In the post just below, I described how, in last night’s Pennsylvania primary, liberal Democrats defeated two moderate incumbents – Jason Altmire and Tim Holden – both of whom voted against Obamacare. I noted that when conservatives engage in this type of voting, Democrats and their pals in the mainstream media characterize it as ruinous extremism or, in the case of David Axelrod, terrorism.
With this in mind, consider the Washington Post’s treatment of these primary results. The headline in the print edition is “Pa. Democrats face fallout from losses in 2010” (online, the Post opts for the more vanilla “Rep. Mark Critz defeats Rep. Jason Altmire in Democratic primary in Pennsylvania”). The print edition headline refers to the fact that, as a result of the Democrats losing the State legislature, and of the State losing one congressional seat) districts were redrawn to force two incumbents, Altmire and Mark Critz, into one district.
But the real unifying theme of the two races is the defeat of two moderate Democrats by the Party’s electorate. The fallout is less from losses in 2010 than from the votes that year by Altmire and Holden against Obamacare. These votes go unmentioned in the Post’s story.
Does anyone doubt that if the Pennsylvania Republicans had just “purged” two moderate incumbent House members, the Post would be trumpeting the results as yet more evidence that the GOP is being held hostage by right-wing zealots?
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