Star Tribune misses teabagging candidate's Republican affiliation yet again

In an article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune puffing the Republican Party of Minnesota's claims of their impending conquest of the known universe in November, I read the following passage:

Tea Party leader Boss is more blunt.

"I think the Republicans are [having] a false sense of security if they feel that they automatically have the Tea Party vote in their pocket," Boss fumed. Many Tea Party members, she said, have not forgotten that the Wall Street bailout began with President Bush, a Republican.

Chuck Bradford, who handled media relations for the Tea Party last year in Rochester, is now running as a Republican for the Legislature. Largely because of that, he talks like a man who must step gingerly. "I believe that the Tea Party does have a lot of similar values with the Republican Party," he said, delicately.

How lovely that the Star Tribune reports that suddenly Bradford is cautiously entering the Republican fold. For myself, I'd like to see staff writer Mike Kaszuba develop rudimentary skills in using Google search. Yes, there is reliable information about Chuck Bradford outside of the Strib's morgue.

In fact, when Mr. Bradford first announced his intention back in mid-December to seek Randy Demmer's seat (Demmer having made the decision yet again to seek the GOP endorsement for the chance to run against Congressman Walz), I conducted a Google search myself about Mr. Bradford's political history. Here's what I came up with:

Chairman of the Dodge County Republicans and Deputy Chair of the 1^st Congressional District Republicans,* Bradford is part of the Seifert for Governor SE Minnesota Leadership Team. A freshman Mantorville city council member, computer programmer, and Lions Club member, Bradford handled publicity for the first Rochester Tea Party rally in April, according to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

One might forgive the readers of the Star Tribune if they conclude that suddenly the Republican party in Southern Minnesota has recruited a convert. For myself, I can only hope that the paper's budget is not so cash strapped that it cannot engaged in the barest fact checking that a personal blogger such as myself can manage.

Just as curious: that the article --focused as it is on the angle of a Republican takeover of the Minnesota House and Senate--doesn't say that Republican party official Bradford is running for Demmer's seat. Instead, Kaszuba tells his readers that Bradford is running "for the Legislature," rather than for a seat held by the Republican party for many years.

What a gain.

*Link added for this post.

Comments

[Grace Kelly]

I always love your relentless logic!