Hey, MoveOn? Move on

By Tim O'Brien

Last update: August 26, 2008 - 9:12 AM

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A message to those MoveOn.org members who are inundating me with letters about Ron Fournier, the Associated Press Washington Bureau chief: Stop it! The Star Tribune does not run letters that are part of any organized campaign. So, please, for the love of Pete, just stop it.

Having said that, these letter writers raise a legitimate point. Fournier was in discussions about joining the McCain campaign and was pretty cozy with Karl Rove while he was still in the White House. So when he wrote in a news analysis that that the selection of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate showed a lack of "self-confidence," I wonder who was doing the analysis: the AP bureau chief or the man romanced by the McCain campaign?

If he were writing for the opinion page, no problem. As the head of the AP’s most important bureau -- directing reporters and determining coverage - it’s troubling.

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