Last night, I noted that the Associated Press had not deigned to consider Republican David Jolly's victory over Democrat Alex Sink in the FL-13 Congressional race a "Top U.S. Story" as of 10:13 p.m. To AP's credit (or perhaps because of yours truly's and others' razzing?), a story about the race was at the Number 6 spot in Top U.S. Stories as of 8:15 this morning.
CNN.com, on the other hand (HT to NewsBusters commenter "Jon"), is clearly playing "hide the story" with the Jolly-Sink race. Its worldwide home page as of 8:38 a.m. had one line item titled "GOP wins year's 1st election showdown" halfway down the page, and a tiny picture in the "Politics" section near the bottom of the page headlined "GOP Scores First 2014 Win." Could they be any more vague? Its U.S. home page as of 7:37 a.m. had no reference to the race at all.
The race is headlined at the top of the Politics home page, but the underlying story by Dana Bash and Deirdre Walsh doesn't mention Obamacare, the race's compelling issue, until the 14th paragraph, and understates its significance:
(Politics home page headline and graphic)
(Story)
Republicans keep House seat in Florida special election
Republican David Jolly won Tuesday's special election in Florida's 13th Congressional District.
He will fill out the term of his former boss, longtime Republican Rep. Bill Young, who died in October.
Jolly defeated Democrat Alex Sink, who conceded the race more than an hour after the polls closed.
The outcome does not change anything for Democrats in their calculus for retaking the House in next November's midterms. They still need to pick up 17 seats.
Political handicappers consider that a tall order, considering the shrinking number of competitive congressional districts nationwide.
... Sink, the former Florida Chief Financial Officer, narrowly lost the 2010 gubernatorial election to Rick Scott.
(Paragraphs 14 and 15)
While the candidates and local matters weighed heavily in the race, Obamacare was also a key issue in the election.
While a contest this far out from the midterms rarely offers a preview of what will actually happen in November, the election was seen by some pundits as a potential bellwether.
There's hardly a pundit out there who didn't see this election as a "potential bellwether," Dana and Deirdre. And you guys should know it, because your network and so many other national establishment press outlets were down there.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
