In 1990, David Kranz was the managing editor of the Argus Leader. Today, of course, he is known as the dean of South Dakota political reporters. The 1990 Senate race was similar to this year's Senate race in terms of competitiveness. The Argus Leader and Dave Kranz sensed an opportunity to defeat an incumbent Republican (Larry Pressler) and let loose a fusillade of negative stories about Pressler. It was so ridiculous that, after the election, even the New York Times characterized the AL as "vituperative." Here's the relevant graf from the November 7, 1990 edition of the NYT:
In the Senate race the incumbent, Larry Pressler, narrowly defeated two opponents: a well-financed Democrat and a vituperative newspaper....Mr. Muenster, who served as chief of staff under Richard F. Kneip when he was Governor, seemed to take his campaign script from The Sioux Falls Argus Leader, the state's largest newspaper. At times the Senator reacted more stridently to the newspaper's criticisms than to his opponent's.
In the midst of the 1990 Senate campaign, Roll Call published an article headlined "Pressler is Running for Re-Election Against Newspaper" dated July 30, 1990. Excerpt:
The Sioux Falls, S.D., Argus Leader's almost hysterical bashing of Sen. Larry Pressler (R-SD) took on a more weighty tone a week ago with the newspaper's publication of page-one stories by Gannett reporter Norm Brewer suggesting potentially serious impropriety in some of the Senator's real estate activities here in Washington....While the extremely lengthy, multiple-article series purported to be a major profile of the Senator, covering everything from his legislative activities to his character, it never mentioned an event that would seem to be central to any analysis of the Senator. In 1979, Pressler angrily refused an illegal campaign contribution from some Arab sheiks who later turned out to be FBI agents. None of the other Members of Congress involved in what came to be known as the Abscam sting reacted so unequivocally to proffered favors....
Schieffer believes the guiding hand behind the AL's treatment of Pressler is Kranz, the managing editor, and this claim was backed up by two South Dakota reporters very familiar with the paper's operation.
Given this kind of background of Kranz, coupled with the fact of the Bombshell Memos (listed on the right side of this blog) which indicate Kranz has collaborated with Democratic campaigns in the past in his capacity as a "journalist," the ability for Kranz to be a fair an impartial moderator of the KELO-TV debate between Thune and Daschle can legitimately be questioned. The debate should be Thune vs. Daschle, not Thune vs. Daschle and Kranz.
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