More Blatant Bias from the Plain Dealer

One of the standard features of campaign fundraising is for a candidate to get the biggest name he or she knows to star at an event. Numerous examples quickly come to mind: Just recently, Lee Fisher held a fundraiser with Bill Clinton, while his opponent Jennifer Brunner had one with Caroline Kennedy. Clinton came into Ohio in 2006 to raise money for Gov. Ted Strickland. And, although unpopular with the general public, George Bush and Dick Cheney were worth big money to Republican candidates in 2006. Ken Blackwell’s gubernatorial campaign was the beneficiary of a fundraiser with George Bush, while Craig Foltin, Betty Sutton’s opponent for the 13th district congressional seat, gladly accepted the money raised by an event downtown at the Renaissance with Dick Cheney, although Foltin “disappeared” the event — nothing about it ever went up on his campaign website. Apparently, he didn’t think pictures of himself with Cheney would be helpful in getting votes. (He lost overwhelming to Sutton anyway. Thanks, Dick!).

So it was really aggravating to see the following in today’s Plain Dealer column by Thomas Suddes:

“Here’s one measure of how worried Democratic strategists are about next fall's congressional elections: Freshman Rep. John Boccieri of Alliance and second-termer Zack Space of New Philadelphia are telling supporters that Vice President Joe Biden will be raising money for them in Cleveland on Oct. 26th.”

Sadly, this type of thing has become typical for the paper. Some people know that I’ve been carefully tracking right-wing bias in the Plain Dealer for about two years. It’s still startling to read such transparent spin, especially from someone like Suddes, who hasn’t generally been in the forefront of damning Democrats for the same things he’d praise Republicans for. But I’m willing to bet that if Bush or Cheney came to Ohio even now for a fundraiser for a prominent Republican, it would be spun not as “worry,” but as a coup.

In fact, Biden coming in to do fundraisers for Boccieri and Space is routine, and given that Space especially has laughable competition so far, unlikely to be based in an excess of concern as to whether these two congressmen can hold onto their seats. (Just vote for the public option, gentlemen, and you’ll be fine — especially you, Zack, since your district has the highest number of uninsured of any Ohio congressional district).

And how “worried” is John Kasich about his gubernatorial campaign, Mr. Suddes? He’s got Sean Hannity coming in to do a high-dollar fundraiser for him this week. It must take a really high level of panic to associate with an abrasive, loudmouthed liar like that. I guess his campaign is going down the tubes. (Oh, and how much did Kasich pay for that insanely vitriolic screed by Brent Larkin in last Sunday’s paper, blaming Ted Strickland for virtually single-handedly destroying Ohio’s economy — which has been spiraling downward for a decade, thanks to national trends that have hit Ohio especially hard? The piece was clearly intended to fan fires of hatred and unconstructive, misplaced blame — not to analyze the root of the state’s problems and what’s needed to tackle them.)

In fact, Suddes’ spin is inane, and he of all people should know better. Or is word coming down from on high that he needs to tweak his coverage to favor the party the Plain Dealer seems to semi-officially represent?