African-American Former Congressman Artur Davis's Switch from Dems to GOP Not News at NYT, AP's National Site
Artur who? The seems to be the question at the New York Times and the national site of the Associated Press. Searches on former Congressman Artur Davis (in quotes at the Times, not in quotes at AP) return nothing relevant and nothing, respectively, even though Davis appears to be the only African-American current or former congressman to leave the Democratic Part and become a Republican in decades. As noted yesterday (at NewsBusters; at BizzyBlog), the AP treated the story as a local item yesterday, and the Washington Post carried the AP's story in its Metro local section.
It appears that the two entities might be using the old "Well, Politico covered it, so we don't have to" excuse. On Tuesday of last week, the online publication filed a story reporting rumors that Davis was changing parties. Two days ago (updated yesterday), Alex Eisenstadt made it appear as if anger and not political philosophy largely drove Davis to switch:
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Artur Davis switches parties
Former Alabama Rep. Artur Davis announced Tuesday that he’s cutting ties with the Democratic Party, and said that he’s considering a future bid for Congress as a Republican.
Davis, who for a time had been considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, wrote a message on his website confirming that he is switching parties.
“[I]f I were to leave the sidelines, it would be as a member of the Republican Party that is fighting the drift in this country in a way that comes closest to my way of thinking: wearing a Democratic label no longer matches what I know about my country and its possibilities,” Davis wrote.
The former congressman said he was thinking about waging a comeback bid in Virginia, where he currently lives. Since leaving office in 2011, Davis has been working at a Washington law firm.
The announcement marks a dramatic turnabout for Davis, a Harvard-educated lawyer who had once been mentioned as a potential attorney general after Democrats won the White House in 2008. The ambitious Davis, who is black, routinely drew comparisons to Barack Obama.
But after Davis suffered a stinging defeat in the Democratic primary for Alabama governor in 2010, he turned sharply against his party. Much to the chagrin of party leaders, Davis refused to endorse the candidate who defeated him, Ron Sparks, and openly criticized his foe.
Note how the headline doesn't identify which party Davis leaving and the one to which he is switching. The headline also fails to tag Davis as anyone whose party switch would be considered important (how about "former four-term congressman," guys?). For all most readers probably know, Davis is just some local low-level politician.
Predictably, Isenstadt's story failed to note that Davis was a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, was the only member of that caucus to vote against ObamaCare, and that he was Obama's 2008 presidential campaign co-chair.
If anyone knows the last time this happened, please let everyone else know, because I believe it's possible that it never has. In other words, it should be national news in the establishment press by any reasonable definition, and isn't. Imagine how much attention a Republican at this level deciding to become a Democrat would get.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
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Comments
Its because...
Submitted by GeneralAl on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 5:33am.
It doesn't get attention because in the mind of the MSM, intelligent blacks never question, let alone leave, their loving Communist , oops, Democrat Party!
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away"!
Its because...
Submitted by GeneralAl on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 5:33am.
It doesn't get attention because in the mind of the MSM, intelligent blacks never question, let alone leave, their loving Communist , oops, Democrat Party!
"Old Soldiers never die, they just fade away"!
Maybe they REALLY don't know how to write a story
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 7:25am.
I'm kind of surprised they aren't covering this, of course, in a negative way.
"African-American Betrays His Race and Party, Obama Deeply Disappointed" kind of thing.
Wait for it.
Submitted by HeavyChevy on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 8:12am.
Especially once that punk Toure from Time (or Newsweek I really don't care) get his grimy little hands on it.
The MSM is practicing the
Submitted by celator on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 7:44am.
The MSM is practicing the technique of shunning, used by cults against former members who leave the compound.
Mixed emotions about Artur Davis.
Submitted by BoilerFan on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 7:48am.
While I'm glad Mr. Davis has decided to switch his party affiliation, I'm extremely suspicious of anybody making the switch after spending the entire 2008 campaign strongly supporting Barry's campaign. Those of us on the right tried to warn those closer to the middle of the political spectrum--people, evidently, like Davis--who believed that Barry would magically bring people together and govern from the middle. We looked closely at his life history (at least, at the elements of his record that haven't been sealed away from public view), his voting record, his speeches and comments and his radical associations and easily came to the conclusion that, if elected (in 2008) he'd clearly govern from the left. There were absolutely no clues at all that suggested moderation or something approaching the type of centrism Davis was expecting. (My guess is that Davis, like so many other black Americans, was so caught up in the emotional and historic nature of the Obama campaign that he was oblivious to any pieces of evidence that suggested Obama was NOT who he was claiming to be.)
