During both the DNC and the RNC, a reporter for ABC evening news, Brian Ross, did 4 reports On the Money Trail. They focused on the influence of money on politics, specifically at the conventions.

Given that this was the same network, covering both political conventions, looking at the influence of money, done by the same reporter, a month apart, it seems a good place to analyze for media bias.

Unfortunately, I must report that one of these stories was PULLED from the ABC website. I am not going to tell you which one, but it got pulled because a factual error was in the story. It could be proof of either liberal or conservative bias. Did the story get pulled because it was too harsh and biased in putting a false fact in (showing one type of bias in the reporting) or did it get pulled because the network favored the party targeted by the story (showing bias the other way)?

In any case, I was able to track down what I THINK is the whole story transcript.

I also have ABC's retraction, which I will post at the end of the week. You can find it pretty easily if you want, but that would be cheating!

For this reason, I am not providing links to these stories. I am only providing the text. All the stories are in the following post, chronologically listed starting with the DNC followed by the RNC.

If you want to play, wait until at least Tuesday, then post your best arguments as to how these stories are biased. You may argue any kind of bias you want, liberal, conservative, corporate, other, or you can argue that they are fair and balanced. Really, not in the Fox sense.

Waiting until Tuesday will let everyone read the articles without being biased by the analysis of others.

On Friday, I will post a poll, and people can vote as to what type of bias, if any, is present in the 8 reports.... taken as a whole.

So, here is some data, make your best arguments!

Go!

DNC

Monday:

July 26, 2004 — Big business is underwriting most of the $104 million to stage both the Democratic and Republican national conventions this year. It's the kind of corporate meddling the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law was supposed to end when it was passed two years ago.

But a loophole for conventions in the legislation means the corrupting role of big money in politics is still a persistent problem.

Case in point: One powerful company, Time Warner, sponsored a lavish party and fireworks show Sunday night at Boston Harbor for the benefit of one powerful politician — California's Nancy Pelosi, the House Democratic leader.

It is just one of some 250 such corporate events scheduled this week in Boston, thanks to a loophole established by Congress for both parties' conventions.

According to regulations issued last August, the Federal Election Commission allows unlimited, tax-exempt donations to convention host committees, with the understanding that such contributions are ''motivated by a desire to promote the convention city and not by political considerations."

Fred Wertheimer, president and founder of Democracy21.com, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, thinks the loophole allows lobbyists to infuse the parties with large sums of soft money.

"I can't give you $51 as a member of Congress, but I can throw a $100,000 party or a $200,000 party which is your party. It's an ethics-free zone for these kinds of events and it's wrong," said Wertheimer.

At Sunday night's Boston waterfront party, Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons enjoyed almost two hours of access to Pelosi.

His cable and telecommunications company has a variety of issues before Congress and is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

"The companies know what they're doing, and the people being honored know why the check is being picked up," Wertheimer said.

An ABC News crew sought comment from Pelosi at the event, but she ducked the cameras and went on to her next event.

"The member of Congress becomes king or queen for a day," Wertheimer said. "The conventions are the big honey pot now for big-time interests trying to buy influence."

The corporate lobbyists and executives from virtually every industry know it. They arrived in force in Boston this weekend on their corporate jets, many also carrying key Democrats, including Chelsea Clinton, daughter of the former president and New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

There are no middle airplane seats, lost luggage, or $35 cab rides for this privileged group. Boston party planners say the Democrats are demanding nothing but the best — the biggest lobsters, the finest champagnes, the most glamorous flowers.

Said party planner Bryan Raffanelli: "Look, we want to show people that our parties are as good as or better than any New York party."

American Express hosted a golf outing for lawmakers today, while Verizon and Lockheed Martin hosted an event for African-American legislators. A who's-who of blue chip companies sponsored a midnight concert by blues act the Neville Brothers for conservative Democrats.

"Everything is available," said award-winning Boston chef Robert Fathman. "They ordered the top shelf bar. Apple martinis, mojitos, anything they want."

