Reporters embedded with the Romney campaign took time off from covering the issues (I jest) yesterday to play a game of flag football with Romney's campaign staff.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney will be participating in his own political version of Monday Night Football when he faces off against President Obama in their final debate of the campaign cycle. But on Sunday morning, Mr. Romney took a break from debate preparation to make a stop at a gridiron of a different sort — a flag football beach face-off between members of the news media and members of Mr. Romney’s staff. [...]
After Mr. Romney left and the game was in full swing, his wife, Ann, made a brief appearance. After cheering from the sidelines, she finally decided to sub in. With the Secret Service serving as her offensive line, she threw a touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.
The game ended early — Mr. Romney’s aides needed to get to debate prep, and the reporters had stories to file.
To reiterate something I've witnessed over the past year as the campaign has dragged on -- previously reliable reporters who have been embedded with the Romney campaign since last summer have become unreliable at best and biased at worst, reporting critically at the outset of the campaign but in some cases now sugar coating their coverage on behalf of the campaign.
Clearly it's in some people's nature to adopt the mindset of those who they are surrounded by nearly every day for over a year, particularly in the case of reporters who, above all else, want to maintain their access, which is why news organizations should rotate reporters in and out of campaigns as often as possible.
This cozy relationship between embedded reporters and campaign staff is perverse.