TRACKING OUR LEGISLATORS SERIES - BOCCIERI LACKS POLITICAL MATURITY?

The SCPR used to be on Congressman John Boccieri's "press release" list. Apparently that was until The Report wrote a piece depicting Bocceri as a "flip-flopper" on cap-and-trade legislation.

Communications Director Jessica Kershaw called yours truly and audaciously attempted to scold because the SCPR did not initially go into a lot of detail (as provided by the Boccieri press office) why Boccieri flip-flopped. The premise of the scolding from the SCPR's perspective was that somehow The Report has an obligation to be public relations arm for the Boccieri message.

The basis of the SCPR story was that Boccieri changed from "looking Obama in the eye and telling him he wouldn't vote for cap-and-trade" to - in the end - voting for it.

The SCPR never believed and still doesn't that Boccieri would vote against any legislation that was crucial to the Obama administration.

Now Boccieri seems to have instructed his communications director (Kershaw) to "punish" the SCPR for not writing a public relations (PR) piece for him as The Repository, The Massillon Independent and The Alliance Review did and will undoubtedly continue to do off the press releases he sends them.

To the SCPR, press releases are for background and informational purposes only. If the SCPR uses material from a press release, readers are clearly informed of such.

Now that yours truly has seen the releases (at least in the past) and Boccieri pieces that appear in Stark County's major three newspapers, it obvious to yours truly that the newspapers' dutifully pump out Boccieri propaganda laced - err - public relations-esque articles.

The SCPR doesn't know for sure at this point if punishment is being meted out, but no Boccieri releases have been forthcoming since the SCPR cap-and-trade critical analysis piece and therefore it is likely that yours truly is being "sat in the corner" by Congressman Boccieri.

If such is the case, it shows how utterly politically immature John Boccieri and his staff are.

Hell will freeze over before the SCPR capitulates to Boccieri or any other elected and/or public official/figure who holds out conditional "carrots" as a way to force favorable coverage.

The SCPR may be the only Stark County publication that is not in the Boccieri spin zone.

Readers can be sure that the SCPR will assess and analyze the man who says is a "Congressman on Your Corner."

But is he?