Is the New Journal’s Beth Miller really this dumb?
Miller might be a nice person with a family that loves her, but her story on Ad-gate is just a horrible piece of journalism which equates Jack Markell’s legitimate grievance related to the misappropriation of our donations to the state Democratic party with John Carney’s transparently bullshit damage control.
Obviously, the problems at the News Journal extend beyond Miller – but she really dropped the ball on this story which shines a spot-light on the corrupt innerworks of the out of touch cabal that runs the Delaware Democratic Party. Istead she prints a verbatim statement from John Daniello justifying the misappropriation of our money under the pretext that John Carney is a swell guy.
A Story Within A Story
In Miller’s abortion of a news story she also burried some significant news. Karen Peterson has dumped John Carney. Peterson’s statement is significant and should have run as a side bar OR since it is itself news – should have been a stand alone story.
The section reads:
Carney has lost the endorsement of Sen. Karen E. Peterson, D-Stanton, though Peterson wrote Carney a letter this week to explain why she was switching her support to Markell.
“I had done some soul searching and came to a difficult decision…,” she said. “he had assured me that he would distance himself from the Minner administration in public ways and my support was contingent on that. I don’t see that happening.”
Peterson said Carney is also taking too much credit for the Blue Water Wind Deal
I guess that didn’t merit it’s own story because Carney could not roll out some bullshit damage control in time.
.
It’s kind of scary when it appears that our governor may be chosen by our one local newspaper rather than by the electorate. Why can’t the WNJ equally report ALL news on both sides of the coin and allow the decisions to be made by the people. This business of touting what they want the readers to know and glossing over that which they don’t can hardly be called journalism.
The example of the Party attempting to poach Markell’s much greater leadership on the BWW issue is typical of the Minner administration. Daniello’s “prepared” press release giving Carminner credit for BWW is a repitition of the Minner modus operandi of “let the other guys stick their necks out; if it works, we’ll jump in at the 11th Hour and take credit for it.”
The same thing happened with the Walmart depot in Smyra. Minner let the local politicians take the lead in promoting Walmart. When the locals blew up, she snuck away, letting them take the flack.
Electing another State leader because of a talent for being politically slick will result in another eight years of Minner; fancy footwork but no ability to manage the State.
Jason, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the story from a journalistic standpoint. Once the Carney camp decided to make an “issue” of the transfer of funds from his previous campaign, it becomes a tit-for-tat story. Had I been editing this story, there’s nothing I would change.
You’re missing the bigger picture: The Democrats clearly had decided to make Bluewater the issue Carney would run on. Now this tidy narrative has been challenged and tainted by Daniello’s ham-fisted involvement, and Markell can turn it around by showing that Carney isn’t his own man, he’s being stage-managed by crooked old dinosaurs like Daniello et al.
All in all, it was a bad day for John Carney, and could be a major problem for a campaigner who has little else to point to as evidence of his ability to get things done. The only silver lining is that it happened on a Friday, and fewer people read the Saturday paper.
It’s so weird because just yesterday the Delaware Liberal mentioned how its “staff” is undecided on an endorsement of either candidate, but everything I read on here is laced with sarcasm, profanity and outright disgust aimed solely at John Carney.
Boy, this blog is almost as objective as the actual media when it came to Obama vs. Clinton. Keep up the editorializing, you’re fooling everyone.
DelDem,
Yawn…
Al,
I don’t think that it was inevitable that this was a tit for tat story.
The press has a bias toward running that kind of story because it covers the paper’s ass. However, Carney’s damage control job was such transparent bullshit that the story should have AT LEAST indicated that it was damage control.
To prove that point ask yourself if the charges from Carney would have come absent the debacle created by Daniello and Co.
Yawn? That’s it? You should work for CNN with that kind of journalistic integrity.
Hey, deldem….
I said some of the staff are undecided, like Pandora.
LiberalGeek is supporting Carney.
Jason and I are supporting Markell.
I have no idea where Donviti and Cassandra stand.
That you cannot distinguish between authors of a post, or comprehend that each contributor speaks only for themselves and their opinion, speaks volumes as to your understanding of the internet and overall intelligence.
And get a more original nickname. It is already taken.
LOL
You don’t know who Donviti is supportin? **snort**. Who does donviti always support? Carney could take lessons in resume padding from Donviti (and he’ll need to, because ‘wart on Minner’s ass’ is not a glowing accomplishment). Donviti’s outrageous platform claims of DE’s hottest blogger would make Carney blush. Saving baby seals? He wears perfume made from the sweat glands of baby seals harvested by waterboarding the seals in a stress position.
It’s not the first time the Snooze Journal has taken a biased position on a candidate. In 2000 and 2004 Dr. Floyd McDowell ran for Governor on the IPOD ticket. The Snooze Journal wouldnt even print that Dr McDowell was a candidate.
Has anyone done polling on Carney/Markell race? Could it be that Jack is winning those polls and the Democratic Party are throwing in the “kitchen sink” to get him elected?
Yet another fly-by-night pro-Carney commenter. Why is it that, outside of LG, so few people who support Carney want to be identified?
There are internal polls, and all I can say is that it is a close race.
As for public polling, I spoke to Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos recently about having the polling outfit he contracts with, Research 2000, poll the primary race. He said there is really no interest in polling a Democratic Primary whose winner will win the governorship in every possible scenario.
jason
Al is absolutely correct on this one [regarding Beth Miller’s story], and the Markell faction is whining.
The state Democratic Party is split on the issue, and she reported that accurately.
Both financial moves by Markell and Carney were legal–and Markell hurt himself by offering to return money if asked.
