“Jim DeMint: Principles trump candidate in 2012”
At Rep. Steve King’s conservative principles conference in Iowa, Sen. Jim DeMint told the crowd to “get it right this time” with a Republican presidential nominee. DeMint also urged the crowd to identify “the right principles” in a candidate before they pick their favorite. DeMint, who has ruled out a 2012 run, was the keynote speaker at the rally. DeMint said he hoped that Iowa would be the first state to “redirect our country to the principles that we want our candidate to carry.” DeMint further described the Republican nomination as being not a personality contest and not a contest over who has the best speech. The article then describes DeMint as a major political mover in the Republican Party. It discusses his backing of conservative tea party candidates in 2010 and specifically mentions his support of Joe Miller, the Alaska Republican candidate for Senate that ousted Sen. Lisa Murkowski. The writer also refers to DeMint as “key” in 2012 for his ability to raise money for candidates. Near the close of the article, DeMint is reported to have urged the crowd to pay close attention to the GOP candidates in the coming year, referencing specifically how they debate in Congress, how they hold conservative values, and how they stand on foreign policy and Libya. The article closes with a quote from King, where he says that he hopes the conference will be a “multiplying” force in making Obama a one-term president. It is assumed that Politico writer Maggie Haberman, the story’s author, was present at the event. No other sources are given.
The article does an adequate job of reporting on Sen. Jim DeMint’s speech in Iowa. The article uses a hard news approach, with the first paragraph introducing DeMint and the second paragraph providing the first quote of the story from DeMint. While Haberman does do some writing and concluding of her own, the majority of the story develops through quotes. In paragraph five, the article transitions to political analysis and mentions the value of DeMint in the 2012 election. While this part of the article is beneficial, it does not quote an expert in the field of political science. An interview would have been helpful in establishing the credibility of these political conclusions. Finally, the article ends with a quote from Rep. Steve King. King says that he hopes the conference will be beneficial in preventing Obama’s reelection. This quote is an excellent way to end the story, but because King is barely even referenced until the final paragraph, it leaves the reader wondering what other information King could provide. Overall, the article does an excellent job of reporting on DeMint’s keynote speech.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0311/51994.html
Very good.
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