Jordan Offers Election Insight

KMTV (Cox Channel 5) investigative/political reporter Joe Jordan examined the primary election from a behind-the-scenes perspective for the June issue of the Omaha Press Club's newsletter, "Beyond 30."

Here is the article, in its entirety (reprinted with permission):

Whether it's a single political story or a series of stories from a lengthy campaign, I constantly remind myself that "it's not my job to do the candidates' job."

Different candidates will have different views as to what their job is. (I think their job is telling the voters who they are, where they stand on the issues, what they'll do if elected, etc.) I'm convinced my job is to let the voter/viewer know what the candidate may not want you to know about them, and that includes a wide range of possibilities. I'd like to focus on just a few "tracking" devices: money and advertising (television, radio and direct mail).

It's been 33 years since "Deep Throat" told reporters something we should have already known and something we should never forget: Follow the Money.

Here is an example of how following the money can at least indicate to a reporter what's true and what's not. During the recent race for governor of Nebraska, it was widely believed that Gov. Dave Heineman's position on the Omaha Public School's "One City, One School" debate, would be a huge political plus for the governor. (Heineman sided with the suburban schools and was opposed to any expansion of the OPS boundaries.)

According to the conventional wisdom, since a solid majority of voters in the suburbs are registered Republicans, Heineman would easily win the county. As it turns out, Congressman Tom Osborne won Douglas County! There may be several reasons why (including Democrats who switched parties to vote for Osborne), but an examination of campaign contributions prior to the May 9 primary gave a clear indication that Osborne was, at the very least, holding his own in Douglas County.

In late February, an Action 3 News breakdown of the campaign contributions Deep Throat Was Right: Election Journalism in the suburbs (Elkhorn, Millard, Westside and Ralston School Districts) found Osborne receiving 82 contributions totaling $78,000. Heineman had received 35 contributions totaling $69,000.

It's the money, of course, that leads directly to the candidate's message. Campaign commercials are the modern day political stump speeches. It is impossible to cover campaigns without knowing what a candidate's television or radio ads are saying. (In smaller races, reporters also need to examine a candidate's direct mail pieces.) The commercials literally hand reporters a road map of the campaign.

If you're wondering which campaign themes are working, just watch the ads. It was no accident that in the final days of the Heineman-Osborne race, Heineman's ads focused in part on the issue of illegal immigration. Heineman's campaign (based on polling research) was obviously convinced they could mine some votes by pointing out the governor's veto of in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants (Osborne was in favor of in-state tuition for illegal immigrants). You didn't have to wait until the campaign was over to realize this was a hot button issue. Heineman's ads were screaming at reporters to pay attention to the immigration issue.

One final thought/suggestion: I hope news organizations (and this is aimed specifically at television news) will put an end to "candidate profiles." I haven't seen one of these in years that hasn't been a public relations tool for the candidate. Rarely is there any information in these "profiles" that isn't available on the candidate's web site. Please dig a little deeper. If nothing else: Follow the money and the message.

Joe Jordan is the Senior Investigative/Political Reporter for Action 3 News. In 2003, he received the "Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Television Political Reporting" for his exclusive investigation that exposed efforts by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to influence state and federal elections with an apparently illegal campaign tactic -- a TV commercial paid for by Pfizer featuring a congressional candidate promoting a prescription drug card for senior citizens.