It was all on display Sunday night at the hottest ticket in town — a private event in a hotel ballroom high above the city, honoring Sen. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton.

Reporters were kept out of the shindig, but ABC News obtained pictures of the high-powered hobnobbing from someone who was inside.

The estimated $500,000 bill for the elaborate party was paid, in part, by a wealthy Boston couple — Gerald and Elaine Schuster — real estate tycoons who have been labeled slum lords and union-busters by a Boston newspaper — allegations they deny.

Nevertheless, it is an unmistakable display of the clout big corporations and the rich and powerful expect to have in the political process.


Tuesday

B O S T O N, July 27, 2004 — Much of the action at this week's Democratic National Convention — what should be a symbol of American democracy — is really a private affair, reserved for the Democrats' biggest donors and fund-raisers.

The convention's A-list enjoyed invitation-only dessert at midnight Monday night in the rotunda of the state Capitol, cocktails at a trendy restaurant with former President Clinton and Vice President Gore, and private sky-boxes overlooking the convention floor.

Outsiders were not welcome.

Said one guard to an ABC News crew: "Guys, it's closed. It's closed. All these events are closed to you. No media. Turn off that camera."

The Democrats continue to reward multi-millionaires and corporate lobbyists who, despite campaign reform laws, continue to raise and funnel big money to the party.

"Considering that we enacted historic [McCain-Feingold] campaign finance reform just two years ago, it's as though that didn't happen and has absolutely nothing to do with what we see in these conventions, because it looks like déjà vu all over again," said Chuck Lewis, founder of The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, watchdog organization.

The headquarters for the Democratic Party finance committee has temporary housing at Boston's Four Seasons, the city's most expensive hotel.

The party's big contributors gather every morning on the hotel's second floor to collect the most sought-after credentials and tickets in the city.

Barry Kasar has pledged to raise $250,000 for the party, and he is generously rewarded for his efforts.

"This is for the cocktail part, this is for [a reception with] Ben Affleck, this is for the suite at the convention," Kasar said, showing off his highly coveted tickets.

Recent campaign reform was designed to limit how much any one person can give, permitting a $2,000 donation to an individual candidate or $25,000 to a political party.

But many find an easy way around the restriction, and it's right around the corner on the second floor of the Four Seasons — a newly established political group called ACT, on which there are no limits because it is supposedly independent of the Democrats.

At least 20 Democratic donors have given ACT more than a $1 million, which it can use in the coming election campaign.

The ACT hospitality lounge this morning was full of Democratic donors, and there appears to be a close relationship between the people running ACT and the Democrat finance committee.

ACT officials were not happy to have ABC News cameras inside their lounge and actually took down the ACT sign outside their door.

Later, hotel security threatened to make arrests if ABC News crews continued to take pictures inside.

"This is the new soft money," Lewis said. "They're supposed to be 'independent.' No one really thinks for a moment they're all that independent."


Wednesday

B O S T O N, July 28, 2004 As Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards arrived in Boston today for the Democratic National Convention, so did the California man who is their single biggest contributor.

He is Stephen Bing, a wealthy film producer who, with little fanfare, has managed to steer a total of more than $16 million of his money to Democratic candidates and the supposedly independent groups that support them.

"To most of the people who track money and politics, they're like, who the hell is Steve Bing?" said Chuck Lewis, founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization.

Bing is perhaps best known for sparking a tabloid frenzy when he publicly expressed doubt that he was the father of actress Elizabeth Hurley's baby. (A paternity test proved he was indeed the father.) He repeatedly has refused to say why he is funneling millions of dollars to the Democrats.

Lewis thinks it is cause for concern.

"We can identify who the big donors are, but how much do we really know about any of them?" he said.

In fact, Democratic Party officials said they knew nothing about the man who law enforcement officials tell ABC News is Bing's friend and business partner Dominic Montemarano, a New York Mafia figure currently in federal prison on racketeering charges.

