Reid Wilson

Networks Fail to Cover Calls for Scandal-Ridden Democratic Oregon Governor to Resign [UPDATED]
By Curtis Houck | February 13, 2015 | 1:41 PM EST

Update, 3:50 p.m. Eastern: Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber (D) announced his resignation Friday afternoon and will be effective next Wednesday (February 18).

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With calls for Democratic Govenor John Kitzhaber to resign and Secretary of State referring to the Governor’s behavior Thursday as “strange” and “bizarre,” one would think that the media would devote time to a story that has dominated the Beaver State and could lead to a longtime Governor leaving office in disgrace. Alas, the networks refused to cover it on both their Thursday evening and Friday morning broadcasts.

WashPost on Ashley Judd: Smart Enough to Be Governor? Doesn't Know Filing Deadline Passed
By Tim Graham | February 4, 2015 | 8:45 AM EST

Emily Heil at The Washington Post’s “Reliable Sources” gossip column promoted liberal actress Ashley Judd discussing her latest flirtation with running for office. Maybe she should run for governor of Kentucky, since it's kind of a Third World state, and she has a "deep bench on that stuff." Problem: Post political reporter Reid Wilson pointed out the filing deadline for the governor's race passed last month.

WaPo Notes 'Voter Discontent' in Md.; You Wouldn't Know It Beforehand by Paper's Coverage of State Governor Race
By Ken Shepherd | October 13, 2014 | 5:53 PM EDT

On page A3 of today's Washington Post, staffer Reid Wilson relayed the story of how "Voter discontent opens up more governor's races" in a reliably Obama-friendly corridor of the continental United States. "GOP offers surprising challenges in Northeast," notes the subheader for the story.

WashPost Headline Betrays Its Tilt Against Nevada's 'Biggest Corporate Tax Giveaway'
By Tim Graham | September 11, 2014 | 1:13 PM EDT

In today’s Biased Headlines department, see today’s Reid Wilson report on the Washington Post website from Wednesday: “Nevada is about to pass the biggest corporate tax giveaway in its history.”

But has the Post recently described welfare programs or food stamps as a "giveaway"? It doesn't look like it.

WashPost Hails Libertarian Spoiler on Page One: 'Folksy and Erudite, Funny and Earnest'
By Tim Graham | July 7, 2014 | 8:44 AM EDT

Instapundit cracked wise this morning: “How can a Libertarian get favorable treatment in The Washington Post? Be in a position to deliver a Senate seat to the Dems.”

In a front-page article on Monday, Post reporters Reid Wilson and Karen Tumulty cited the precedent of last year’s gubernatorial race in Virginia – where Democrat Terry McAuliffe won with a 2.6 percent margin of victory while “libertarian” Robert Sarvis drew 6.5 percent – to hope for a pizza delivery man named Sean Haugh to stop the Republicans from winning in North Carolina:

PBS Anchor: 'Why Does the White House Rub Salt Into the Wound' of Red-State Democrats With EPA Emissions Crackdown?
By Tim Graham | June 5, 2014 | 9:05 AM EDT

On Tuesday night’s PBS NewsHour, a panel of journalists were exploring how Democratic candidates for the Senate were going to struggle with Obama’s new crackdown on coal plants. PBS anchor Gwen Ifill even said, “why then does the White House rub salt into the wound on this issue? Why make it so hard for Democrats especially?”

Washington Post reporter Reid Wilson replied that Obama wants it for his legacy as his term winds down, and reminded Ifill that he said his time would be when the planet starts to heal: [See video below.]

OpenSecrets.org Shows Koch Campaign Money Dwarfed by Dozens of Other Groups, Misclassifies Many As 'On the Fence'
By Tom Blumer | February 17, 2014 | 3:28 PM EST

NOTE: Go to the end of this post to see my reaction to an email NB received from OpenSecrets.org. 

The web site OpenSecrets.org has done a great deal of useful work. Especially helpful are its lists of high-dollar political campaign donor organizations.

The web site's 1989-2014 and 2012-specific lists, to name just two, demonstrate that the hyperventilating on the left and in the establishment press about the eeeevil Koch Brothers is completely out of line:

WaPo's Reid Wilson Throws a Pity Party: Dems 'Have No Real Equivalent' of the Koch Brothers
By Tom Blumer | February 8, 2014 | 9:59 PM EST

Leftist delusions can be amazing things. One of them is that the financial deck is stacked against their candidates and causes.

Reid Wilson at the Washington Post attempted to explain it all on Friday. On the plus side, at least he didn't try to pretend, as Evan Halper at the Los Angeles Times did in late December, that there's no one donating to Democrats and progressive causes with the financial clout of the Koch brothers except billionaire and relative newbie activist Tom Steyer. But while Wilson recognized the existence of large Dem donors, he bemoaned the fact that they are supposedly not as well organized, and that their motives, unlike the Kochs, are pure. Really (bolds are mine):

MSNBC’s Alex Witt Suggests Obama Was ‘Big Winner’ On Syria
By Paul Bremmer | September 17, 2013 | 12:15 PM EDT

MSNBC’s Alex Witt loves to ask questions that try to steer her guests toward a certain response, and she was at it again on Saturday’s edition of Weekends with Alex Witt. The host attempted to get three separate guests to agree with her that President Obama was last week’s “big winner” for stumbling onto a potential diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis. When the third guest was critical of Obama, an incredulous Witt challenged his answer.

During the first hour of her two-hour program, Witt was discussing the recent U.S.-Russia deal to try and get Syrian President Bashar al Assad to give up his chemical weapons. She asked Reuters columnist David Rohde: “You know, doesn't President Obama actually come out the big winner here ultimately? Because without firing a shot, you said you believe that Syria will get rid of its chemical weapons.”