BCT news article – 11/13/08

This page was last updated on November 15, 2008.

Democrats ‘have an amazing opportunity’ in new Congress; J. D. Prose, Times Staff; Beaver County Times; November 13, 2008.

Since I started this website in 2004, I’ve pointed out the so-called “news” section of a newspaper, magazine, et cetera must support the op-ed policies of the publication so as not to undermine the opinions expressed in editorials and other homegrown opinion columns. The “Voice of Moderation” section of this “news” story is a perfect example.

First, Mr. Prose leads off with “Political pundits have said …” In fact, Mr. Prose is himself a pundit with a weekly Times political opinion column entitled “Political Prose.” Funny how that disclaimer didn’t get into the article, isn’t it?

Second, and the real reason for this critique, Mr. Prose asserted U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire (D-4) “who’s generally recognized as one of the more moderate Democrats in the House, said centrist Democrats were successful on Election Day and that will keep the party moderate.”

What is Mr. Prose’s definition of a “more moderate Democrat?” I ask because Mr. Altmire had a 95% Liberal Quotient (The ADA’s term, not mine.) for 2007 from Americans for Democratic Action (self-described as “America’s most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization”). The ratings for 2008 won’t be out until next year. Majority leaders Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Harry Reid (D-NV) had LQs of 90% and 85%, respectively. Mr. Altmire voted more liberally than the average House (92%) and Senate (87%) Democrat. How does that translate to a “more moderate Democrat?” For the record, a “Moderate” in ADA terminology has an LQ in the range of 40% to 60%.

Next, with his “will keep the party moderate” comment, Mr. Prose implies the Democrat party is already moderate. As noted above, as a party, Democrats have an ADA LQ of between 87% and 92%. Again, how does that translate to “moderate?”

A real news article would have noted Mr. Altmire’s alleged reputation as a “more moderate Democrat” isn’t supported by the data. Doing so, however, would have torpedoed previous – “Middle ground” is an example – (and future) editorials portraying Mr. Altmire as a “centrist,” “moderate,” et cetera.

Note, the above isn’t about whether or not you consider someone having a nearly perfect ADA LQ is a good thing or not. It’s about saying one thing when the record shows the opposite.

The article quotes Mr. Altmire as saying, “We can’t point fingers anymore. We can’t blame George Bush anymore. The weight is on us.” A real news article would have pointed out Democrats have been the majority party in both houses of Congress for nearly two years and would have asked what Democrats did with that majority. As for “We can’t blame George Bush anymore,” wanna bet? Democrats will attempt to blame any and all problems on President Bush, just as they do now.

Finally, I submitted a comment on the Times website for this article. As of this writing, the Times chose not to post the comment and provided no reason. Below is the content of that comment.

“‘Political pundits have said …?’ With a weekly opinion column, Mr. Prose himself is a pundit.

“‘Altmire, who’s generally recognized as one of the more moderate Democrats in the House …?’ What is Mr. Prose’s definition of a ‘more moderate Democrat?’ I ask because Mr. Altmire had a 95% Liberal Quotient (The ADA’s term, not mine.) for 2007 from Americans for Democratic Action (self-described as ‘America’s most experienced independent liberal lobbying organization’). The ratings for 2008 won’t be out until next year. Majority leaders Steny Hoyer (D-MD) and Harry Reid (D-NV) had LQs of 90% and 85%, respectively. Mr. Altmire voted more liberally than the average House (92%) and Senate (87%) Democrat. How does that translate to a ‘more moderate Democrat?’

“This article is an example of how a newspaper’s op-ed policy leaks over into ‘news’ articles. A real news article would have noted Mr. Altmire’s alleged reputation as a ‘more moderate Democrat’ isn’t supported by the data. Doing so, however, would have torpedoed previous (and future) editorials that portrayed Mr. Altmire as a ‘centrist,’ ‘moderate,’ etc.”