Murdoch Goes to Work

WSJ (subscription required):

As a presidential candidate, Democrat John Edwards has regularly attacked subprime lenders, particularly those that have filed foreclosure suits against victims of Hurricane Katrina. But as an investor, Mr. Edwards has ties to lenders foreclosing on Katrina victims.

The Wall Street Journal has identified 34 New Orleans homes whose owners have faced foreclosure suits from subprime-lending units of Fortress Investment Group LLC. Mr. Edwards has about $16 million invested in Fortress funds, according to a campaign aide who confirmed a more general Federal Election Commission report. Mr. Edwards worked for Fortress, a publicly held private-equity fund, from late 2005 through 2006.

...

He also promised to cleanse his portfolio of any investments that may be profiting from their losses. "I am going to divest" from any Fortress funds that have a stake in the subprime lenders that filed the foreclosures, he said in a telephone interview. "I will not have my family's money invested in these firms."

Two weeks after News Corp. purchased Dow Jones, the owner of the Wall Street Journal, the Journal runs a front page hit piece on a top tier Democratic presidential candidate.

I discussed this in an earlier post, but to recap, Edwards is getting slammed because he has done something that supposedly runs counter to the media's narratives of Democrats - "weak, effeminate socialists." If a Republican had done it - Hi Bain Capital's Mitt Romney! - the only narrative it would fit is "a rich Republican trying to screw the poor", which is not news and would not get any press - just see Haley Barbour's latest.

Even though this is a hit piece it is clear that there is no evidence of foul play or hypocrisy on Edwards' part. This is character assassination plain and simple, as they are trying to create an image of sleaze to undermine Edwards' trustworthiness and character. Murdoch has showed his hand.