Sometimes you hit “publish” when you meant to hit “save draft.” That seems to be what happened today at The New York Times when it comes to the story on the Keystone XL pipeline vote in the Senate.
The vote hasn’t happened yet, but their story was written…and posted to the Internet hours before the vote. And both versions are favorable to Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, currently facing a runoff election against Congressman Bill Cassidy on Dec. 6.
In the rush to be first, the Times wrote two different versions of their story – one where “The Senate narrowly voted to approve the Keystone” and one where “Senate Democrats narrowly defeated a bill TK to TK (an editing space-saver for information to be added later) that would have approved the construction of the Keystone XL.”
If the Senate votes to pass Keystone, the Times has a quote from Hawaii Democratic Senator Brian Schatz ready to go that praises Senator Landrieu:
“She’s a force to be reckoned with, and a powerful advocate for the oil and gas industry,” said Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii, who opposed the bill. “She obviously believes it’s in America’s best interest. I disagree, but I don’t think anybody can doubt her capabilities as a legislator and her ability to get people to her side. We wouldn’t be having this vote if it weren’t for Mary’s persuasive abilities.”
If it goes down, the Times is ready for that, too (though there are no praising quotes from fellow Democrats):
“On Tuesday morning, she was at least one vote short of the filibuster-proof 60 votes she needed. And despite cajoling, persuading, browbeating, and making an impassioned plea to her colleagues during a closed-door lunch — which one attendee described as “civilized but pretty contentious” — Ms. Landrieu, who has so often bulldozed her way to success through sheer force of will, came up just short.”
Both versions of the story lead to “B MATTER,” or basic background information that won’t change based on the vote.
Here’s tomorrow’s news today:
If the Senate passes Keystone:
If the Senate rejects Keystone:
