MEDIA PRIORITIES. On the heels of the Pew polls finding that 84% of voters had heard quite a bit about John Kerry's botched joke but only 26% heard about Bush's perfectly accurate statement that he'll keep Don Rumsfeld till he leaves in 2009, let me join with Kevin in wondering whether the press is planning to report on the verified, admitted, and illegal robocalling from the National Republican Congressional Committee? These calls, you'll remember, begin by implying that they're coming from the Democratic candidate. Then, if the recipient hangs up, they call back. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Eight, nine times, or more than enough to infuriate the voter and turn them off of the Democrat. If the voter doesn't hang up, the call goes on to bash the Democrat and identify itself as from the RNCC. It's an ugly tactic that seeks to turn voters away from voting, it's sponsored by a primary arm of the national GOP, and it's deliberate. If the press had any honor or sense of public duty at all, it would swamp the coverage of Kerry's shenanigans, if only because telling voters what these calls are is actual information that helps them interpret the election. That a disgraced, former nominee fumbled a bad joke in a speech has none of those virtues. I don't know whether the press is Democratic or Republican. I'm pretty sure they suck, though.
--Ezra Klein
