New York Times: 'Rubio Got 17 Traffic Tickets!' Truth: 'Minus 13. Over 20 Years.'

Delivering work that will surely contend for a Pulitzer Prize, Alan Rappeport and Steve Eder have posted a piece at the New York Times’ political blog First Draft about Senator Marco Rubio’s driving record.

By poring over public records, the authors, with the help of researcher Kitty Bennett, found that Rubio was cited for traffic infractions four times in a span of almost twenty years. (It now seems that these intrepid newspersons had some help in the form of the Democrat-aligned oppo firm, American Bridge. Maybe they deserve that Pulitzer.)

I wonder what other dirt these truth-seekers will find.

The kicker: the headline wasn’t about Rubio’s four tickets. Instead, it read:

Marco Rubio and His Wife Cited 17 Times for Traffic Infractions.

You see, there’s really no bias in the media at all. Fast & Furious, the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the misinformation by the State Department about the deadly attack in Benghazi — all made-up scandals from the political right.

But this, this is really important: Republican presidential candidate’s wife has a lead foot while shuttling four kids around the traffic hellhole that is Miami.

In 1985, Michelle Obama wrote an incoherent thesis paper on racism, and many commentators thought that should have been off-limits during the 2008 campaign. Given the last seven divisive years under her husband, perhaps a little more attention should have been paid to her beliefs about that volatile subject. But Mrs. Rubio’s driving record? I guess voters are supposed to fear that she might go all Thelma and Louise as first lady.

However, the New York Times article digs even deeper — we learn that the Rubios not only got into intermittent trouble with traffic cops, they actually had the chutzpah to hire an attorney to defend them:

[A]fter Mr. Rubio was elected to the Senate in 2010 they took a different approach to handling their tickets.

Mr. Rubio hired Mr. Hanna, a Miami-based lawyer and donor, whose website sales pitch says, “Have you received a traffic ticket? Don’t pay it.

Rubio must instill dread in the hearts of liberal journalists everywhere. Another recent piece delves into Rubio’s finances, and discovers that … Rubio dipped into retirement funds to pay mounting bills. (Apparently, Rubio is like millions of other Americans struggling in the Obama economy.) The real story of his finances is that Marco Rubio, who entered public service fresh out of law school, has not enriched himself like the countless corruptocrats that govern us.

Dennis Hastert, a teacher turned congressman, amassed enough money to pay $3.5 million when blackmailed. The Clintons have somehow become filthy rich, and the Obamas haven’t done too bad themselves. But Rubio faces scrutiny for buying a replacement refrigerator with funds from his retirement — on which he’ll have to pay taxes and penalties for early withdrawal.

Keep it up, media. You give Marco Rubio better PR than he could have ever dreamed.