often or brazenly.

Reuters: People Left Obama's Md. Speech Early; But at AP, It Was a 'Rowdy Rally' (See Update)
By Tom Blumer | October 19, 2014 | 8:01 PM EDT

One would think, based on comparing dispatches from Reuters and the Associated Press, that President Barack Obama must have spoken at two different events in Upper Marlboro, Maryland today.

The two dispatches are so radically different in tone and content that they it doesn't seem possible that they both could be from the same event. But they are. Jeff Mason at Reuters (saved here for future reference and fair use purposes) observed "early departures of crowd members while he spoke underscored his continuing unpopularity." But at AP (saved here) Josh Lederman (pictured at left) described "a rowdy crowd of about 8,000 people" attending "a rally that had the feeling of a gospel service." A more detailed comparison follows the jump: