Uppity Wisconsin

Or don't read in the papers, depending upon which ones you read.

If you read the Chicago Trib, you might have seen this from the AP: 

MADISON, Wis. - Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold entered this election year with $3.65 million cash on hand for his re-election bid.

But if you rely on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel exclusively (and many still do), all you'd know about Feingold is that some guy wearing a Brett Favre jersey and a cheesehead might run against him. Or not.

You also know that Scott Walker has raised a fair amount of money to run for governor, because it's been reported twice, here and here.

Feingold's cash on hand is relevant when you're writing about potential challengers without a nickel in the bank.

But the folks at the JS would probably say you can't overload readers with too many numbers on the same day, and the day Feingold announced he had $3.65-million they were busy with a story about a poll on the guy who isn't running and probably won't.

Bias or ineptitude? It hardly matters, since the result is the same.