Politico seems at times designed to simply give Republicans a platform to spread their message unfettered. Because inside the Politico newsroom, if Republicans are saying it, it's news!

Latest example is the stenography job by Andy Barr done on Texas Gov.'s hateful attack on Barack Obama. (He's a socialist!) At Politico that kind of name calling is news. But that doesn't mean anyone at the White House is contacted for a comment. In fact, the 'article' only quotes Perry, which, where I come from, is usually referred to as a press release.

From Politico:

Speaking at a luncheon for a Midland County Republican Women's group, [Rick] Perry said that “this is an administration hell-bent toward taking American towards a socialist country. And we all don't need to be afraid to say that because that's what it is.”

...

Perry also accused the Obama administration of intentionally dumping illegal immigrants from other western states in Texas, recalling a conversation he had with local officials notifying him that illegal aliens that were caught in Nogales, Arizona were being dropped off by federal authorities in Presidio, Texas.

See, it's newsworthy when a high-profile Republican says the president is turning America into a socialist country. But it's not so newsworthy that anyone at Politico needs to pick up the phone to call the White House for comment, or any Democrat for that matter.

And isn't it interesting that Perry made his “newsworthy” comments to the Midland County Republican Women's club. Does anyone think Politico had a reporter in Midland? Of course, not. So how did Politico find out about Perry's “newsworthy” comments? My guess is that a Perry flak emailed them over to the newsroom.

If so, talk about making a reporter's job easy! A pol sends you his “newsworthy” comments, you type them up and don't make a single call for balance or context.

Like we said, Politico is a GOP bulletin board.

UPDATED: Surprise! Drudge now hyping Politico's non-story. (In red letters and everything!) So I guess there are career benefits to being a GOP stenographer.