The New York Times [1]' lead story on the debt ceiling debate, Friday, for the second time in three days [2], featured no liberal labels, but managed to tag "conservatives" five times. This now brings the ideological scorecard (for that time period) to 20 conservative identifications and just one for liberals.
The Times' Carl Hulse only slightly varied his description of the House Republicans. He insisted that Speaker John Boehner tried to "pressure reluctant conservatives into backing their plan."
Just three paragraphs later, Hulse asserted, "Republicans had expressed confidence throughout the day that they would round up enough recalcitrant conservatives to pass their plan, but they obviously miscalculated."
Although the reporter could find no "liberal" Democrats, Hulse did manage to find some "conservative" members of the party: "With House Democrats offering no votes, even from the party's fiscal conservatives, Republicans evidently remained shy of the total needed for passage..."
Nancy Pelosi, however, who has a lifetime American Conservative Union score [3] of two, was simply referred to as "Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader and former House speaker."
On Thursday, there were four additional identifications of "conservatives" in a front page story by Hulse. A piece by Jennifer Steinhauer included one mention of Democratic Senator Barbara Mikulski as a "leading liberal voice."
Here are the examples of the Times' labeling on Friday, including the A-12 continued headline:
House Republicans Put Off Debt Ceiling Vote After Conservatives Balk
Short of support from their conservative members, House Republican leaders on Thursday abruptly put off a vote on their proposal to raise the debt ceiling and cut government spending, throwing last-ditch efforts to avert a government default next week into disarray.
...
Just minutes from a roll call vote on the plan pushed by Speaker John A. Boehner, Republicans stunned the House by interrupting the debate and turning to routine matters while Mr. Boehner and his lieutenants tried to pressure reluctant conservatives into backing their plan.
...
Republicans had expressed confidence throughout the day that they would round up enough recalcitrant conservatives to pass their plan, but they obviously miscalculated.
...
With House Democrats offering no votes, even from the party's fiscal conservatives, Republicans evidently remained shy of the total needed for passage, and Mr. Boehner engaged in some very public arm-twisting as he pulled members off the floor into a nearby office.
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