Montemarano has a long criminal record and is known to organized crime investigators by his street name, Donnie Shacks.

"Donnie Shacks' main activity was murder. No question about it. That was his main function for the Colombo family and for organized crime in general. He was one of the top hit men in the New York area," said Joe Coffey, a former NYPD investigator.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Bing paid Montemarano's legal fees after his most recent scrape with the law. Montemerano's lawyer said his client was an employee of Bing's.

After a recent private lunch with Democratic vice-presidential candidate Edwards, Bing also declined to answer questions about his relationship with Montemarano.

"The American people have a right to know who's funding their presidential candidates and their parties," Lewis said. "The Bing situation shows us how little we really know."

Campaign reform advocates say the role of secretive big money is all a throwback to the days of Richard Nixon and the scandal that grew out of the 1972 Republican Convention.

The telephone company that helped pay the costs of that convention, ITT, later got favorable consideration on an antitrust issue, when it became the world's largest conglomerate.

"It raised a huge public outcry and led to basic reforms which said the public funds will be used to pay for these conventions, but that's the only money you can use," said Fred Wertheimer, president and founder of Democracy21.com, a nonpartisan watchdog organization.

He added: "Today, we'll have over $100 million from corporations and other special interests helping to fund these two national conventions."

For the Democrats, some $40 million in corporate money, in addition to $15 million in public funds, is underwriting their national convention a no-expenses-spared operation.

There are even two private trains underneath the convention floor, courtesy of the railroad industry, with luxury club cars serving as cocktail and cigar lounges for top Democratic officials.

"This is money to curry favor, to gain influence," said Wertheimer. "The very thing that the Watergate laws were designed to stop."

Thurday

B O S T O N, July 29, 2004 — A Caribbean beach-themed party to honor Democratic Chief Deputy Whip Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana was the blow-out bash of this week's Democratic National Convention. The gathering, with a million-dollar-plus price tag, was held in direct competition with the proceedings on the convention floor.

As the National Anthem was being sung at the Fleet Center, a steel drum band, a team of voodoo dancers, and stilt-walkers were going strong when Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa arrived at the party.

Harkin expressed little concern about the scheduling conflict. "I'm getting ready to go to the convention," he said on his way inside.

The zydeco music was at full blast and the liquor flowing, at the very time Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., was addressing convention delegates about the Republicans' connection to corporate wrongdoing and excess.

Sen. John Corzine of New Jersey arrived at the party in the middle of Kennedy's speech, but he had a back-up plan.

"Actually, we're going to go and watch in on TV in there," Corzine said. "I was told they were going to have TVs here."

There were no televisions inside the party, but there was quite a show, as seen on a tape of the closed party obtained by ABC News.

It showed Breaux playing the Cajun washboard through the night to the delight of the crowd, including corporate executives and lobbyists who picked up the bill.

Lobbyist Stuart Jarvis, who represents several big companies, thinks it is money well spent and candidly admits his clients' interests.

"Some want relief — regulatory relief," Jarvis said. "Some want passage of legislation that enables them to do more business in foreign countries. Some simply want access for government contracts."

Jarvis said by attending conventions, lobbyists are able to get much-needed face time with politicians.

"I think it pays to play. Face time is critical," he said. "Being at the Super Bowl of politics, it helps you continue to maintain that access and that face time."

Throughout the week, it was clear that the actual convention has been little more than an afterthought for many.

On Monday night, again as the convention was under way, American Gas Association executives and lobbyists were having a private dinner with the top Democrat on the Senate finance committee, Max Baucus of Montana.

Last night, as Sen. John Edwards was speaking, the recording industry, with many issues before Congress, was holding its A-list event featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"You've just got non-stop expensive parties going on, competing with each other and big money, big times, big influence buying," said Fred Wertheimer, president and founder of Democracy21.com, a nonpartisan watchdog organization. He added: "If they get returns, these are very cheap investments because the stakes for the taxpayers are hundreds of million of dollars, can be billions of dollars in terms of corporate tax policies, energy policies and all of it."

Congress' ethics rules allow the unlimited convention spending, and the corporations are taking full advantage of it, just as they will next month at the Republican National Convention in New York.



RNC

Monday

N E W Y O R K, Aug. 30, 2004 — Cruising past the barricades and velvet ropes, lobbyists and their corporate clients are hitting New York City's most exclusive hot spots with a major purpose.

They're throwing hundreds of parties to entertain and influence the powerful GOP politicians in town for the Republican National Convention.

"This is the place where the elite gets to mingle with the people who write the laws overseeing them," said Micah Sifry, author of a new book, entitled Politicians in Your Pocket and an analyst for Public Campaign, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

The Republicans started the party on Saturday with a raucous event sponsored by major industry players including the National Rifle Association, a big liquor promoter and a tobacco company. In a videotape obtained by ABC News, the scene inside the party showed freely flowing alcohol and dancing girls on a stage.

"It's reached the stage of being beyond excessive now," said Fred Wertheimer, president of the campaign finance watchdog group Democracy 21. "I mean, it overshadows the conventions at the convention, because this is the main organizing principle of the convention."

Not to be outdone, General Motors threw a lavish party at Tavern on the Green, a renowned restaurant located in Manhattan's Central Park, for Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who has a lot to say about legislation requiring greater fuel efficiency in cars.

General Motors invited former House Majority Leader Dick Armey to New York as one of their lobbyists. When asked if attending these parties was key for lobbyists like himself, Armey told ABC News, "Well, I guess so. I'm here because of my relationship with the speaker.

"I guess lobbyists generally like to be where the people you know in office are," added Armey. "They're going to work with these folks. This is a chance and we're really celebrating the officeholders. There's a partnership relationship often."

The lobbyists and the corporations are not required to reveal how much they spend at the political conventions, and most of it is not meant for outsiders to see.

This was evident at several events when ABC News was repeatedly denied access, or met with threats to call security.

An example of the close ties between lobbyists and politicians, David Norcross is chairman of the Committee on Arrangements, a key organizing committee of the RNC, while also working for a top Washington lobbying firm, BlankRome.

When told that he has been described as "sort of the ultimate conflict of interest," Norcross repeatedly told ABC News, "That's nonsense, that's nonsense, that's nonsense."

But the hot ticket in town Sunday night was a private concert by the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, which even attracted President Bush's daughter Jenna.

Among the several corporate sponsors was the electric power industry whose lobbyists have successfully fought calls for tougher regulations in the wake of the blackout that shut down New York City and much of the East Coast just a year ago this month.


Tuesday

N E W Y O R K, Aug. 31, 2004— For some of the GOP's biggest donors, the highlight of the Republican National Convention's opening night wasn't the speeches, but glittering diamonds.

As Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani were addressing the RNC on Monday night, the millionaires who give the most to the Republican Party and politicians were being treated to a private shopping party in their honor at Cartier, the famed Fifth Avenue jeweler.

"I very much believe in the Republican Party and re-electing President Bush," said Audrey Gruss, a guest at the party and a Republican Regent, meaning she has brought the party at least $250,000.

The Republicans have a full schedule of exclusive events this week — including an outing at the Trump National Golf Course in Westchester County, north of the city — designed to pamper their most generous supporters. The Democrats hosted a slate of similar events at their July convention in Boston.

These special events are for the VIP fund-raisers of both political parties. The Republicans call them Regents, Rangers and Super Rangers, depending on how much money they have raised.

"And if you're included you feel pretty great. If you're not included, join the rest of America," said Chuck Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan watchdog organization.

Super Rangers raise a minimum of $300,000 in contributions, while the Rangers bring in at least $200,000.

It is a side of the convention the average delegate will never see.

On Sunday night, at the fashionable Le Cirque in midtown Manhattan, guests had their choice of caviar, lobster and foie gras.

