Walker whines about news coverage,but has been treated well by media

Scott Walker, unhappy with the Journal Sentinel, takes a page out of Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke's playbook and e-mails Republican radio host Charlie Sykes:

Charlie,

What's up with the newspaper? Apparently they couldn't find enough room to put in a story about a major plan to stop the automatic increase in the gas tax each April, but they could find room to run a story about two people from Wisconsin escorting Mr. Potato Head in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Now, I think that's kind of cool, but doesn't a major newspaper have some sort of a responsibility to cover an announcement about a major change in the gas tax?

Other places covered the story. Wispolitics.com had this on the website. The transportation lobby put out this release in opposition to repealing the gas tax indexing.

Does anyone think that there is any bias in the media?

- Scott

Yes, Scooter, everyone thinks there is bias in the media. And everyone thinks it is against them.

Maybe you've been spoiled, and never had a news conference where no one showed up, or never issued a news release that someone didn't write about.

I doubt that's the case. Many of your campaign news releases never see the light of day, except on political websites or blogs.

You probably thought this one, calling for an end to the automatic increase in the state gas tax, was a sure-fire gimmick to get a story.

For some reason, the newspaper decided not to write about it. Maybe it's because a number of state legislators already have made the same proposal, and that has been covered. Or maybe it just didn't seem like a big deal. I don't know the paper's rationale, and I am certainly not going to be the paper's apologist.

My point isn't that they were right or wrong in deciding not to cover the story.

It's that candidates for office have that same experience on a daily basis. Most of them don't whine about it; they just move on and try something else the next day.

In my years in politics, I've had more than a little frustration about a campaign's inability to get stories covered. I feel your pain.

In 2004, my candidate (your opponent) for county executive, David Riemer, couldn't get newspaper coverage if he set his hair on fire in the middle of the newsroom. The editors had decided that race wasn't worth covering -- and as the incumbent you benefited greatly from that decision. The newspaper even sat on the story about your own pension scandal -- your failure to keep your promise and get your appointees to sign waivers -- until well after the election.

In the last governor's race, all of the three Democrats running in the primary had to fight for every scrap of coverage they got, while the incumbent, Scott McCallum, made news every time he opened his mouth.

You are just a candidate for the GOP nomination, running in a primary in hopes of becoming the nominee. What you're experiencing may be frustrating, but it's hardly unusual.

And it is hardly evidence of bias. The newspaper mistreats all candidates, not just you.

If I had a dollar for every time a campaign I worked on was unhappy about the way the media ignored a press release, I could retire from running candidate campaigns. (Oh, that's right; I have, and without the dollars, too.)

Finally, you probably should be thankful you didn't get coverage on your proposal to get rid of gas tax indexing, since the story may also have pointed out that it was a flip-flop for you on the issue. When you had a chance in the legislature to vote to end indexing, you voted the other way. But that wasn't in the press release, so I covered it for you.

So, Scooter, some final free advice: Take your lumps on coverage. And when you think you have a legitimate gripe, take it up directly with the media outlet, not your Republican talkers and bloggers. In the long run, that'll pay more dividends.

Nobody likes a whiner.

UPDATE: Dennis York gives the idea full and hilarious coverage in his post, Gas tax fever as told by Larry King.