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Connie Schultz apologizes for not mentioning husband’s likely opponent in column

avatar by Published Sep. 8, 2011 5:03 pm Updated Sep. 9, 2011 9:00 am

Cleveland Plain Dealer
Plain Dealer columnist Connie Schultz wrote Wednesday about “politely crashing” a Tea Party Express event held near her home last Saturday. One of the 450 or so in attendance was Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel, but Schultz failed to mention that.

“In retrospect, that was a mistake,” she writes today. Mandel been named as the likely 2012 Republican opponent of Schultz’s husband, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown.

“He frequently attacks my husband in public interviews and speeches, and the Tea Party event was no exception.
I did not mention him because I wanted to avoid the appearance of singling him out for criticism, or promoting my husband.”

This is my debut column for the Plain Dealer’s Metro section. Not what I had planned. But it’s the only way to proceed if I am to ask for your trust.

My error in judgment also caused unnecessary anguish for editors who trust me, and champion my work. I feel just sick about that.

> Blogger takes credit for “exposing her shenanigans” at the event
> From 2005 (summary only): Plain Dealer in tough spot as columnist’s hubby runs for office

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  • http://profiles.google.com/chrisphilipshome Chris Philips

    I read the column it question. It’s bitchy and poorly written, and frankly I don’t think it would make any difference if she were NOT married to the opponent of Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel. She clearly couldn’t find anything of substance to complain about so she resorted to criticizing a speakers belief in Jesus.
    “…I started asking some of these merrymakers if they agreed they should avoid associating with nonbelievers. Jews, for example”
    She also found it odd that those gathered would disapprove of Liberals,Democrats, Socialists and Communists, as if that in itself is unnatural.
    I think critics need to accept the fact that she’s a rabid partisan leftist (like many in the national media) and take what she writes with a grain of salt.

  • http://twitter.com/FlaFan FlaFan

    She’s been a journalist long enough to know that a conflict of interest is a conflict of interest, for columnists as well as reporters. She should never have covered that event, and her editor should not have let her do so.