I was reading through my Twitter feed this morning and stumbled across this piece in Mother Jones by Bryan Schatz.
It struck me because it used a tactic typically used by Democrats against Republicans (Candidate did not show up to town hall) against an entire field of Democratic challengers in CA-49, and singled out one candidate in particular, Doug Applegate.
(Hmm, who does this article benefit? Hmm, who does it hurt?)
In particular, I was struck by the one-sided tone of the piece and this paragraph in particular:
That was one of the questions fired at Democratic candidate Doug Applegate—a trial attorney and retired Marine colonel running for Republican Rep. Darrell Issa’s House seat in California’s 49th District—at a political event held in San Diego County on Friday night. Hundreds of people had packed the Ocean Hills Clubhouse in Oceanside, California, filling up the main room and spilling into crowded overflow areas. More than a thousand others were watching on Facebook Live. They were in attendance to hear answers from the five Democratic candidates campaigning for their votes. But the question was met with silence. Applegate, one of the front-runners ahead of the June primary, was not on the stage. He decided to go to a bar instead.
???
Doug Applegate skipped a candidate forum to go to a bar?
I’m shocked.
Context?
I read further and followed the link.
Hmm. It seems the Applegate campaign (and the other candidates) had an issue with some aspects of the event conducted by the PAC Flip the 49th, and chose to host their own campaign event at a Brew Pub instead, at the last minute.
That’s quite different.
I scratched my head.
Is this Mother Jones? I’ve been citing them for years.
If there was something about Doug Applegate’s politics we needed to know about, I am guessing Mother Jones would choose to report about, you know, Doug Applegate’s politics.
Instead, I’m reading click bait on Twitter implying that the leading Democratic candidate in a must-win House race is skipping candidate forums to go to a bar!
So, I wrote the article’s author, Bryan Schatz, and asked for an on the record comment.
Schatz wrote back:
According to Applegate’s own Facebook page—which I link to in the sentence you find problematic—that is what he did. That is, unless there is a major distinction between a pub and a bar that I overlooked.
Talk about missing the point.
What you overlooked is fair reporting.
I responded by asking Schatz if he’d ever worked on a political campaign. (I have, and hosting events at Brew Pubs is about as common a campaign event these days as a parade or a picnic.)
He did not reply.
I’ll leave you to make up your own mind about this. And maybe someone from CA-49 can elucidate us all about why the Flip the 49th event was attended by only one Democratic candidate.
However, I can tell you this.
Mother Jones just went down a notch in my book.
I am trying to imagine how an editor approved this piece and can’t see it.
Given the good work Mother Jones has done and their importance to the progressive movement, that’s a shame.
And yeah, I’m calling out this relatively minor article because I’m sick and tired of scorched earth, attack politics inside the progressive tent, whatever the source.
Candidate holds an event at a Brew Pub and you report that he “went to a bar?”
C’mon now!
When Applegate wins the primary we all know who is going to be citing this article...and with zero context.
Do better, Democrats, or we will lose this opportunity to win the House and have no one to blame but ourselves.