The Politico, which claims to cover “the politics of Capitol Hill and of the presidential campaign ... with enterprise, style, and impact,” has continued to ignore reports that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) quit the Iraq Study Group (ISG) in May 2006 after failing to attend a single meeting.
As Media Matters for America documented, The Politico largely ignored a June 19 Newsday article reporting that Giuliani delivered speeches that earned him $300,000 rather than attend the ISG meetings. The Politico devoted just two brief weblog entries to the story despite having previously reported that Giuliani's presidential campaign seeks to cast him as “tough” on national security and terrorism. In a June 20 article, however, The Politico did revisit reports that Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards paid $400 to have his hair cut.
A Media Matters review showed that The Politico has yet to address the story in a news article. The only additional attention The Politico offered the story following Media Matters' original item was a brief mention in a blog entry that senior political writer Jonathan Martin posted late in the day on June 20. Martin wrote:
After giving his belt-tightening speech in Des Moines, Rudy admits that joining the ISG was a mistake -- and that he quit because of his White House hopes (as Craig Gordon, the man who started the dust-up, looks on skeptically).