WaPo Columnist Accuses New York Times of 'Sexism' Toward Liz Cheney

Former Politico reporter Jonathan Martin (pictured above between David Axeldrod and ABC’s Jeff Zeleny) is no stranger to controversy. His partisan attacks against the GOP (including private citizens) have been well-documented. Monday, the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin took issue with a Sunday New York Times article written by Martin about Liz Cheney’s possible run for the U.S. Senate.

Rubin points out that using a single source — a media-friendly Republican — Martin loosely claims that Cheney’s potential run against a GOP incumbent means that there is “a civil war within the state’s Republican establishment.” Rubin writes:

Unsurprisingly, the rest of the report finds no other hysterical Republicans. At best, the reporter scrounged up a couple of Republicans saying they like their incumbent senator.

So what is going on here other than the typical mainstream media trumped-up catastrophe about intra-Republican Party fights? A few things, I think, account for the thinly disguised hit piece.

Rubin then senses “more than a hint of sexism” in the way Martin describes Cheney leaving her five children behind to travel around the state. Here is what Martin wrote:

Ms. Cheney, the mother of five school-age children, has become ubiquitous, appearing many times in communities over 300 miles from home. She has told associates that if she runs, she wants to do so in her own right.

Driving long distances in a state where towns can be 70 miles apart is not unusual for residents here, but few of them so frequently post Twitter or Facebook messages about their activities. Last month, Ms. Cheney shared a picture on Twitter of her daughter steering a horse around a barrel course.

Rubin responds: [italics original]

There she goes gallivanting around the state with five young kids at home! Frankly, if it were “Larry” Cheney the number of kids wouldn’t be mentioned in connection with his travels, and he’d be just another ambitious conservative trying to clear the dead wood out of the party.

From my own observations, this is typical Jonathan Martin; whether it was private citizen Joe the Plumber or Herman Cain, Martin has always had very good instincts when it comes to zeroing in on and attempting to take out potential threats to the Democratic party.

 

Follow  John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC