The headline at Thomas Beaumont's Sunday item about the possible significance of the Scott Walker recall election in Wisconsin is "Few November clues to be found in Wisconsin recall."
Maybe, but I have a definite clue as to Beaumont's political proclivities, something which I shouldn't be able to glean from a wire service report, thanks to the paragraph which follows the jump. Let's see if readers can pick up that clue:
But despite a generation-long favor toward Democrats, Wisconsin has become a closely watched battleground. George W. Bush lost the state by less than a percentage point in 2000 and 2004, and in 2010 voters picked Walker as they also booted longtime Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold from office in favor of a political novice backed by the tea party.
So what's the clue?
It is that Mr. Beaumont wouldn't name the person who defeated Feingold. He has a name, Tom. It's Ron Johnson. He's a sitting United States Senator. One of only 100. Shame on you for failing, deliberately or not (my vote is that it was a deliberate omission) to do what should have been obvious.
The following, from an April 1 item by Beaumont, may give us a hint as to why Beaumont felt that it would be a good idea to leave Johnson's name out of his coverage:
"We have a team of stars in Wisconsin the rest of the country is just learning about," said New Berlin Republican activist Pat Reinke, who attended the Romney rally. "Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, Ron Johnson, they are all gems."
Uh oh. Ron Johnson, like Ryan and Walker, might become a political star.
Excuse me for believing it likely, absent contrary evidence, that Beaumont's reaction since then has been: "We can't have that."
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
