It’s easy for people to make lists. And the internet loves lists.
Unfortunately, when journalists do it – and call it analysis – the public is cheated.
Such is the case of extreme laziness and misinformation from the Puget Sound Business Journal (PSBJ) and reporter Ashley Stewart, who in a piece today claims to have “analyzed” data from the state’s Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) to determine the top donors to Governor Jay Inslee’s re-election campaign.
A casual reader of the piece – which was also being read on news radio this morning like it was real journalism – would think that Inslee is a business-friendly candidate based on the PSBJ’s faulty “analysis,” and the highlighting of “at least 40 prominent business leaders” who have given Inslee campaign cash. And the reporter couldn’t even get her facts right, suggesting that the business leaders were among the 330 people who “gave the state’s $2,000 maximum individual contribution to Inslee’s campaign.”
But hey, who can blame the reporter, since she put together a nice internet slide show with 43 graphics to show how much “analysis” she did!
(Heavy sigh).
In reality, anyone paying attention to state politics would know the maximum individual contribution limit to a statewide candidate is $4,000 – or $2,000 for both the primary and general election. In fact, it says that on the PDC web site. And a quick count (not analysis), shows Inslee has 53 such “maxed-out donors” (at least those who contributed $2,000 each time), and only 37 of them are individuals.
And virtually none of them are on the PSBJ’s slide show, since the vast majority of “business leaders” listed there only gave one maximum donation, not the two allowed under the law. No use throwing good money after bad, evidently.
Of course, one “business leader” who did make the PSBJ slide show was retired California hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer who, along with his wife Katherine Taylor, gave $8,000 total. And, if the reporter had done some actual “analysis”, she would have realized that Steyer has given far more – in the millions of dollars – to Inslee’s favorite cause of electing a Democrat State Senate so he can raise taxes.
And that is indicative of the sad fact that what’s even worse than the reporter’s laziness is her bias. A quick review (using the PDC’s “Search database” function) of Inslee’s campaign finances indicates one donor is far and away his biggest benefactor – the Washington State Democrat Party, which occupies the top 13 positions on Inslee’s cash donor list, giving a total of $1.775 million. Additionally, the Democrat Party occupies the top 15 spots on Inslee’s in-kind donor list, for another $407,000 dollars of support.
But to follow that line of analysis, the reporter would then have had to look at who gave big money to the State Democrat Party so that it could afford to launder over $2 million dollars through to Inslee’s campaign. And a review of that list shows that over $1 million of the Democrat Party’s money comes from 15 individuals contributing between $25,000 and $250,000, including such names as former NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ($248k), Tom Steyer (there he is again, at $150k), minimum wage-raiser Nicolas Hanauer ($50k), and noted liberal philanthropist Harriett Bullitt ($50k).
And, if the reporter really wanted to do some analysis on who is betting big on Inslee this campaign season, she would have done what other reporters have, and looked at the SuperPAC that is supporting Inslee’s re-election by spending over $677,000 attacking his Republican opponent Bill Bryant. That SuperPAC, Our Washington, has been featured in Shift (the latest one is here), and it doesn’t take long to determine its top donors, since it only has seven of them – the SEIU State Council and two locals ($459k), WA Federation of State Employees ($250k), WA Conservation Voters ($150k), the state Trial Lawyers Association ($175k), and the Democrat Governors Association ($325k).
But listing a few unions and trial lawyers wouldn’t have looked as good on an internet slide show, so the reporter skipped that “analysis.” Much easier to say that business donors are fueling Inslee’s campaign.
And much more inaccurate.
That’s odd — I thought donations to this race were markedly down from four years ago: “Donors on both sides still seem worn out from the 2012 race, when over $50 million was spent between Rob McKenna, Jay Inslee, and their allies.”
Or is it just the typical donors to Republican candidates who’ve looked at their party’s gubernatorial candidate and decided not to throw good money after bad?
“Donations” to Washington state campaigns are never down from carpetbaggers like Michael Bloomberg (D) New York and Tom Steyer (D) California, as long as you have the right letter (D) after your name. They’re just the typical out-of-state donors to Democrat candidates (D) looking to buy an election in Washington (D)
I just read through the article again. Did anyone donate to the Bryant campaign?
Did any out-of-state carpetbagger (D) donate to the Bryant campaign? Probably not. That’s all for you Democrats that rely on big money out-of-state donors (D) to spread the lies far and wide so you gullible sheep (D) can eat them up and want more. That’s all you have going for you. Then on election night it’s back to the same-old, same-old of failures, malfeasance and blaming others (D). Just like it’s been for a generation.
I’ll take that as a, “no”, then.
(Given the original article noted Bryant had received 1/3 the donations Inslee had, it’s not really worth discussing anyway…)
We’ll take you as a “moron”, then.
If I was a Democrat like you, I wouldn’t want to discuss the fact that given that Greenie has raised 3 times the funds and benefits from attack ads put out by shadowy groups “unconnected” to his campaign (that Democrat liars naturally haven’t seen, not even once. What’d they say?), he should be up 60-70 points. The difference must be because he’s an ineffective dolt who has no real record to run on, save for taking credit for others accomplishments.
… from attack ads put out by shadowy groups “unconnected” to his campaign …
Which is funnier: that you wrote this here at Shift, or that you wrote it about someone other than Shift? (Must we choose?)
Putting it another way, does Shift’s chronic refusal to admit who owns it, or who writes the front-page posts, make it a “shadowy” group?
Keep on attacking only those you’re told to attack, and whatever you do, pay no attention to the man behind Shift’s curtain.
Thanks for the laughs.
It appears the only political advertising you ever see at all, and apparently more than once, comes from anonymous Shift. You never seem to need to ask, “Shift had a political ad? What’d it say?” You should broaden your horizons. Get out of Mom’s basement once in a while.
I’m glad morons (D) are so easily amused. It keeps you from dealing with heavy subjects, like why isn’t Greenie up by 60-70 points, given his massive fund-raising advantage?
It appears the only political advertising you ever see at all, and apparently more than once, comes from anonymous Shift.
Shift is political advertising?!? And here I thought it was a public service, to shift the debate in Olympia!! Are you claiming this site lied to us readers?!? Doubleplus unpossible!! 😀
Tensor are you still trolling this website!? I was hoping that you found a job or a hobby? Anyways… We don’t need to hear your two cents. I’m really sorry if your feelings were hurt last Tuesday. Maybe you, mayor Blumpkin, and Kashilla should move to the great state of Ohio! I’m sure my people would love to hear what you fools have to say! Until then reap it. I know that you pissed your pants suit last Tuesday, but if you need a lift to the heart of it all, I will gladly take you there.
If you reside in Ohio, why are you so bitterly critical of decisions made by us voters here in Seattle? Why do we need to hear your two cents? Why would we care to hear what your people (?) have to say about our elected officials?
… trolling this website? … a hobby?
Not big on awareness, eh? Well, I won’t blame “your people” in the great state of Ohio for that.