Jim VandeHei is a Washington Post reporter who, to his credit, often includes what the CJR Campaign Desk refers to as “real-time” reality checks: assertions such as “this is not true” within a story if the information being given to a reporter is misleading or factually incorrect.
But VandeHei – or perhaps it was Peter Slevin whose byline is also on the story – sometimes takes cheap shots, such as this one in a report about Kerry’s appearance at the Unity convention of minority journalists.
The blue-blooded Democrat from Massachusetts, competing against an equally well-heeled president raised in Connecticut, told Unity he is the candidate who can best connect with minorities in the United States.
“Above all, who is truly committed to bridging the divides in this country that continue to separate, sometimes willfully, intentionally and politically . . . race from race, group from group, region from region?” Kerry asked. “I am also aware — how can you live in America and not be aware? — of the special challenges facing people of color.”
In our history, we’ve had many wealthy presidents; in fact, most of them were. To suggest that somehow such people cannot be sensitive to the needs of minorities is a slur.
The reporters also make a judgment about Kerry’s remarks concerning comedian Bill Cosby’s admonition for minorities to take more personal responsibility.
Kerry measured his words carefully…
“I understand exactly where Bill is coming from in his comment,” Kerry said. “It may be excessively exclusive in the breadth of it, in the sense that it sort of targets just the responsibility side, but that’s an important side.”
Kerry said government and society are to blame, too, for not providing adequate assistance and protections to minorities.
“We also need to do the things we need to do as a society to empower those people, have plans for those kids, to make the world safer,” Kerry said. “It’s all of us together.”
Is it measured because he believes the issue is not simply one of personal responsibility or government inaction? I think most people would agree that both can play a role. And I’d bet they’d say that without measuring their words.