Shocker: Historians who Donated to Obama Don't Like Palin

I'm putting this up for Slublog who is having some access issues. Here's his post:

Never saw that coming.

So unconventional was McCain's choice that it left students of the presidency literally "stunned," in the words of Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. "Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with the normal criteria for determining who's of presidential caliber," said Goldstein.

...

Palin, on the other hand, is a total "wild card," said Stanford historian David Kennedy.

GOLDSTEIN, JOEL
SAINT LOUIS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW
6/16/08
$250 Obama, Barack (D)

KENNEDY, DAVID M
STANFORD UNIVERSITY/PROFESSOR
4/20/07
$2,300 Obama, Barack (D)

Five minutes on OpenSecrets netted me that information. Fred Barbash and David Mark, the reporters for this article, couldn't be bothered to do the same? Let's just say it doesn't come as much of a surprise that two guys who donated to the ticket running against McCain and Palin aren't all that impressed with her. A simple line providing information about their donations would allow the reader to put their comments into some context.

I have no problem quoting liberal scholars who may disagree with the policies of a particular president. Quoting scholars who have actually donated to the candidate this sort of criticism helps, though, is just journalistic malpractice. Either find scholars that didn't donate to the candidate, or be upfront about their donations.

posted by DrewM. at 03:51 PM

| Access Comments