Later that night at Lincoln Center, top Republican donors were treated to a dinner with Cabinet secretaries and a private concert.

"If you give me money, you know, maybe I can get you a ticket," Stanley Davis "David" Phillips, a Super Ranger from North Carolina, told ABC News outside Lincoln Center.

Among the people who received these coveted tickets were two of the single biggest contributors to Republicans and their causes.

Alex Spanos and his wife, Faye, have together contributed approximately $5.78 million, according to a review of election records by ABC News. Spanos is a major California real estate developer who needs government approval for his big projects.

"We can't give enough," Alex Spanos said. "We just give as much as we can."

Roland Arnall, along with his wife, Dawn, have together donated approximately $6.1 million, according to a review of election records by ABC News. The owner of a financial company that has fought legislation tightening controls on loans to low-income customers, Arnall declined to answer questions about why he contributed so much money.

The Arnalls and other wealthy Americans, Republican and Democrat, have been able to easily get around new campaign reform laws, steering their money through supposedly independent groups.

"It's totally out of control," Lewis said. "This is power and money together in a very obscene way."

Wednesday

N E W Y O R K, Sept. 1, 2004— For lobbyists seeking to profit from valuable homeland security and Iraq contracts, throwing big parties at the Republican National Convention may mean more lucrative deals.

Watch Brian Ross' Money Trail this week on World News Tonight with Peter Jennings.
"We're supporters of the Republican cause," said Ed Rogers, vice chairman of the powerhouse lobbying firm Barbour Griffith & Rogers. "Unashamed and unabashed."

When asked if that is good for business, Rogers said, "Well, not so much good for business, but good for America."

Business is booming for the lobbying industry, as Tuesday night's lavish party in the Chrysler Building showed. The crowded event was sponsored by Blank Rome, one of the firms that have helped clients secure multimillion-dollar homeland security and Iraq contracts.

Blank Rome's chairman, David Girard-diCarlo, is a longtime political supporter of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Another powerful player is the firm's executive partner, Carl Bucholz, who served as special assistant to President Bush for homeland security from 2001 to 2002.

The Blank Rome lobbyists say they observe all rules of professional ethics.

But what are lobbyists getting out of all this?

"What you've got here is people with the insider access, selling that access in order to profit and they're profiting on this war," said Craig Aaron, a senior researcher at Public Citizen's Congress Watch, a government watchdog organization.

Among the guests at the party Tuesday night was Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, whose department oversees more than $5 billion in contracts for terror preparedness programs.

When asked if it was appropriate for him to be at the party, Thompson replied, "I don't see anything wrong with it at all."

The "war lobby," as it has been described, counts a number of important connections, including President Bush's brother Neil, who plays a little-known role at Houston-based Crest Investments. Crest is a financial partner with Newbridge Strategies, a group of former officials from both Bush administrations who help U.S. companies seeking contracts in Iraq.

This week in New York, Neil Bush would not answer questions about his ties to Crest. "It's not my company," he said.

But in a videotaped deposition last year, obtained by ABC News, Neil Bush said he is paid $60,000 a year for the three to four hours of work he puts in weekly as co-chairman of Crest.

"Whether he does anything active or whether they just trade on his name, having the president's brother involved has got to be a huge asset," said William Hartung, a senior fellow at World Policy Institute, a policy research group at New School University.

Thursday

N E W Y O R K, Sept. 2, 2004 — One of the most extravagant parties of the Republican National Convention has revealed a new way the rich and the powerful interact with each other at conventions.

Wednesday night Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., was able to raise unlimited money from undisclosed sources by staging an outdoor concert at Rockefeller Center as a charity fund-raiser for the fight against AIDS.

Some of the major AIDS activists disapprove, even though a percentage of proceeds will go to AIDS charities.

Salih Booker, executive director of Africa Action, an organization dedicated to improving social conditions in Africa, said such events were "a way of giving tax deductions to people who are simply trying to buy access to power."

