Friday, August 19, 2005 :::
WaPo Pimping Potts
On the same day that we finally have a piece explaining the emptiness of Russ Potts, the Washington Post shakes its money-maker for the Other Candidate.
Their line of reasoning for allowing Potts in the debates -- notwithstanding his lack of real support from Virginians outside of newsrooms and editorial board meetings -- is as common as it is tiresome:
The Kilgore camp's attempt to shut Mr. Potts out of the debates is outrageous; so is the acquiescence of the debates' sponsors. Whether he would make a capable governor is an open question, but Virginians will not be able to assess his candidacy without an opportunity to see him at close range. Mr. Potts is hardly a fringe figure: A four-term state senator, he chairs the Senate's Education and Health Committee and sits on the powerful Finance Committee. He deserves to be heard, as does his message.
This is ridiculous.
Potts is being heard. What has not happened -- either in the pages of the Post or almost any other newspaper covering this race -- is a single reporter asking Potts for specifics. "Everything is on the table" is not an answer. Both Kaine and Kilgore have produced substantive plans on a variety of issues. And Potts?
Nothing.
Worse, neither the Post nor any of the other large papers covering the race have asked Potts how and why he was completely abandoned everything he once embraced. Tax-cutting, pro-life, pro-referenda Russ may as well have not existed. That Potts has been flushed down the memory hole, never to be spoken of again.
If the WaPo really wanted to do its readers a favor, they would ask Potts for specifics. They would ask him why he has completely re-invented himself in the last two years. They would ask him if, at bottom, his candidacy is really motivated by a desire for change, or spite. But they will not. They cannot. Doing so would undermine the storyline they've embraced and stifle the good copy they hope to write.
Disgraceful.
::: posted by Norman Leahy at 8/19/2005
5 comments
