Tom Kean Jr. is under attack by the "out of control liberal media" and he needs his supporters to reach for their wallets.

The Kean campaign delivered that message Thursday afternoon six days after a well-publicized standoff between the congressman and the New York Times.

In short, a Times reporter was not allowed to cover a Kean fundraiser last Friday with Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House. Not only that, police were summoned because the scribe remained in the parking lot of a Warren County golf club, presumably hoping to talk to attendees.

The subject line of the fundraising appeal was:

"Apparently, this is journalism."

Actually, it is journalism.

The Speaker of the House coming into a district to campaign for a sitting congressman is news by any definition.

However, it is not surprising that the Kean campaign is framing the congressman's reluctance to engage with reporters - and the general public - as a never-ending battle between him and the left wing media.

That may indeed carry some weight in CD-7, which has almost 20,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats.

There is agreement by all that the district is one of the most competitive in the nation.

With that in mind, the appeal for campaign cash claims that the media is "so desperate to turn anything into a negative story."

And it adds:

"We cannot allow the liberal media to manufacture their way to a Democrat majority. Tom needs the resources to respond, get the truth directly to voters, and fight back against every misleading attack."

The reality here is that what happened with the Johnson-Kean event is hardly unique.

Just three days after the Johnson visit, Kean spoke at a "Protect the Vote" rally at Hunterdon County Republican headquarters in Flemington.

Reporters were not allowed into that event either. And when it ended, the congressman declined to speak to the three reporters waiting outside.