Carla Marinucci complains in the San Francisco Chronicle that the Whitman campaign is charging reporters $2,000 to travel with the candidate. Heck, if that is the cost, Meg ought to charge Marinucci twice as much, $4,000, for the privilege. This is justified, firstly, by the fact that campaigns exist to reach out to voters, not Jerry Brown-flunky newspaper writers. (Notice I said “newspaper writers”. To be called a journalist one needs to have demonstrated ethical standards, well published by the Columbia University School of Journalism.) Traveling news media are a drag and a distraction on a candidate’s ability to communicate directly with voters in the final days of an election. They should pay their own freight, and not look to the people who make the political contributions to support them, instead, let the news media’s advertisers do that! Secondly, Marinucci should be charged extra to make up for printing all the garbage Brown spokesman Sterling Clifford, “The Liar” has spoon feed her. Now that would be fair!