Frist claimed the charity event had no connection to the Republican Party. He told ABC News the party was "unrelated to the convention, unrelated to access, unrelated to tickets. It's going to save lives tonight."

But IRS documents obtained by ABC News show a clear Republican Party connection.

Frist's AIDS charity, called World of Hope, was approved just three weeks ago, registered by Jill Holtzman Vogel. On the Republican Party Web site, www.GOP.com, Vogel is listed as the GOP's chief counsel.

And according to a tape of the event that was obtained by ABC News, Republican lobbyists and corporate executives were in high attendance.

Guests who donated more than $250,000 to World of Hope had access to Frist in a private VIP lounge.

"It's a deplorable exploitation and manipulation of a very real issue, a real tragedy," said Booker.

All week long, the Republicans utilized the new charity concept to pay for parties.

On Sunday night, a lobbying group for small businesses threw a party for a charity described by Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, as teaching young people important values through golf. The lobbying group is seeking to keep the minimum wage low.

"You have to learn to keep your own score, learn to be honest about your score," said Boehner.

On Monday night, the chairman of the House Financial Services committee, Rep. Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, took over the swanky Rainbow Room, collecting money from Wall Street firms on behalf of something the elaborate CD invitation called the American Council for Excellence and Opportunity.

ABC News found the Virginia address of the council, where donations were sent, to be same address as Oxley's political action committee.

Oxley referred all questions about what the raised money would be used for to the council. "You'll have to ask them," he said.

The Republicans say millions were raised for important charity causes this week.

I will admit up front I did not spent enough time with this analysis to be very confident in my results. However, I think what I say will stand up in the broad strokes, even if my counts are off a bit.

My methods are the simplest ones in qualitative analysis. First, I read the text, and came up with a list of concepts. These included, but are not limited to...

mention of politicians by name
modifiers of politicians names/titles (eg the powerful blah blah)
number of claims by outside groups
mcain-feingold/campaign finance/loopholes in money laws
quid pro quo, explict or implied
event modifiers (eg, extravagant parties)
connections to bad people.

Things like that. After generating this list, I then re-read the text, and did a simple tally of occurances of the concepts in question.

I really should have re-read the text several times to confirm my counts. Also, some things I coded in ways that are up for question. I might have coded 2 paragraphs right next to each other as 2 mentions of a concept, or only one, for example. Other people might code them differently. If I were being strict, I would come up with a list of criteria, have 2 other people do the same coding, then come up with an inter-rater reliability score. I ain't doing that! So take my "counts" with a grain of salt.

Because of this, I am NOT mentioning things that are low in counts (except one item, which leapt out at me), sticking with the things where the numbers were higher. That way if I am off a couple items one way or the other, it should not make a big difference I wish I had more time, but things are busy for me right now. And since Dctrofspin has not chipped in yet, I am not going to do any more rigorous analysis if he is not going to play the game. Feel free to do your own counts on these or other concepts, using your own criteria.

First, mention of politicians:

d-14
r-12
So similar numbers of name mentions. I was unsure how to handle non-elected political operatives, so I tried to only count elected politicians in these numbers



Claims by outside groups:
d-8
r-6

Again similar numbers

Example d- "Fred Wertheimer, president and founder of Democracy21.com, a nonpartisan watchdog organization, thinks the loophole allows lobbyists to infuse the parties with large sums of soft money.

"I can't give you $51 as a member of Congress, but I can throw a $100,000 party or a $200,000 party which is your party. It's an ethics-free zone for these kinds of events and it's wrong," said Wertheimer. "

Example r-""What you've got here is people with the insider access, selling that access in order to profit and they're profiting on this war," said Craig Aaron, a senior researcher at Public Citizen's Congress Watch, a government watchdog organization. "




Quid Pro Quo, do people get things for their money?

d-10
r-10

Similar numbers.

d-quote ""You've just got non-stop expensive parties going on, competing with each other and big money, big times, big influence buying," said Fred Wertheimer, president and founder of Democracy21.com, a nonpartisan watchdog organization. He added: "If they get returns, these are very cheap investments because the stakes for the taxpayers are hundreds of million of dollars, can be billions of dollars in terms of corporate tax policies, energy policies and all of it." "

r-quote "Not to be outdone, General Motors threw a lavish party at Tavern on the Green, a renowned restaurant located in Manhattan's Central Park, for Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who has a lot to say about legislation requiring greater fuel efficiency in cars."



