Since Ted Cruz began his speech against Obamacare, Washington Post health care policy reporter Sarah Kliff has failed to notice it. Or so I assume from her Twitter feed, which has precisely zero tweets about it.
Obamacare is Kliff’s primary reportorial focus. That’s why, she explained to me in April, she chose not to cover the trial of late-term abortion doctor and murderer Kermit Gosnell:
@MZHemingway Hi Molly – I cover policy for the Washington Post, not local crime, hence why I wrote about all the policy issues you mention.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) April 11, 2013
But the weird thing is that she was very interested in Texas State Sen. Wendy Davis’ filibuster in defense of late-term abortion. You can find her tweets and retweets here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
For just a sample of those 27 tweets:
Texas filibuster madness was still happening 12 hours ago. Feels like ages already!
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Texas has the second-most abortions of any state that reports to the CDC: 74,000 in 2009. (California, notably, does not report).
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Wonkblog now streaming Wendy Davis filibuster http://t.co/NtlMPwdr96
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Twelve Texas Senators have filibustered for over 13 hours since 1939. Wendy Davis would be the first woman. http://t.co/XJemDn37GP
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Clear Eyes, Full Heart, Can’t Stop Talking.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
On Tuesday at 11:30 p.m., nearly 100,000 people are watching two state senators debate whose turn it is to talk. #YOLO
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Wait, how did Texas stop Wendy Davis’ filibuster? Quick explainer on why Davis filibuster ended (for now, at least). http://t.co/4MeWfKBmZb
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Just flossing my teeth and watching some state legislature on YouTube at 1 a.m., like any modern woman.
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Texas filibuster madness was still happening 12 hours ago. Feels like ages already!
— Sarah Kliff (@sarahkliff) June 26, 2013
Since Ted Cruz began his speech against Obamacare on the afternoon of September 24, Kliff has tweeted, but not about the speech.
So I guess I’m confused. The murder trial of one of the country’s most infamous late-term abortion doctors couldn’t be covered because it was just a local crime story (she walked that back a little after public outrage over her explanation). The failed effort to stop a bill protecting unborn children who had made it through five months’ gestation was worthy of effusive tweets and a live-stream on the Washington Post Wonkblog itself!
But Ted Cruz’s speech against the federal issue of Obamacare — the signature policy issue covered by Sarah Kliff and the Wonkblog — isn’t worthy of any similar coverage? Here’s the Wonkblog site. The only stories about the speech are Wonkbook: Ted Cruz is no Rand Paul, by Ezra Klein and Evan Soltas, and Ted Cruz’s ‘filibuster’ is an excellent argument against Ted Cruz’s ‘filibuster’, by Ezra Klein.
I realize that when even Dylan Byers of Politico is pointing out that the coverage of Cruz is biased, the situation must be obvious to everyone. But can anyone defend these coverage choices?
