Politico Hackery
by David Atkins ("thereisnospoon")
The always-useless Politico has a breathless headline today: Dem groups can't quit Durkee. For those not familiar with the dreary story, Durkee and Associates was the treasurer for a large number of Democratic organizations and politicians' campaign committees in California. Durkee apparently embezzled millions of dollars, wiping out Dianne Feinstein's bank account and a number of others', including the Ventura County Democratic Party of which I'm the 1st vice chair.
The implication of the Politico story is that there's some sort of funny business going on, or perhaps loyalty to Ms. Durkee in spite of the mass theft among groups that have not yet selected a new treasurer. Of course, nothing of the sort is the case. As the actual quotes show, the simple reality is that after having used Durkee and Associates based on the advice of people who supposedly knew what they were doing, many groups are taking their time and doing more due diligence before hiring and naming a new treasurer:
“We’re literally in the process of switching over right now, too. We literally just signed a new treasurer,” said Nick Anas, chairman of the Orange County Young Democrats, which has Durkee still named as its treasurer. “We had to contact lawyers, interview new treasurers. It wasn’t easy.”
But "Dem Groups Can't Quit Durkee" is such better Drudge bait than "Dem Groups Methodically Doing Due Diligence Before Selecting Next Treasurer." Politico is not lazy journalism, as many have argued. It's yellow journalism.
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