Rothenberg Demeans Young Journo

Betsy Rothstein — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 10:58:53 +0000

Stu Rothenberg is a serious seasoned writer and political observer of Washington politics. But wasn’t the editor of the Rothenberg Political Report once in his 20s? In a Roll Call column on Thursday, Rothenberg, 62, snidely attacks a TalkingPointsMemo journalist for his youth and resume. The topic du jour was how the unpopularity of GOP governors might damage a Republican presidential candidate’s chances in 2012. He ridiculed a Politico story he called “dubious” followed by WaPo‘s “The Fix” blog written by Chris Cillizza. He complimented his “more serious” friend, fellow old fogey, Norman Orstein (incidentally, a fellow Roll Call columnist).

A question to ponder: Who hasn’t been an “intern-turned-writer?” His column, by the way, published at midnight on Thursday. So either he stayed up that late to hit the publish key or some intern-turned-writer-blogger type did it for him.

An excerpt:

“The next day, on the website TPM, intern-turned-writer Jon Terbush (bachelor’s degree in writing, literature and publishing, Emerson College, 2009) instructed us that not only Scott but “several newly minted Republican governors” may help improve “President Obama’s re-election odds.”

The column incited Politico‘s Dave Catanese to link to Rothernberg’s column and quip over Twitter, “Stu Rothenberg: You kids get off my damn lawn!”

But like most prognosticators, no one is perfect. Including Rothenberg (B.A., Colby College, Ph.D., University of Connecticut, former political science professor, Bucknell, house with yard in Potomac, Md.). We learned that his record as a pundit can be pretty dubious too. In April, 2009, he wrote about the GOP’s potential of winning back the House. KEY LINE: “But there are no signs of a dramatic rebound for the party, and the chance of Republicans winning control of either chamber in the 2010 midterm elections is zero.” He later changed his mind.

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Rothenberg Demeans Young Journo