If a Republican announced a run for the U.S. Senate but was recently in the news for treating their employees horribly, what would be the chance of Politico skipping any mention of that scandal in stories about their Senate bid? Perhaps somewhere between nil and none.
However, with the magic "D" by the name of such a candidate, there is a very good chance Politico would go mum on the scandal; which is exactly what happened when that political periodical published consecutive stories of Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) first pondering and then announcing that she would be running in 2024 for the Senate seat currently held by Dianne Feinstein.
Kevin Tober on January 2 revealed how the media has remained resolutely mum on the Porter employee scandal despite its nastiness.
VIBE CHECK: Rep. Katie Porter fires staffer after both test positive for COVID. Full texts from the Congresswoman firing the staffer via text. Shared with permission from staffer. pic.twitter.com/jbhn2NzrmB
— Dear White Staffers (@DWS________) December 29, 2022
Despite that tweet exposing Porter's poor employee relations receiving over three million views, Politico plowed ahead with its stories about Porter while ignoring the elephant in the room starting on Friday with the team of Burgess Everett, Sarah Ferris, and Holly Otterbein reporting that "Katie Porter weighs Senate bid launch as Feinstein stays mum."
Rep. Katie Porter is weighing a campaign launch for Sen. Dianne Feinstein‘s seat — potentially even before her veteran Democratic colleague announces her plans for 2024.
Fresh off a bruising battleground reelection win, the third-term Porter is now considering a bid for what is likely to be an open Senate seat in deep-blue California as a next step, according to five Democrats familiar with her plans. Feinstein is widely expected to retire after her current term, but she isn’t making any firm moves yet ahead of what’s expected to be an official announcement within the next couple months.
Not only is the Porter employee scandal also conveniently forgotten in the rest of the article but it even includes this upbeat observation:
Porter is among the best-positioned Democrats for the race. A prolific fundraiser, she had $7.7 million on hand as of the end of 2022 and raised $25 million the last cycle, a number that suggests she can run an effective Senate race.
The Tuesday Politico article by Kelly Hooper announcing the launch of Porter's Senate campaign follows the same whitewash pattern, "Katie Porter launches Senate campaign for Feinstein’s seat."
Rep. Katie Porter on Tuesday launched her 2024 campaign for Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s seat — even though the Democratic incumbent hasn’t yet announced her widely expected plans to retire.
...POLITICO reported on Friday that she was weighing a campaign launch for the seat before Feinstein announces her plans to retire — which is expected in the next couple of months. Porter has now gotten her campaign launch out ahead of other Democrats who are likely to vie for the seat should it open, including California Reps. Barbara Lee and Adam Schiff.
But Politico also failed to report on Friday, as well as on Tuesday, about the Porter scandal that dares not speak its name on their site.
An oatmeal cookie to the first Politico reporter who dares mention the taboo scandal.
