http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/03/broder_rushes_t.phpDavid Broder Rushes To GOP's Defense, Omits Key Facts To Attack New York Times
March 15, 2007 --
Okay, so today we've finally discovered what it takes to get Washington Post columnist David Broder to defy his cherished gentleman's code among D.C. insiders and go on the attack against journalistic colleagues: A story that questions the political health of the GOP.
In his column today, Broder rushes to defend the honor of the GOP against a New York Times piece from Tuesday noting that the condition of the GOP was less than perfect right now. To do this, however, Broder omitted key facts about the Times piece in a way that, to put it charitably, is highly questionable indeed.
Tuesday's Times story was a fairly straightforward report on a big poll the paper did that was full of bad numbers for the GOP. It was entitled, "G.O.P. Voters Voice Anxieties on Party’s Fate." Broder didn't like this -- not one little bit. In response, he attacked the Times, thundering:
Months before the first votes are cast in the campaign of 2008, some in the media are conducting last rites for the Republicans. The rush to bury the GOP is as hasty as it is premature....
The headline atop Page 1 of Tuesday's New York Times read, "GOP Voters Voice Anxieties on Party's Fate." It sounded like a death knell for the party that has held the White House for 26 of the past 38 years. But the evidence was thin....
I would say that the problem seems to lie in the eyes of those political observers who are impatient to judge an election that is many months, not weeks, away...the only thing we know for certain about the 2008 election is that we know none of the vital facts that will determine its outcome.
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