There is unconfirmed speculation that the voice heard on the open mic tape of reporters coordinating questions for Mitt Romney belongs to CBS reporter Jan Crawford.
If that turns out to be the case, it is worth noting that Crawford is generally regarded as a fair reporter. She wrote a very positive review for CBSNews.com of the Sarah Palin movie, and then featured it on CBS’s The Early Show.
Most of her recent career her beat has been the Supreme Court: at CBS, at ABC before that, and before that for several years at the Chicago Tribune. It was Crawford who broke the story that Supreme Court Justice John Roberts switched his vote, in order to uphold Obamacare.
In any event, Crawford is not at the top of the list of reporters conservatives should suspect of liberal bias.
My opinion on this will be unpopular with many conservatives, but this strikes me as a case of the public stumbling over how the sausage is made. It is the job of politicians to avoid answering questions. Romney has held virtually no media avails and is tightly controlled (though Obama is even worse) — so this makes a certain amount of sense.
It certainly sounds unseemly — and the tone of the questions was snarky — but it’s also not terribly shocking.
*** Note: I have emailed and direct message’d Jan Crawford for confirmation and comment. I will update when I hear back…