On July 2, Rep. Jared Golden penned an op-ed for the Bangor Daily News titled, “Donald Trump is going to win the election and democracy will be just fine.”
This might surprise readers of the Portland Press Herald and other news outlets that continue to refer to the article with a more boiled-down and clickbait-y: “Jared Golden says Donald Trump will win ‘and I’m OK with that.'” In fact, pieces published in the Herald alone referenced the op-ed six times in 24 days since it was published. I credit these outlets for linking to the Golden op-ed; however, it is behind a paywall, so I am not certain how many readers were able to read what Golden wrote.
For those readers, let me try to provide more context. Golden, in his op-ed, correctly predicted that President Joe Biden would not win the election and said that he was not fit to run for president. Golden did this before the majority of his Democratic Party colleagues had the courage to.
Golden also made a point in his op-ed to condemn the fear-mongering used to campaign for Biden, arguing that democracy has a system of checks and balances that should always be able to preserve it. Golden said it would be up to Congress to block harmful policies while protecting programs like Medicare, Social Security and the Affordable Care Act. Those points, while relevant, certainly do not get the same attention that “Jared Golden says Donald Trump will win ‘and I’m OK with that'” gets.
As a reader who has always admired the representative for having the courage of his convictions and not blindly voting or following the party line, this has bothered me. The articles in question must have done well with this broad mischaracterization; on July 24, another Golden headline appeared: “Rep. Jared Golden ‘absolutely not’ committed to supporting Kamala Harris.”
Great headline. Lots of clicks, I’m sure. However, it’s once again a mischaracterization of Golden, who has not yet committed support to Vice President Harris, instead wanting to hear more about her vision for the country, saying: “I expect to have to work to earn Mainers’ votes, and our candidates for president should expect the same.” Golden did write in his frequently referenced op-ed that he would not vote for Trump. For whatever reason, this is not mentioned in the July 24 article and rarely in any of the reporting or opinion writing that references the op-ed.
The article goes on to point out that Golden is running for reelection and cites his record of being willing to work with Republicans and Democrats alike. What is concerning about the news article is when the reporter decided to editorialize Golden’s latest ad by writing: “His first TV ad of the cycle seems like it could have been written by a Republican.”
I’m not sure what value this line provides to the piece. To support his assessment, the reporter notes that, in the campaign ad, Golden declared Biden to be “unfit to serve a second term,” something his Democratic colleagues agree with and the sitting president confirmed by stepping down. The article does not mention that the ad highlights what Golden calls “attacks on women’s reproductive rights” nor his declaration to work with both parties in the best interest of Maine voters.
As a reader of the Portland Press Herald, I’m disappointed in the continued mischaracterization of Golden; the coverage lacks context and features an abundance of editorialization. I will not be voting for Golden in November; I’m not a voter in the 2nd Congressional District. I do, however, support political candidates who are more concerned with their constituents rather than their party line – the same way I support news outlets that are more concerned with fair, unbiased reporting rather than with page views.
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