Weigh these two alternative stories about candidates for office. First, you have candidate A who, it is discovered, was given stock worth up to five million dollars while he was in public office in exchange for no services. Then it is discovered that the same candidate also got substantial payouts for six years from his former law firm at the same time that the firm received millions in fees from public entities controlled, at least in part, by the candidate from his public position. Then add in that none of these payments were disclosed. On the other hand, you have candidate B who has a young staffer who send out a tweet that compares conditions in an American city to those in the Middle East. Which is a bigger story?
The answer is simple for most of the media. It, of course, depends on which candidate is the Republican and which is the Democrat. In this instance, candidate A is Cory Booker, mayor of Newark New Jersey and the likely Democrat candidate for the Senate. Candidate B is Steve Lonergan, the Republican candidate who is running far behind Booker. A staffer of Lonergan sent out a tweet on his own that said that Newark was like the Middle East. The media then began a huge wave of coverage to determine if this was proof that Lonergan is a racist. Get it? The GOP candidate is a racist because of something that someone else said about Newark. After all, just because Newark is a relatively violent place by New Jersey standards and the Middle East is filled with violence, the comparison is still racist because Booker, the mayor, is black. It is a page right out of the Obama playbook. On the other side, I have seen essentially no coverage of the secret payments to Booker who literally got millions while mayor of Newark in exchange for no services of any kind. What did Booker do to deserve these payments? There is no coherent response except for selling his influence. This well may turn out to be criminal.
One still has to keep in mind that we are speaking of New Jersey, so the likelihood of a GOP victory in the Senate race was extremely slim. Nevertheless, the idea that the apparent corrupt practices of the Democrat candidate get covered up by the media is offensive, no matter who wins.
The answer is simple for most of the media. It, of course, depends on which candidate is the Republican and which is the Democrat. In this instance, candidate A is Cory Booker, mayor of Newark New Jersey and the likely Democrat candidate for the Senate. Candidate B is Steve Lonergan, the Republican candidate who is running far behind Booker. A staffer of Lonergan sent out a tweet on his own that said that Newark was like the Middle East. The media then began a huge wave of coverage to determine if this was proof that Lonergan is a racist. Get it? The GOP candidate is a racist because of something that someone else said about Newark. After all, just because Newark is a relatively violent place by New Jersey standards and the Middle East is filled with violence, the comparison is still racist because Booker, the mayor, is black. It is a page right out of the Obama playbook. On the other side, I have seen essentially no coverage of the secret payments to Booker who literally got millions while mayor of Newark in exchange for no services of any kind. What did Booker do to deserve these payments? There is no coherent response except for selling his influence. This well may turn out to be criminal.
One still has to keep in mind that we are speaking of New Jersey, so the likelihood of a GOP victory in the Senate race was extremely slim. Nevertheless, the idea that the apparent corrupt practices of the Democrat candidate get covered up by the media is offensive, no matter who wins.
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