Mark Begich

In his The Plum Line op-ed on page A19 today, the Washington Post's Greg Sargent saw the presence of "relatively conservative Democrats Mark Begich (Alaska) and Jon Tester (Mont.)" on a letter by Senate Democrats blasting the Komen Foundation for withdrawing grants to Planned Parenthood as "testament to how broad the opposition to this decision has become."

But a few keystrokes on a search engine reveal Sargent's journalistic and intellectual laziness. Both Begich and Tester drew 100% approval ratings for 2011 from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Both senators drew 100% approval ratings in the 2012 Planned Parenthood action guide. Tester has received endorsements from both NARAL and Planned Parenthood and, in a photo I've attached below the page break, is shown smiling widely in a photo taken at the 39th annual NARAL Dinner (via TheHill.com)  held on January 26. Tester is pictured with NARAL president Nancy Keenan (center) and MSNBC contributor Karen Finney (right).

Maybe it was late and a rough night for the Democratic Party that caused this strange line of questioning and it was just the best way MSNBC “Hardball” host Chris Matthews could deal with it.

On MSNBC’s Election Night coverage in the midst of a Republican takeover of the U.S. House of Representatives and with several U.S. Senate races still pending, Matthews deviated from the subject matter and asked Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, about the merits of former GOP vice-presidential nominee and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s 2012 presidential candidacy.

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