FBI Whistleblower Runs for Congress

The Washington Post ran an article from the Associated Press on Friday, November 11, 2005 on Coleen Rowley's run for Congress. After reading through the article, I had to (again) ask myself, "What liberal media?" I wish the reporter, Patrick Condon, had used the opportunity to report on more of the issues Coleen Rowley has identified as important. He could have asked her why she has decided to run against an incumbent in a right-leaning district. He could have reported that she was hard at work on a very grassroots campaign--you know, the kind of campaign the voters all say they want to see.

Unfortunately, the reporter chose to include only three short quotes concerning Coleen's views about the Iraq war. Most of the article was spent dissecting her campaign and giving voice to pundits, critics, and Republicans. Instead of lauding Coleen's decision to run her campaign on a shoe-string budget, it was pointed out that she had raised only a third of the amount of money that John Kline raised during the same time period. Hello? Coleen is running as a Democrat against a Republican incumbent!

Had Patrick Condon really been interested in learning about Coleen, he would have found that she is far from being a one-issue candidate--even though it was most certainly Bush's war that made her decide to throw her hat into the political ring. He would have discovered that Coleen is a champion of ethics. He would have written that she is someone with a national voice who is ready, willing and able to put ethics above politics. He would have realized she does have a clear message that resonates with voters. And if he would have interviewed any of her supporters, he would have included in his story that Coleen Rowley is not just their candidate of choice; but that, to them, Coleen is a hero.