The problem with this story is not Beth Miller: she did her usual sound job of reportage.
The problem is that you want an internal, partisan fight among Democratic candidates, which inevitably had to get ugly if Markell was going to win it, to be considered an affair of state, and it doesn’t fit the script of Markell’s supporters that there are people out there defending Carney.
Losing Karen Petersen’s endorsement I’m sure did not make Carney happy, but frankly it’s not the big news you think it should be. Except among party insiders–who have already made up their minds one way of the other–Petersen’s name recognition factor is simply not that high.
If I were a cynic, I would even guess that Petersen had been moving in that direction for some time, and that the Markell campaign had been waiting for an appropriate moment to make points with it. No, I have zero evidence for that, but it seems entirely too pat.
Markell’s supporters have much in common with Obama’s supporters in that they become really uncomfortable when their candidate looks and acts like a politician instead of a progressive “change agent” who is about the fray.
Jason, if you’re ever wondering why people think you’re a schmuck, this thread is a perfect example of why.
You’re such a bitter little man.
You guys flock to rock star emptyheads like it was the smell of chocolate chip cookies.
You all remind me of the cockeyed and bowlegged groupies who worship “Bob” and his subtle swagger in the Enzyte commercial.
You’ve all been rogered good to the detriment of your IQ (aka, f.cked stupid).
Jack Markell has nothing on John Carney when it comes to executive and legislative experience. And if he had any sense of party loyalty, he would have sent tenderfoot scout Matt Denn back out to gather wood and stepped in to run WITH Carney as his Lt. Governor compadre. Instead, he’s making a fuss with a bunch of limp Sussex county political wannabees.
This state does not tip on the whims of Rehoboth!
Equally, you’re all slurping the latte goo for Obama. The guy is a crisp suit and a heaping dash of Ralph Polo cologne. He’s the guy you just wanted to punch the crap out of in college for getting by so easy with so little work. He’s the one who snowed all the profs with his charms and spent the years watching them all grow flowers wherever he pooped.
You know it’s true. I know that eats you up inside.
That’s enough for me, just to know you feel that tinge of emptiness. That doesn’t make me bitter. It makes me mean. And being mean to you is oh so pleasurable.
Wow, I think I just got a little wet.
John Carney has executive experience?
Jack Markell has executive experience?
All these crazy, John Carney-supportin’ mother fuckers have really made my day. You’re no schmuck, Jason. You’ve been the springboard to the best entertainment in town courtesy of these moronic Carney stooges who wouldn’t know a principled stance if it bit them in the ass!
Judging by his comment, Pocket Pride has cornered the market on being “bitter” and “little.” Don’t know if he’s a man.
Have you ever heard of a shallower campaign slogan than “But its my turn!”?
I think the slogan is “Wait your turn!”
But the truth is, Markell would have run for Lt. Gov., except the idiots running the party couldn’t get Ted Blunt — the Emptiest Suit in Delaware — to drop out. Which he of course did later anyway. I think he was only running so he didn’t have to pay his own money for the SUV with his name on the side.
These are the people whose brilliance and ability Jack Markell was supposed to bow before.
Which is why so many Democrats — those who aren’t in debt to the party or benefiting from insider status — consider Markell their only hope.
“I’m very disappointed that my opponent has gone down this negative campaign route,” Carney said. “It’s hard to believe. Sen. Carper laid down the law several months ago that everybody should stay positive in this campaign and I’m disappointed that he [Markell] has decided not to abide by that.” – TNJ
If there’s ever a reason to run sprinting from the Delaware Democratic Party, it’s that sentence right there. Laugh all you want about Castle running the show on our side – Tom Carper is consigliare.
If they ran a nice, genteel campaign, Carney would win. Which is why, just as is true in Washington, nobody pays any attention to what Tom Carper says.
The News Journal article was factual. On our race Beth Miller has been fair with us through and through. It certainly is easy to not like coverage when it doesn’t fall your way.
The issue about money spent and raised against a fellow Democrat is old news. The GOP did it to me in 2006 with hundreds of negative ads run on 9/11 recorded by Bill Lee. While the Wharton race was tanking and other races were floundering money was wasted.
Lee went on to say he thought the message he recorded was for an autodialer.
What did he say, Mike? Was it factual?
I hear Delaware State is pondering opening polling operations.
Steve Newton wrote….”Losing Karen Petersen’s endorsement I’m sure did not make Carney happy, but frankly it’s not the big news you think it should be. Except among party insiders–who have already made up their minds one way of the other–Petersen’s name recognition factor is simply not that high.
If I were a cynic, I would even guess that Petersen had been moving in that direction for some time, and that the Markell campaign had been waiting for an appropriate moment to make points with it. No, I have zero evidence for that, but it seems entirely too pat.”
1. There are statewide candidates who would love to have her name recognition.
2. You’re right, you don’t know anything about how/why the switch took place.
Actually, it is coincidental that it became public on Friday because Peterson, at that time, didn’t know anything about the ads and was not even in town.
I like Karen as much as the next person, but pray tell, what “statewide candidates” do you think lack her name recognition? Carney? Markell? Denn? Lee? Copeland? Those are really the only ones that matter, aren’t they?
So PI if Karen’s change wasn’t related to the ads, and it came out just in time to be used in a story that would allow Markell supporters to imply (as they have) that it was related to the ads, you think I have no grounds for suspicion?
Al’s comment above is germane: statewide Karen Petersen–even among Democrats–would enjoy a name recognition no higher than 10%
From a comedic standpoint, #14 was a brilliant comment. I don’t agree with parts of it, but it made me cackle just the same.
I’m sure there is more than one beth miller but I went to school with one…always thought she was cute