Bad Media Narratives, Take One

» Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Noriega visits Waco today

Noriega, a five-term state representative from Houston, won 29 percent of the vote in McLennan County during the March 4 primary, but lost to perennial candidate Gene Kelly, whose name many voters confuse with the late legendary dancer from musicals of yesteryear. Kelly, who did virtually no campaigning, won 40 percent of the vote in McLennan County, showing that Noriega suffers from name ID problems in the Waco area.

Noriega's name ID issues aside, I'm curious if there's been one single, solitary reporter who has actually identified one single, solitary voter who actually thought they were voting for the dancer. The Gene Kelly narrative is totally off-base, I think. My bet is that the bulk of voters don't think they're voting for a dancer they never heard of ... but rather just remember seeing his name on a ballot a few times before. In a sense, it doesn't matter much if his name is Gene Kelly or Hank Thompson. As long as he's on the ballot each year, I'm sure there are just as many people who think he's the Senator from Texas as think he's a famous dancer.