Dumpster Diving

Supreme Court fundraising gets ugly:

A nine-pound stack of photocopies of garbage-picked documents was delivered anonymously to the Post-Dispatch and other media Tuesday, in an effort to prove Republicans are skirting campaign rules to raise money in the race. The documents include hundreds of e-mail printouts, campaign letters, restaurant employee time sheets, old phone bills and discarded envelopes – all apparently fished from trash cans.

Here I’ll take issue with how the problem is presented. First, there appears to be a violation. Isn’t that the first news that should be reported? Now, if it is simply writing thank you notes, it’s a violation and not a huge deal–a slap on the wrist and don’t do it again. But it is a violation and Luechtefeld admits it. Start with the lede.

Now, the gathering bit is important but in the context of this story it is secondary. It would be a great story on how campaigning is especially ugly or in a story on how partisanship is affecting elected judges, but to make it the focus of the story when there is a violation is a strange choice.

The other thing that would add context is a discussion of who might be doing the dumpster diving. It wouldn’t be Maag–unless he was really stupid. It would be someone who has an interest in getting Maag elected.

One of the bizarre parts of the Ryan custody papers is that another campaign brought it to light or went public–usually some nebulous organization or character does it so the campaign can keep above the fray. Explaining that process would be more interesting than quoting Maag other than to point out he denies involvement.