Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Wynn Files a Complaint Against Edwards

Here is the latest flying across the internet about Wynn's charge against Edwards. He filed a 34 point complaint with the FEC claiming that Donna Edwards was in violation of campaign finance laws. I don't claim to know all aspects of campaign finance. But I am working on finding out more. In the meantime, here is a summary of the stories making the rounds.

The WaPo article seems to just get quotes and reacts and doesn't really explain the issue. It is complicated. But it is a disappointing piece if you want to know the story. A swing and miss from our local paper.

The Baltimore Sun did a story as well. They had the Campaign Legal Center, a non-profit that focuses on campaign finance, review the compliant. CLC dismisses the compliant.

WaPo's corporate cousin, the Gazette, also wrote about it. I can't tell where the Post ends and this one begins. Must have lifted the same key points. Strike two for Team Graham.

The DC Examiner also weighs in. It too is a simple "he said, she said" story that does nothing to explain a complicated issue. So the Post and Gazette are off the hook, sort of.

Our friends at Free State Politics (FSP), who make clear that they are supporters of Donna, trumpet the Sun article and trash the WaPo one. Author Isaac Smith refutes the charges against Donna.

Politicker MD, one of the newer blogs in the state, does a nice job of giving Wynn's side of the story. This helpful for those of us not versed in campaign finance law. In fact, I think they took the time that the Post and Gazette could have but didn't.

Finally, FSP refers back to a MyDirectDemocracy piece, which is written by Matt Stoller immediately after the 2006 primary. Matt is now with Open Left. To say Matt is a strong supporter of Donna would be an understatement. Here is Matt's post from today.

I am working on digging into it myself but until I hear from the principles I will refrain from adding anymore.

What is unusual about the story is the timing of it. We are about to get the Jan 30 FEC reports. Not certain if the January reports will be released prior to the primary.

Last week I posted that the WaPo was not covering the race. With today's news I may have to back up a bit. But considering how poorly they are covering this race, I won't back up too much.