Doublethink in Politics

Yesterday, the Charlottesville Daily Progress posted a letter to the editor online criticizing independent candidate Jeffrey Clark. That's all well and good, but the letter started off with:

Congressional candidate Jeffery Clark and his campaign strategist Chris LaCivita are either absurdly uninformed or confirmed egomaniacs, or both. Or maybe just incredibly naive.

There's a clear problem here. Chris LaCivita isn't Clark's campaign strategist. He's Hurt's. This person, a Hurt supporter who is opposed to Clark, is so stupid he doesn't even know that LaCivita is the strategist for his guy, not Clark! Walter F. Johnson of Albemarle County, #FAIL!

But the problem is that the Daily Progress published the letter anyway. This is at least the second time so far this year that the Daily Progress has published a letter that was either critical of Perriello or Clark that didn't get its facts straights. A few months ago they published a letter claiming that the health care bill exempted members and their staff (it doesn't!) and was passed using the "deeming" method (it wasn't in the end!).

This isn't just picking on the Daily Progress. The Danville Register & Bee has had problems with reality too, such as claiming that Perriello would win easily if Goode ran as a third party candidate this year despite a poll showing him tied with Perriello even if Hurt was still in the race.

Why can't these Media General newspapers show even a basic level of competence?

The Daily Progress has corrected the letter to the editor online, but it didn't post a disclaimer or correction. And it begs the question as to who is checking these letters in the first place.

Just a few days ago, Bruce at Southside Central said that Robert Hurt's campaign "immediately" backtracked from Hurt's statement that he would debate Clark. That was entirely wrong and, after I noted reality, Bruce corrected himself and published an explanation. He was wrong, but after being corrected he not only fixed the mistake but did so in a way that kept public the fact that he was originally wrong. Good man!

The problem seems to be that these "mainstream" newspapers don't want to admit that they were wrong. They are like minions in 1984 going back to "correct" the past with no admission that an error was made.

This Orwellian approach to politics is being replicated by many Hurt supporters online. For example, I notice that Garrett Watson is angry that Jeffrey Clark supports a federal amendment to ban gay marriage. That's a fine position to take, but back in 2008 Virgil Goode attacked Perriello for supporting gay marriage because Perriello opposes a federal amendment for the very same reasons Garrett outlined! Will Garrett bash Hurt when the coming attacks on Perriello's stance on gay marriage hit?

Elsewhere, a Hurt supporter has been claiming that Hurt polls very well against Perriello and we know Perriello is in trouble because he hasn't released a poll he conducted a few weeks back. That's a fine claim to make, but we also know that Hurt conducted a poll a few weeks back too! Hurt has the same polling firm as Rigell in the 2nd, where Rigell is showing a commanding lead against Glenn Nye. Why hasn't Hurt released his poll? How far behind is Hurt?

It's obvious that Perriello should be polling under 50%, which is a sign of vulnerability for an incumbent. No matter how far ahead of Hurt he won't release a poll showing him under 50%. But Hurt should be willing to release any poll that shows him tied or ahead of Perriello. He could even use the margin of error to argue that he's tied even if he's behind a little bit. My only conclusion is that Hurt's own polling shows him significantly behind Perriello. That's just a fact and any Hurt supporter who claims otherwise is full of hot air.