Peter Schorsch
As I continue to extol how shopping truly is a pleasure at Publix – and why its campaign contributions to Adam Putnam do not warrant a full-scale boycott of the grocery store – the Tampa Bay Times, which first reported about the scope of Publix’s support of Putnam, has published another campaign finance story which, when contrasted with the Publix-Putnam report, demonstrates how the newspaper can put its thumb on the (deli?) scale when it wants to.
Emily Mahoney, of the combined Times/Herald (Herald/Times?) Tallahassee bureau, reports that South Florida toy executive Jay Foreman contacted former U.S. Reps. Patrick Murphy and David Jolly this week with a pledge to back their potential bipartisan bid for Florida governor and lieutenant governor.
“I think it’s a great idea and a great opportunity for Florida, which is a swing state in so many ways, to show the country that this model works,” Foreman said.
Foreman is the CEO of Basic Fun!, a Boca Raton “toy and novelty company.” Foreman, a Democrat, told Mahoney he’s a longtime supporter of Murphy’s and even held a fundraiser for him during one of his runs for Congress.
Now, because Foreman’s company makes Lite-Brites, K’nex, and My Little Pony, the Times is having some fun with this story.
There’s a picture of Rainbow Dash (one of my daughter’s favorite ponies) accompanying the blog post. A Times editor tweeted about “Bronies” when referencing the article (although I’d suggest he be careful with that description – read more about the bizarre world of bronies here.)
The piece makes campaign finance sound as if it could be fun if only the “spirit of friendship” (that’s a My Little Pony reference) were involved.
That’s because the Times and its reporters, for the most part, love the fantasy of a bipartisan ticket. The reality is a Murphy-Jolly ticket has as much chance as winning as spotting a purple unicorn.
Because the Times wants to see something like Murphy-Jolly 2018 happen, it frames the story of Foreman pledging to donate to them in a flattering light.
Yet, because Publix has donated several hundred thousand dollars to its hometown ally Adam Putnam, something nefarious must be afoot.
Do your own comparison: Here’s Foreman saying he’s ready to donate up to $40,000 to Murphy-Jolly and he gets to give pie-in-the-sky quotes like, “I see two guys with fresh ideas and fresh faces.”
Why isn’t the story framed as ‘South Florida business executive wants to bankroll long-shot campaign’?
Why doesn’t the Times do the math and point out the fact that if Foreman were to give $40,000 to Murphy, that would be one individual giving almost a tenth of what Publix – a multi-billion dollar company that employs thousands of individuals – gave to Putnam?
Because doing so would not fit the Times’ narrative.
The Times is making a big deal out of Publix’s support for Putnam (which is comparable to the average household annually giving three cents to a cause or candidate) while applying a soft-focus sense to a donor wanting to give money to two candidates the Times would like to see enter the 2018 race for governor.
