Democrat Staffer Apologizes For Shoving Reporter

Leftwing blogger Greg Sargent notes:

As you may have heard, a Dem staffer helping the Martha Coakley campaign was caught on video shoving a Weekly Standard reporter, prompting an explosion of outrage from national Republicans and the right-wing media, who alleged bullying and intimidation.

Now the staffer, Michael Meehan, sends over a statement admitting error (though not conceding bullying) and saying he also apologized directly to the Standard reporter, John McCormack:

Last evening I was a little too aggressive in the confusion of trying to help the Attorney General get to her car and catch a flight.

I clearly did not intend to cause John McCormack to trip and fall over that low fence. As the video shows and he confirms in his blog, I stopped to help him up and make sure he was OK.

I talked with Mr. McCormack this afternoon and apologized for my part.

The question now is whether this remains an issue in the closing days of the white hot Massachusetts race. National Republicans have been hammering Dem candidate Martha Coakley today, demanding an apology, and it’s been lighting up talk radio all day today.

So you have to assume that even if McCormack accepts the apology — and I’m told he is going to — the national GOP and right-wing media will continue savaging Coakley over it.

Or to requote Jim Geraghty from the previous post, “Martha Coakley: Because she’s the victim in all of this.”

Update: McCormack accepts the Obama apointee’s apology:

A remorseful Michael P. Meehan called today to apologize (see here for background).

He said: “I just want to say to you that I’m sorry. And I’d just like to apologize. I appreciate your calling me back. I don’t want to make a big federal case out of it.”

He continued: “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were a reporter because you didn’t have any credentials, so I apologize for not knowing you were a reporter.”

I asked Meehan if he disputed anything that I wrote. “No,” he said.

I thanked Meehan for his apology.

No word yet if AP will revise its initial report of the story, with the headline, “Reporter stumbles chasing hopeful for Kennedy seat.”

Update: “Anatomy of a spin job gone bad.”