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NPR Helps Andy Smith Trot Out CSP "Fluke" Meme Again

by: Dean Barker

Mon Oct 11, 2010 at 06:53:13 AM EDT
In a Morning Edition piece designed to show that women voters aren't paying attention, NPR's Audie Cornish casts, through the help of right-wing pundit Andy Smith's perennial "fluke" meme, woman Carol Shea-Porter as flotsam in a wave. Apparently, four years ago all Shea-Porter had to do was put her name on the Dem primary ballot to be a Congresswoman. And two years ago, it was Hillary Clinton's tears that clinched it for Carol.

This might be the sloppiest piece of distance reporting NPR has ever done on Granite State politics. It's also Exhibit A on how much work remains to be done in improving left-wing media infrastructure in New Hampshire. Whenever Smith is the first name on Villager speed-dial, Democrats lose.

Contact NPR's Morning Edition today to ask them why Audie Cornish buried Frank Guinta's several hundred thousand dollar mystery money at the bottom of the piece and treated it like it was campaign he-said she-said.  Because here's what local political reporters are saying:

The financial disclosure issue is not going away. Since Guinta has refused to clear the matter up in the last two months, there is now a recent round of stories about it reported by WMUR, NHPR, AP, Concord Monitor and the Union Leader. If pro Shea-Porter groups were to only get involved this will be the issue to dominate the next three weeks.
Dean Barker :: NPR Helps Andy Smith Trot Out CSP "Fluke" Meme Again
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NPR Helps Andy Smith Trot Out CSP "Fluke" Meme Again | 12 comments
My comment to Audie (4.00 / 2)
Audie Cornish has it all wrong about Carol Shea Porter, my congresswoman and someone whose campaigns I have been part of (the grassroots sensation of the nation!) since 2006.  First, some advice: take Andy Smith's opinions and polls with a large shaker of salt, he leans R and is always off the mark.  Second, Carol did not win any of her elections on someone else's coat tails, she and her supporters were well-organized, had a great ground game, and won on the merits of our candidate.  Third, Carol has taken great care of NH, at least of the rest of us who aren't the rich and powerful.  Ask the vets, ask any constituent who has contacted her office for help, look at her record in Congress.
Don't be lazy, Audie, do some homework, and do find out for us all where Frank Guinta got that $355,000 for his campaign.  We would love to know.  
Carol & Hillary (4.00 / 2)
It would have been bizarre indeed if Hillary Clinton's tears were what clinched the 2008 election for Carol Shea-Porter.  For one thing, Rep. Shea-Porter actually endorsed Barack Obama in the Primary, not Hillary Clinton.  For another, the Presidential Primary happened 10 months prior to the General Election.
[ Parent ]
Lazy (4.00 / 2)
At the end of the story Guinta's failure to disclose the account is mentioned. No effort at all to go to the heart of the story, which is, where did the money come?  



"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    
The money's a problem, (4.00 / 2)
but the crux of this story is missing a significant point:  Guinta opposes abortion even in the cases of incest, rape, or when the life of the mother is in danger.

How does THAT not make it into a story about women being luke-warm about CSP?

NPR needs push back, and hard.  I've written.

"Physical concepts are free creations of the human mind, and are not, however it may seem, uniquely determined by the external world." A. Einstein

Ughhhhh (4.00 / 2)
Ughhhhh
THAT Is Why (0.00 / 0)
we call them the "Nice Polite Republicans."  Ms Edwards (above) defined it well.  CSP has a great bunch of hard-working supporters and provides great constituent service.  Republicans don't want us to know that.  Conversely, I'd expect most NPR listeners to know what a crock of hooey has been dumped on them.  I've been complaining to NHPR about that every time they ask me for money and sometimes without being asked.  Other listeners should do the same.

Sure, I voted for less government and less government spending...just NOT the parts that I benefit from!
Comments to NPR (0.00 / 0)
Please make your comments to NPR, not just on this site. We're all Carol people here, so it doesn't do anything to help her if we just talk to ourselves. Use the link here to read the story and comment to NPR.

Great post here Lucy. Please post it there too.

Good Idea. (0.00 / 0)
Thanks!

Sure, I voted for less government and less government spending...just NOT the parts that I benefit from!
[ Parent ]
My comment (0.00 / 0)
posted above was a copy of what I sent via the NPR site, sorry I didn't make that clear.
[ Parent ]
Comments on NPR site (0.00 / 0)
Great comments by Lenore and Susanthe on the NPR site.  Thanks for providing the link - I wrote as well, and said if the reporting doesn't improve, I'll stop listening to radio, just as I've pretty much stopped watching TV.  
A news organization would have reported (4.00 / 2)
that Andy Smith's polls showed Carol losing in 2006 and 2008.

Andy wasn't likely to bring that up. It would have take a, what's the word, reporter.

She just sailed right in... (4.00 / 1)
Moments like these, it's worth clicking back to how hard a climb it was for Carol, and against all odds.

There are two videos in that as well.

birch, finch, beech

NPR Helps Andy Smith Trot Out CSP "Fluke" Meme Again | 12 comments

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