A Tale of Two Articles

There are two John Edwards stories in the Washington Post today. One is on the front page, above the fold, and it concerns his house. His former house. in an article heavy on insinuation and light on, well, anything, we learn that Edwards' real estate agent has, after 18 months, sold his Georgetown home below its asking price to a corporate executive who's engage in union busting and possible stock fraud. At no point does it appear, or is it said, or is it even suggested that the buyer knew Edwards, that Edwards knew the buyer, or that anything occurred between these two men save for their real estate intermediaries conducting a property sale.

The other is in the back of the A section, on the op-ed page, beneath EJ Dionne's byline. EJ notes that Edwards is the only Democrat offering honest analysis of the tradeoffs between deficit reduction and social investment. In it, Edwards admits he wants to increase the capital gains tax because he believes "it's wrong to tax income from work at a higher rate than income from capital -- an extension of his long-standing theme that the country should not value 'wealth over work.'" He argues for rolling back the cuts for the rich and admits "prepared to disappoint voters who make a balanced budget their top priority: in favor of universal health care and renewable energy investment.

Now, which of these articles is a straightforward reporting of fact and which, at its base, is an opinion piece? Dionne's column would appear to report the policy preferences of a leading Democratic candidate for president. The front pager appears to insinuate that the sale of John Edwards' house to a corporate executive makes his populism insincere. That last bit I'd expect out of George Will. But the first bit, the reportage of a serious candidate's uncommon candor about his vision for the country, that seems the sort of article that should grace the first page of the nation's leading political newspaper.

So why didn't it?

Update: Over at the Thinkery, Stephen offers a look into the future:

Anyway, here's a preview of Solomon's next articles:

Crime Committed on Same Street Hillary Clinton Used to go to the Airport.

Tom Vilsack Once Bought a Hamburger at a McDonald's, and the Dude Behind the Counter Smokes Pot on the Weekends.

Barack Obama's Middle Name is "Hussein. Oh, wait, that one's already being done.