As noted earlier, South Dakota Politics has uncovered more memos connecting Dave Kranz to the Democratic Party. Instapundit, Powerline, McClaren, and Sibby have picked up on the story. As the Dakota Alliance of blogs has consistently pointed out, Kranz won't report the bad things that are said about Daschle in the Argus Leader and the consequence is that voters don't have all the information they need to make a fully-informed political choice. The Argus, therefore, distorts the democratic process. It's clear, however, that Dave Kranz is capable of being extremely critical of political leaders, such as former Republican SD Senator Larry Pressler. Kranz was quick to point out Pressler's gaffes and the negative comments made about him in the national press, which is a fine thing to do. SD voters should know what the national press is saying about their leaders in Washington. The problem is that Kranz doesn't report the bad things that are written about Daschle in the national press and allow voters to decide for themselves if the criticisms are meritorious. Kranz acts as a journalistic gatekeeper who prevents stories which might hurt Senator Daschle from being heard by SD voters. For evidence of his ability to scrutinize a US Senator and report the negative things that the national press is saying, see these Kranz quotes in the Argus about Senator Pressler at the time of his 1990 Senate race (in which Daschle's current state political director, who worked as Kranz's assistant from 1986-1989, served as the press spokesman for Pressler's opponent):
“The national media continues to give Pressler grief. Now comes the Washingtonian revelation: ‘George Bush and Dan Quayle’s least favorite Republican senator is Larry Pressler—neither wants to go into SD to campaign for him. One White House aide called him ‘flaky.’” September 30, 1990.“No one else comes close to filling the role of a public servant who uses slick marketing to make minor accomplishments look like world-saving ventures.” July 8, 1990.
“To the kingmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike, he is a lightweight—holding his title with superficial rhetoric, unsubstantiated legislative success and a circle of friends who glitter from their wealth.” August 6, 1989.
“Sen. Larry Pressler forfeited his chance to be considered a great Senator long ago. His obsession with image building and photo sessions has left him preoccupied and ineffective.” December 30, 1990.
“Pressler has now been in Washington 14 years and still has no clear cause. He is controlled by public opinion, with a finger in the wind and a safe vote and press release to follow.” November 5, 1989.
Again, Kranz was perfectly within his right to scrutinize Senator Pressler. It's not fair, however, when Kranz refuses to do the same thing to Senator Daschle. It is evidence of bias. It's also clear that the Democrats in South Dakota have made Kranz stories part of their strategy for winning elections, as Daschle's long-time media consultant Karl Struble has explained. They don't expect negative stories from Kranz and he obliges. Here are some samples of Kranz's Daschle reports from the Argus:
“[Daschle] has almost single-handedly put the Democratic Party back on the same solid ground evident during the prime of George McGovern’s career. Democrats are indebted to him.” December 10, 1989.“[Daschle] still stands in the middle of drought-stripped fields and bleeds for the American farmer.” July 24, 1988.
“Daschle would be an attractive candidate for the second spot [Vice-President] because of his national statute.” March 28, 1999.
“National political analysts label U.S. Sen. Tom Daschle as unbeatable.” March 22, 1998.
“Those who have watched Daschle over the years see him as a master politician, ready to capitalize on the new challenges.” March 26, 1993.
“Daschle shows courage in voting for pay increase.” AL, November 26, 1989 (headline).
Daschle has come to expect a relentless din of positive stories from the Argus and Kranz and to expect no scrutiny of his actions. In this context, note John Kerry's outrage yesterday when being grilled on "Good Morning America"--he complained afterword that "They're doing the work of the Republican National Committee." It's called scrutiny of inconsistent statements, which many Democrats aren't used to from the press. Many of the stories of Kerry's medals and his other problems, it should be noted, are the result of work done by the Boston Globe, i.e. the big newspaper in Kerry's home-state which is willing to scrutinize his record. This caught my attention because it's just the opposite in South Dakota, where the state's big newspaper is unwilling to report anything unflattering about Senator Daschle. In response to these criticisms, the executive editor of the Argus says this:
Beck said that Kranz is "the best political reporter in the region" and "one of the finest, most honest, credible reporters in the region." Beck also said that the criticism was "crap" and driven by a "violent" internet "cabal" of "yahoos" and "jokers," who are full of "hatred" and "vitriol" and lacked "guts" because they hid "behind their computer screens" and wouldn't face him "man to man." Beck then went on to highlight the importance of debating issues "without calling each other names."
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