Topic: Newsmax
An April 1 Newsmax article by Jim Meyers uncritically repeats Dick Morris' contention that Republican Jim Tedisco made "a teriffic showing" in the essentially tied New York special congressional election against Democrat Scott Murphy:
“This is a seat held by a Democratic congresswoman in one of the bluest of the blue states, 70 days after a president was overwhelmingly elected who’s a Democrat.
“Let’s remember that 57 percent still approve of what Obama is doing, and the fact that Tedisco came so close that the absentee ballots might put him over the top I think was an extraordinary showing…
At no point does Meyers or Morris mention the fact that a month before the election, Tedisco held an double-digit lead in polling -- a lead that was completely erased by Election Day -- let alone explain how that happened. Nor do they mention that registered Republicans heavily outnumber registered Democrats.
Meyers also wrote that, according to Morris, Tuesday’s result shows that President Barack Obama is already "in trouble": "But the issue is not why didn’t the Republican win, but why didn’t the Democrat win by a lot."
This is surprisingly shot down by Newsmax reporter David Patten, who himself has been caught spinning the Tedisco-Murphy race. In an April 2 article, Patten quotes political analyst Larry Sabato:
Weary of pundits claiming the election would have great symbolic importance for the Obama administration, Sabato added, “In a way, I’m glad it’s a dead heat. Special elections like this one are given entirely too much prominence. In isolation, and so far from a general election, they really don’t tell us much, or anything, of lasting importance.”
Patten, however, didn't highlight Morris' previous remarks declaring that the closeness of the race meant that Obama was "in trouble."
