johncombestblog.com

Houston, Missouri, August 2005:

“The rural setting of this morning’s announcement seems to be aimed at shoring up one of McCaskill’s weak spots — support in outstate Missouri.” — Columbia Daily Tribune, August 30, 2005

Houston, Missouri, September 2006:

McCaskill announcement photo and newspaper quote from ClaireOnline.com.

For more on the Jim Talent - Claire McCaskill U.S. Senate race — including the San Francisco Chronicle article that mentions this building — visit http://www.johncombest.com.

Comments to john {at} johncombestblog {dot} com. E-mail rules here.

I wish it was not the weekend already, this clip is not funny, and you should feel guilty for laughing.

With this, it’s official: the act of complaining about media bias has officially jumped the shark.

A decade ago, Rush Limbaugh helped point out the most egregious examples of liberal media bias. Ten years, the Internet, and Fox News later, our vastly expanded options for information mean we don’t have as much of a reason to complain as we used to.

There’s a difference between documenting specific examples of national media bias, like the good folks at Media Research Center do, and constantly blaming the media for reporting our mistakes, like too many Missouri Republicans do.

Hopefully, the next six weeks (and the next two years) will see groups like the Dunklin County Democratic Women complain about the vast right-wing media conspiracy over their games of canasta, and see Republican leaders stop whining about the “liberal spin” and start using other outlets — namely, the Internet — to deliver their message directly to opinion leaders and voters.

Comments to john {at} johncombestblog {dot} com. E-mail rules here.

Judging by your computer letters, the LegiStorm congressional salary database will quickly become one of the most popular sites on the Internets.

Three groups of people will make the site an institution:

1.) Angry taxpayers. Most voters think that a six-figure salary for a government employee is high, even though most staffers would make considerably more than their current income if they moved to the private sector.

2.) Envious congressional staffers. Since I used to be one, I can say the following with the utmost confidence: Your friendly neighborhood congressional staffer is smarter than their boss, works harder than everyone else in their office, and is the only one around here who has any idea what the hell is going on. Just ask them, and they’ll tell you.

3.) Bloggers. Before I acquired my current reputation for doing the opposite of what pushy politicos “suggest” (some time around early 2002), I too received a constant barrage of whiny e-mails from chiefs of staff and spokespeople (Republicans, all) complaining that I wasn’t doing enough to help promote their boss. I don’t have to deal with that attitude much anymore, but I know bloggers who do. Here’s a clue: If you get paid to promote a message — and judging by the LegiStorm database, you’re being paid pretty well — and a blogger helps spread that message to a larger audience than you would have reached on your own, the first words out of your mouth to the blogger should be “thank you.”

Comments to john {at} johncombestblog {dot} com. E-mail rules here.