Dem
47
GOP
53
That headline is copied, word for word, from the item published by The Hill that serves as the basis for this item.
Now, consider if the headline had been this:
Trump Campaign's Spending Comes Under Scrutiny
Would you expect to read the exact same kind of story, except with Donald Trump instead of Kamala Harris?
Truth be told, when we clicked on it, we assumed—for lack of a better explanation—that it would be the same kind of story. That is to say, a story about some sort of misappropriation or mishandling of campaign funds. And we were very surprised, because Democrats tend to be very fastidious about these things, given that if they so much as sneeze without filling out the four FEC-required forms, it becomes the basis for three days' programming at Fox.
As it turns out, it is not the kind of story we expected. It's focused on Democrats who are carping about the fact that Harris raised $1 billion, and where did it all go, and what do the Democrats have to show for it? These seem like dumb questions to us. As to the first, we saw hundreds and hundreds of Harris commercials, and we read about thousands and thousands of paid workers. As to the second, perhaps these folks don't know that either one candidate or the other is going to get zilch for the nine—or ten—figure outlay they put out.
In any event, we were struck by the fact that "Harris' Campaign's Spending Comes Under Scrutiny" and "Trump Campaign's Spending Comes Under Scrutiny" are nearly identical headlines, but announce very different kinds of stories. And there is relatively little chance of the polarity flipping. That is to say, we have already noted that we would be shocked by a story about a Democratic presidential candidate using funds in an unethical or illegal way. And we do not recall seeing any stories this cycle about whether or not Trump was getting enough bang for his buck out of his donations (nor in 2020, when it was HIS outlay that went for naught).
Perhaps your mileage will vary, but this struck us as a pretty clear example of the different standards the media applies to Democrats and Republicans. Or maybe it's the different expectations that Democratic voters have for their leaders, as opposed to those that Republicans have for THEIR leaders. Or maybe it's that Trump is allowed to play by a set of rules that's only applied to him. Or maybe it's all of the above. (Z)