Mentions of McCain-Feingold, campaign finance laws, or using loopholes in those laws.

d-8... with 2 explicit references to McCain-Feingold.
r-3... with not a single explicit mention of McCain-Feingold.

Bias, against democrats. More mention of skirting the laws. No mention of the big name legislation in the republican stories.

d example: ""Recent campaign reform was designed to limit how much any one person can give, permitting a $2,000 donation to an individual candidate or $25,000 to a political party.

But many find an easy way around the restriction, and it's right around the corner on the second floor of the Four Seasons ? a newly established political group called ACT, on which there are no limits because it is supposedly independent of the Democrats. "

r example: "The Arnalls and other wealthy Americans, Republican and Democrat, have been able to easily get around new campaign reform laws, steering their money through supposedly independent groups. "

Notice how this refers to BOTH parties skirting the law. Still, I counted it in the rep numbers and not the dem numbers.



Mention of money sources as BAD PEOPLE. Meaning mentions of contributors being under investigation, or criminal, or tied to criminals.

d-3
r-1.... maybe.

Here are the quotes for the democrats:

"At Sunday night's Boston waterfront party, Time Warner Chairman Richard Parsons enjoyed almost two hours of access to Pelosi.

His cable and telecommunications company has a variety of issues before Congress and is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission. "
-------------------
"The estimated $500,000 bill for the elaborate party was paid, in part, by a wealthy Boston couple ? Gerald and Elaine Schuster ? real estate tycoons who have been labeled slum lords and union-busters by a Boston newspaper ? allegations they deny. "


Both of the above from Monday. From Wednesday, we get a long long discussion about how the top democratic donator hangs out with criminals.


"In fact, Democratic Party officials said they knew nothing about the man who law enforcement officials tell ABC News is Bing's friend and business partner Dominic Montemarano, a New York Mafia figure currently in federal prison on racketeering charges.

Montemarano has a long criminal record and is known to organized crime investigators by his street name, Donnie Shacks.

"Donnie Shacks' main activity was murder. No question about it. That was his main function for the Colombo family and for organized crime in general. He was one of the top hit men in the New York area," said Joe Coffey, a former NYPD investigator. "



There is more. Notice how this is not saying BING is a criminal, or under investigation, just that someone associated with him is. How is this relevant? Why is it here?

Throw into the mix the fact that ABC issued a retraction on this story and pulled it from their website, and this seems to be a slur, unconnected to any influence of money on the political process.

What about the republicans, and their "bad people"? There is one mention, that MIGHT be such an allegation:
---------

"This week in New York, Neil Bush would not answer questions about his ties to Crest. "It's not my company," he said.

But in a videotaped deposition last year, obtained by ABC News, Neil Bush said he is paid $60,000 a year for the three to four hours of work he puts in weekly as co-chairman of Crest. "
----------

Deposition. Why was he deposed? Civil or criminal case? As a witness or suspect? Pretty vague.


That's as far as I got. Feel free to critique my analysis. I am sure I have plenty of mistakes. Consider it preliminary, tentative, and subject to revision. This kind of "counting" analysis is very primitive, and usually only the first step in analysis. However, it is also the least subjective way of approaching analysis.... though subjective interpretation is part of the coding. That's why multiple raters and strict criteria are the normal course of events in doing this analysis.

Please make your arguments about these stories. Poll posted tomorrow for voting, and if you want to try to sway that vote, now is your chance!