Why journalists care more about Hoffman than Sundwall

A poster to the In Box yesterday asked this very astute question:

Is there any reason this is the “Scozzafava-Owens-Hoffman race” but the race earlier this year was not the “Tedisco-Murphy-SUNDWALL race”?

Regular In Box readers know that during the 20th House District special election, we had a lively debate over NCPR’s coverage of Libertarian candidate Eric Sundwall.

Sundwall’s supporters sensed, accurately I think, that most reporters considered his campaign to be a sort of footnote.

When I failed to include Sundwall in my opening piece about the race, John Warren over at Adirondack Almanack fired this salvo:

That’s a disgrace, it’s un-American and anti-Democratic. The Republican candidate doesn’t even live in the district and you give him more credit then a candidate that does? There is no excuse for this. You owe us serious coverage of all the candidates, not just your hand-picked ones.

Here was the argument I put forward at the time (way back in February):

Third party candidates — and their supporters — typically want the media to treat them as equals with their Republican and Democratic opponents.

But in most instances, they haven’t done the work to establish their parties as viable political choices.

Not because their ideas are bad, necessarily — sometimes their ideas are fascinating or compelling.

But because they haven’t organized, built a party apparatus, raised enough money to campaign, etc.

In fact, our coverage of Conservative Doug Hoffman, from Lake Placid, is a pretty good example of how and when third-party candidates attract serious coverage.

Hoffman has joined a political movement that is well-organized and well-funded, especially in our region. Conservatives have also exerted serious influence over state elections in the past.

Hoffman also brings a lot of personal wealth to the race; that’s a big deal in politics.

My sense is that he could serve as a spoiler in this race, weakening conservative support for Republican Dede Scozzafava. That alone is newsworthy.

But I also think there’s also a legitimate, if still remote, chance that Hoffman could win. And that, in the final analysis, is why his name is in the headline.