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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2006-12-04

Media Hits and Misses . . .

as in, "hit pieces" and "mis-representations"

Well, with the 2006 election a cold, dead husk, nearly a whole month past us now, I suppose it's time for the media to look to the future. Thus, the Denver Post puts on its front page today this piece: Allard may face roughest road yet

Unfortunately, as we've come to expect from the Post, this is little more than a piece attempting to define a Republican in terms that make him easy to beat.

Asked what he has accomplished in a decade in the Senate, Allard doesn t talk first about how he led the attempt to ban same-sex marriage, or how he pushed for billions of dollars for research into a missile-defense system, or how he pressed to improve the U.S. Air Force Academy s handling of sex-assault accusations.

He wants people to know he protected endangered fish.

When I first got into politics, I never knew that I would be in a position to get that much accomplished as far as improving the environment, he said.

Allard, a Republican with one of the most conservative voting records in the Senate, clearly knows the challenges he d face in 2008. His state tilted toward the Democrats in last month s election, and there s already a Democrat with a pro-environment bent in the race.

You know, it's not just the ironic, condescending tone leaping out of the second paragraph; it's that Anne Mulkern goes out of her way to highlight the controversial subjects Allard has been involved in.

And do you really think this was the first thing Sen. Allard brought up? Really? Yeah, me neither. Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation to see where that little quote actually came from?

The rest of the article is similar in tone: trying to paint Allard as either lazy or just unaccomplished, even intimating legislative plagiarism at one point. An excerpt:

Allard generally is perceived as a mild-mannered, affable lawmaker. There's less agreement on his record.

In his decade in the Senate, he has been a loyal vote for a number of conservative causes, from cutting taxes to protecting gun rights to limiting abortion. He has focused heavily on Colorado issues and has passed just one bill with a national scope.

Interesting that she would highlight the distincly one-sided nature of tax cuts and protecting gun rights.

At any rate, get ready, Colorado. The media, emboldened by its victories this year, will only get worse over the next two years.

Especially with the Presidency on the line.
Posted by: Michael / 12/04/2006 12:38:00 AM

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