As the New York Observer reports today that New York Times “rising star” Anne Kornblut (actually, she’s already a star) will cover Hillary Clinton’s low wattage 2006 Senate re-election bid, it’s crystal clear that the Times will cover every aspect of her public and private life like a blanket.
With Kornblut heavily involved in the Times’ reporting on Jack Abramoff and the Delay Inc. K Street crowd, she is well positioned from a sourcing and background knowledge perspective to turn up any number of rocks as they relate to Hillary’s ’06 and possible ’08 fundraising activities. And there’s a lot to look at and scrutinize.
With fellow Timesmen Jeff Gerth and Don Van Natta Jr. now working on what’s being called an “investigative biography” of Hillary Clinton — scheduled for release in the fall of 2007 — the naming of Kornblut to the Clinton coverage team promises plenty of fun for readers and plenty of hassles for team Hillary, which maintains the best press and communications operation in American politics today.
Reports the Observer:
“Mrs. Clinton’s camp declined to discuss The Times’ increased attention. “We don’t control how the media covers us,” said Howard Wolfson, a senior adviser to Mrs. Clinton. “We’ll continue to deal with The New York Times as we have in the past.”
Exactly: With caution and with the inherent understanding that 90% of incoming calls from Kornblut will result in negative coverage — not because of any bias she maintains, but because there’s plenty out there that will be “new” on Hillary and her vast fundraising apparatus.