On Bias
I just posted a comment on Matthew Kaminski’s The Axelrod Method: The ‘change’ president could be in for a rough ride on Capitol Hill (Wall Street Journal, 17 Oct 2008). I’m not sure if it will get accepted, plus I think it’s interesting, so I’m reposting it here. (You should really go read the article first).
The author fails to note that Obama has legislated for six consecutive years. Meanwhile, he spends three paragraphs describing Patrick’s political naivete, suggesting that inexperience led directly to the governor’s difficulties on Beacon Hill.
If Obama does not share the main cause of Patrick’s problems, why would the author tout Patrick’s story as “a useful prism to view the current presidential race”? In terms of relative importance, especially in the context of this article, the mutual selection of Axelrod pales in comparison to the difference in experience.
I hope other readers are not so credulous as to miss this point.
