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Republicans distort and exaggerate to manufacture controversy in Senate race

By Anonymous on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 11:26am

John McCormack of The Weakling Standard blogs about getting "shoved in to a metal railing" by a Coakley staffer Tuesday night after the fund raiser in DC.

Michael Graham exaggerates and distorts the incident reporting in The Corner Blog at the National Review that a "Coakley staffer" was "shoving" McCormack "to the ground" "and then repeatedly shoving him again and again." Who will tell Graham that 'repeatedly' and 'again and again' is redundant? Is Graham a simpleton or an a**hat? Don't answer that, I'm not done yet. Graham claims this incident is the turning point of the campaign.

But everything changed yesterday.

The video of the Coakley staffer — most likely DNC hack and former Kerry campaigher (sic) Michael Meehan — shoving The Weekly Standard's John McCormack to the ground, and then repeatedly shoving him again and again in view of AG Coakley, is a watershed moment. It could turn out to be a campaign killer.

First, it highlights the fact that Coakley had left Massachusetts to attend a lobbyist fundraiser in D.C.. Taking big bucks from Big Pharma in the middle of this fight? Dumb, dumb, dumb.

Then there's the guy who got shoved. McCormack is the reporter who asked the question about Afghanistan that literally stopped Coakley in her tracks. After a few blinks of incomprehension, she answered by asking, "Does anyone ELSE have a question?" This issue is a disaster for Coakley because it reveals her utter lack of experience or (apparently) basic knowledge on foreign policy, just two weeks after a terrorist successfully got on a U.S. airplane.

And perhaps most damaging is the power of this example. If I were to summarize the attitude of the typical Massachusetts resident right now, it would be "tired of being pushed around."

Is Graham transparently trying to inflate this incident, whatever it was, into something it wasn't? If so, will he pay a price professionally?

For fun, watch the video. Check out what happens around the :30 second mark.

[size=7]alt to video[/size]

Imagine trying to turn a kerfuffle like this, although regrettable, into a game-changing incident? Remember, this is what conservatives want politics to be about. Please join me in imploring the Rove-lites at the Weakling Standard, WTKK and the Boston Herald (Graham works at WTKK and submits Op Eds to the Herald) to stop manufacturing controversies and pay attention to the differences that matter between the two candidates.

Best, Neil


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Comments

By jeremy s on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 12:48pm.

It is pretty obvious that Meehan's contact with McCormack is highly inappropriate and meets the legal definition of assault.

Will the AG of Mass file charges on her goon?

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By Anonymous on Wed, 01/13/2010 - 11:09pm.

but this same reporter John McCormack got up in Scozzafava's grill and she called the cops on him.

The campaign of Dede Scozzafava, the moderate Republican candidate in the NY-23 special election, has blundered into an all-out war with The Weekly Standard. First, reporter John McCormack asked Scozzafava a series of questions that irritated her and inspired her to call the cops to check on him. Then, a Scozzafava spokesman attacked McCormack, claiming that he “repeatedly screamed questions” and “followed the candidate to her car, continuing to carry on in a manner that would make the National Enquirer blush.”

In response, Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol is going after Scozzafava’s campaign.

I have full confidence in the truth of John’s account. And I won’t allow a desperate campaign to try to tarnish the fine reputation John has built as a fair and accurate reporter — and, for that matter, a very decent and mild-mannered young man. As it happens, I was standing near John’s desk in the office this past Friday. The phone rang. It was Scozzafava campaign spokesman Matt Burns, who didn’t like something John had reported, and started yelling abusively at him the moment he answered the phone. We could hear Mr. Burns ten feet away. I gather Mr. Burns called later to apologize. I suppose John would accept another apology by the Scozzafava campaign.

This is not what a struggling campaign needs to deal with two weeks away from an election. One more reason why it’s tough to find Republican strategists in Washington who think Scozzafava can win. link

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