The Washington Post knows how to bury the news it doesn’t like. On Saturday, they began one this way: “Health-insurance plans of as many as 250,000 Virginians will be canceled in January because the policies do not meet the standards set by the Affordable Care Act, a development that Republican Ed Gillespie hopes will boost his prospects as he tries to unseat Sen. Mark R. Warner.”
The shamelessly partisan Post wants to publicize nothing that helps Gillespie. This story appeared on page B-4. So which Gillespie story has appeared on Page 1? It came on September 3 with this headline: “Va. underdog Gillespie may have his eye on next race.” He was deemed a loser: “And just like other operatives who ran as long-shot aspirants, Gillespie has much to gain even if he loses in November.”
Even the news that Gillespie’s down 22 points to Warner was put on page B4. The headline noticed “Republican Gillespie still struggles with name ID in his quest to deprive Warner of a second term in Senate.”
That’s exactly why the Post is running most of Mark Warner’s re-election coverage on page B-4 – except the one guessing Gillespie’s already looking beyond this first loss.
Laura Vozzella’s Saturday story on the “Affordable Care Act” – notice they keep using that title, even after the Obamacare hardships? – barely mentions Gillespie for two paragraphs (the third and fourth) and then turns to all the Democratic finagling to fix the mess for most of the rest of the story.
Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and lobbyist, rolled out a series of statements, headlining one of them "250,000 broken promises." His campaign also touted the number as it unveiled a TV ad with video of Warner promising in 2009 that he would not support a health-care law that takes away policies that people already had and liked.
"Because Mark Warner worked to pass Obamacare, 250,000 Virginians are losing the health insurance they liked, with thousands getting hit with huge out-of-pocket cost increases while unable to see the doctors they trust," Gillespie said in a prepared statement.
