The headline and lead story [1] in Sunday's New York Times warned of "far right" Republicans. Jeff Zeleny (pictured) is more balanced than most Times political reporters, but has a bad habit of "far right [2]" labeling. The headline: "Top G.O.P. Donors Seek Greater Say In Senate Races – Bid To Cull Challenges -- Taking Aim at hopefuls Viewed as Too Far Right to Win."
Zeleny included the unflattering designation in his lead paragraph.
The biggest donors in the Republican Party are financing a new group to recruit seasoned candidates and protect Senate incumbents from challenges by far-right conservatives and Tea Party enthusiasts who Republican leaders worry could complicate the party’s efforts to win control of the Senate.
The group, the Conservative Victory Project, is intended to counter other organizations that have helped defeat establishment Republican candidates over the last two election cycles. It is the most robust attempt yet by Republicans to impose a new sense of discipline on the party, particularly in primary races.
The paper rarely if ever talks about the "far left" when it comes to American politics.
And there were more "far rights" in Sunday's edition: Reporter Ashley Parker seemed to unwittingly confess to liberalism in her story on a bipartisan group of immigration "reformers" in the House of Representatives, "A Bipartisan House Group Works to Present Its Own Immigration Proposal [3]."
The group has received far less attention than its Senate counterpart -- in part by design, and in part because most lawmakers believe that the Senate will need to take the lead on immigration. Getting to 60 votes there, aides and advocates say, will probably be easier than reaching the 218 votes necessary in the House, where the legislation could face strong opposition from the far right.
....
The group is in many ways a cross-section of the House. On one extreme is Mr. Labrador, a second-term member with Tea Party support; on the other is Mr. Gutierrez, an outspoken proponent of immigration reform who has been critical of Mr. Obama, saying he was moving too slowly. (One Republican aide joked that Mr. Gutierrez was “kind of the Raúl Labrador of the left.”)
You’ve got folks in this room who are truly, as conservative Republicans would call them, far-left liberals, and you’ve got some folks in the room who the liberals would call far-right conservatives,” said John Stone, a spokesman for Mr. Carter.
Does that make Parker, who used the term "far right" in her story, a liberal as well?