Ron Fournier and the Revolving Door

Editor and Publisher has a writeup on MoveOn.org's new campaign against AP Washington bureau chief Ron Fournier. As you'll recall, Fournier made some waves last month when his "breezy" correspondence with Karl Rove came to light.

Recently, it was discovered that Fournier also considered a "senior advisory role" in communications with the McCain campaign before returning to AP in March 2007. Politico's Michael Calderone reports:

In October 2006, the McCain team approached Fournier about joining the fledgling operation, according to a source with knowledge of the talks. In the months that followed, said a source, Fournier spoke about the job possibility with members of McCain’s inner circle, including political aides Mark Salter, John Weaver and Rick Davis.

Salter, who remains a top McCain adviser, said in an e-mail to Politico that Fournier was considered for “a senior advisory role” in communications.

“He did us the courtesy of considering the offer before politely declining it,” Salter said.

Sadly, none of these ethical lapses would matter to the left wing if Fournier was writing glowing things about Obama's VP choice of Joe Biden. And of course, he is not.

Let's put aside Obama's VP choice for a moment (which was terrible, btw) and focus on Fournier, who has his hands in too many cookie jars for AP to even consider keeping him. It's not just the "breezy" correspondence with Rove, his discussions with the McCain campaign about a job before penning political columns that favor McCain over his opponents ... this guy also suffers from an acute case of Cokie Roberts Syndrome.

Oh, I'm sure he has stopped collecting speaking fees of up to $10,000 now that he's back at AP, but that's not the point: it still creates the appearance that he'll have a soft spot for the people who've paid him off in his not so distant past life. I'd love to hear what Jim Warren has to say about Fournier. In fact, I think it's time for a "Fournier Watch."

For the record, I agreed with Fournier's observations about the Michigan race.

The Arizona senator had the temerity to tell voters that a candidate who says traditional auto manufacturing jobs "are coming back is either naive or is not talking straight with the people of Michigan and America."

Romney jumped all over McCain, playing to the fears of voters in a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate. "I've heard people say that the auto jobs are gone and they're never coming back," Romney told his audiences. "Well, baloney, I'm going to fight for every single good job."

As if Mitt Romney could singlehandedly save the auto industry in Michigan? McCain was a hell of a lot more realistic and truthful and he may have lost the primary as a result. But you know what? Fournier shouldn't be writing this when he considered taking a job with the McCain campaign. It doesn't matter how valid his views on the Michigan primary are -- it gives the appearance of cozying up to someone. These are fundamental tenets of journalism ethics and Ron Fournier doesn't seem to be familiar with any of them.