This morning the National Review's Eliana Johnson published jaw-dropping scoop about a Democratic strategy memo for Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Nunn, daughter of the former Peach State Democrat Sam Nunn. Among other juicy tidbits, Johnson relayed how "The campaign’s finance plan draws attention to the 'tremendous financial opportunity' in the Jewish community and identifies Jews as key fundraisers. It notes, however, that 'Michelle’s position on Israel will largely determine the level of support here.'"
So surely MSNBC's consummate political junkie Chris Matthews devoted significant attention to the development on tonight's Hardball, right? Not a chance, and this despite him devoting a full segment to handicapping the 2014 Senate races with Nia-Malika Henderson of the Washington Post and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report.
As Johnson makes clear, the memo is blunt and "incredibly unguarded," laying bare the negative narratives that Nunn -- who mostly grew up as a senator's daughter in the D.C. suburb of Bethesda, Md. -- would have to overcome in order to win over the public's trust and secure a rare senatorial win for a Democrat in a red Southern state.
But, of course, as the leaked Nunn memo lays out, Democratic strategists plotting Nunn's campaign found the liberal media to be among the least of their worries (emphasis mine):
Her strategists are optimistic that the media won’t prove much of an obstacle. They write that at some point her opponent, who at the time the document was written had yet to be determined, will be “shoveling research” against her. But they say they anticipate they will often have “fair warning” about negative news stories and can work to “kill or muddy” them.
“I would love to know what kind of already-formed relationships they have in Atlanta and even in the national media that they’re planning on using as sources and conduits of information,” Swint says. “It’s certainly interesting to see it in writing like that.”
To read Johnson's full story, click here.
