“the ones from Washington favored him 12 to 1″
Jeff Jacoby recounts the 12 to 1 preference of Beltway journalists for the Democratic candidate in an election:
When New York Times reporter John Tierney surveyed reporters covering the Democratic National Convention last month, the results were striking.
“We got anonymous answers from 153 journalists, about a third of them based in Washington,” he wrote on Aug. 1. “When asked who would be a better president, the journalists from outside the Beltway picked Mr. Kerry 3 to 1, and the ones from Washington favored him 12 to 1. Those results jibe with previous surveys over the past two decades showing that journalists tend to be Democrats, especially the ones based in Washington. Some surveys have found that more than 80 percent of the Beltway press corps votes Democratic.”
Such a surprise. Shades of Evan Thomas, who said that press coverage was “worth maybe 15 points” to the Democratic presidential ticket.