Foster's Daily Distortion

In an editorial light on facts and long on dubious claims and spurious reasoning, Foster's editors make the following (unsubstantiated) assertion:

[Collins] is one of a handful of senators looked to for their expertise by the national media, frequently appearing on radio and television.

Seriously. They actually wrote that. I'm not kidding.

Where to start?

First of all: Radio? Please.

But more important: Remember all those times Sen. Collins has been on Meet The Press, This Week and Face The Nation? I don't.

In truth, there are very few senators who have appeared less frequently on national broadcasts than Maine's junior senator. And I know this because I've poked around.

Looking back over the last eight years, I've found only: A nauseatingly non-confrontational Fox News segment; a quick, informational CNBC discussion; a longer interview on C-SPAN; and an uncharacteristically bland set of questions from Chris Matthews on Hardball.

That's it.

So that's about forty minutes total of TV time over the last six years.

Now, I'm sure there are at least a few more appearances I haven't been able to track down. But no one who's been paying attention could possibly think that Susan Collins is a regular on the television news circuit.

Instead, Collins has been hiding from national outlets. Just like she's been hiding from adult Mainers.

And with good reason: Having voted with President Bush whenever it counted over the last eight years and racked up a power ranking that puts her in the bottom third of all senators, she's careful not to let unvetted national reporters puncture the bubble of positive news coverage that the subservient Maine media provides.

It's lousy for democracy but it's a smart battle plan. And apparently Jon Breen and the folks at Foster's are nothing if not good soldiers.