If Mr. Davis is merely a going to be another RINO type of Republican, then he'll never enjoy any electoral success as a Republican. The only way I can see him being embraced with any degree of enthusiasm by rank-and-file conservative Republicans is if he gives even more details about precisely how wrong he was in remaining a Democrat for the bulk of his adult life, and for supporting idiots like Barack Obama. If he acknowledges the damage done to our nation by the ideas of liberalism/progressivism, he'll have a chance. If he ackowledges the benefits offered by philosophical conservatism, as a way of getting us back on the right path again, he might enjoy some degree of success. Time will tell.
Seriously....
Submitted by KornKing on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 9:28am.
Maybe he's evolving
Davis didn't receive the same treatment as Specter
Submitted by BoilerFan on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 8:04am.
When, in 2009, Arlen Specter left the GOP and announced that he'd be caucusing with the Democrats in the Senate, he was hailed by the MSM for being courageous and for standing up for his convictions and principles. But with Davis' decision, the few comments I've seen in the MSM have suggested that he's simply doing this for selfish reasons and because of "sour grapes" in the aftermath of his defeat in the Democratic primary for governor of Alabama in 2010.
As usual, it's a pathetically obvious example of the double standard utilized by the MSM whenever it covers anything in the realm of politics.
Davis will be excoriated by the MSM
Submitted by c5then on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 8:37am.
I hope he is prepared for all the slander and liable that is going to come his way, because it will be coming.
Madison and Jefferson and Franklin built a Republic - Roberts killed it!
Can’t comprehend why a Black would leave the Liberal plantation
Submitted by Mr_Priest on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 8:47am.
It all boils down to the Liberal Masters who can’t comprehend why anyone would ever leave their plantation. How dare a Black Person no less, search his conscious and come to his own conclusions and beliefs. Obviously it can’t be because he feels that his party is letting minorities down, so it must be because he’s angry and lashing out at his benevolent protectors. I mean really, this kind of rhetoric should be insulting to blacks or any minorities because it implies that they are inferior and unable to progress. The liberal mind set is emotional. it takes a village, its societies fault, we caused the terrorist to hate us, socialism works better then capitalism etc. The liberal gets caught up in losing the debate on the facts (Mr Davis came to his own conclusions and beliefs, AKA personal responsibility) so they get emotional, (he must be angry) they have no personal responsibility. They can’t control their emotions when confronted with rational and reasoned facts. Therefore they start name calling, blaming anger, they must bring themselves up by tearing others down.
"The trouble with quotes on the internet is you never know if they are genuine" —Abraham Lincoln
Do you really think that the
Submitted by John21 on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 9:09am.
Do you really think that the leading Obama "Public Relations" firms would admit that even parts of the DNC is not terribly supported of their client? Really?
I was in Mr Davis's situation about a decade ago, when I realized the the DNC no longer believed in the values that I did. I quit the party (not as publicly as Mr. Davis) but still believe that the fact of the matter is the party quit me. The lack of values in the party is responsible for the election of Mr. Obama.
The DNC is realizing that this administration is incompetent and that without some major evolutions in the very near future they are going to be the minority party in this government, They are already because Mr. Obama is not a Democrat but a far left liberal Progressive who does not really support the mainstream Democratic agenda, only the liberal agenda.
The party has fallen on very hard times when someone as unqualified as Mr. Obama can not only get elected but is still be supported by the baindead of the party.
“Few men have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder.” George Washington
Keeping all the money too
Submitted by gwalt on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 11:49am.
I believe for th first time in history, a presidential candidate will not be sharing any money raise for campaigning for DNC, DCCC or DSCC. My suspicion since HillClo took SecState is that he will campaign and campaign and collect as much cash as possible and then bail. And if you ask for your money back, you are a racist. George Clooney included.
"A lot of briefing for a 2 hr. special with Dan Rather. Saw the show & wonder why we bothered". Ronald Reagan
..AND....
Submitted by feisty on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 10:12am.
And if a republican switched parties you can bet that the media would be running headlines forecasting the end of the party. Is the Republican Party falling apart?? Does this switch mark an end to the party? Guaranteed.
Good news but when anyone
Submitted by clancie on Fri, 06/01/2012 - 10:15am.
Good news but when anyone finally 'sees the light', but in the world of reality, does the Republican Party really need to 'welcome' a new RINO.