Bush Up 51-45, But Jennings Stresses Negatives for Bush in Poll --9/28/2004

1. Bush Up 51-45, But Jennings Stresses Negatives for Bush in Poll
President Bush may have a "solid lead" over John Kerry in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, as the Tuesday Washington Post headline put it, but on Monday night ABC's Peter Jennings managed to emphasize the negative for Bush as he stressed how "the President is vulnerable in some areas" with 60 percent believing we're "bogged down in Iraq" and 51 percent who "say the war was not worth fighting." Though Jennings noted that "only 37 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Mr. Kerry," he discounted Bush's 52 percent favorable rating as "certainly not huge." Unmentioned by Jennings: How Kerry's unfavorable rating is greater than his favorable rating, that Bush has a 22 point advantage in supporter enthusiasm and Kerry has no advantage among women while Bush enjoys an 11 point lead with men.

2. Top Producer on Forged Memo Story Worked for Liberal Democrats
The top producer for the CBS show which used forged documents to advance a liberal Democratic cause, once toiled for left-wing Democrats -- elected ones, that is. Josh Howard, the Executive Producer of the Wednesday edition of 60 Minutes, served on the staff of current Senator Charles Schumer when Schumer was in the state legislature, moved on to the staff of former New York Congressman Stephen Solarz and later, while on the CBS News payroll, made large contributions to the Solarz campaign, Bob Novak revealed in his weekend compilation column.

3. GMA Avoids Swifties But Promotes Pro-Kerry Author/Filmmaker
While ABC's Good Morning America has avoided interviewing anyone from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, including a snub of John O'Neill, author of the bestseller, Unfit for Command, or any other anti-Kerry veterans spokesmen, Monday's show featured an interview with pro-Kerry filmmaker and friend George Butler, a session geared around promoting Butler's hagiographical book, John Kerry: A Portrait. GMA built a special set for the interview so Butler and Charlie Gibson could sit in front of five and six-foot high black and white photos of Kerry taken by Butler in the 1960s and 1970s. Though Butler sat behind Kerry when Kerry testified about alleged war crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, Gibson didn't ask about that as he preferred to toss softballs at Butler and admire Butler's "prescience" in seeing in 1964 Kerry's presidential capabilities. Gibson concluded the session: "You have a pretty good eye, both as a photographer and in terms of spotting talent to come."

4. NPR Challenges Bush Operative on Policy, Coddles Kerry Operative
NPR's Morning Edition aired complementary interviews with Mary Beth Cahill, John Kerry's campaign manager, and Ken Mehlman, Cahill's counterpart in the Bush campaign, but the Republican came in for considerably rougher treatment from Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep, who conducted both interviews. In the Mehlman segment, broadcast Friday, most of Inskeep's questions could be characterized as confrontational, whereas his Monday queries to Cahill ranged from moderately challenging to downright fluffy. Inskeep, for instance, pressed Mehlman to defend against the charge that "the President's campaign has regularly mis-characterized Senator Kerry's positions on a number of issues," but he failed to challenge Cahill on the same subject. Inskeep also presented the case that Bush is the true flip-flopper. But with Cahill, Inskeep empathized: "Why do you think economic issues...have not received more attention or gotten more traction in the campaign?"

5. Network News as Positive for Kerry as It Is Negative for Bush
ABC, CBS and NBC, which together reach about 25 million viewers each evening, have given Democratic candidate John Kerry the most favorable TV coverage of any presidential nominee since at least 1988, a newly publicized study by the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) determined. The study found three-fifths (62 percent) of Kerry's TV coverage was positive, while nearly the same proportion (59 percent) of George W. Bush's coverage was negative on the evening newscasts aired by the three broadcast networks.

6. Letterman's "Top Ten George W. Bush Debate Strategies"
Letterman's "Top Ten George W. Bush Debate Strategies."

Bush Up 51-45, But Jennings Stresses
Negatives for Bush in Poll

President Bush may have a "solid lead" over John Kerry in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll, as the Tuesday Washington Post headline put it, but on Monday night ABC's Peter Jennings managed to emphasize the negative for Bush as he stressed how "the President is vulnerable in some areas" with 60 percent believing we're "bogged down in Iraq" and 51 percent who "say the war was not worth fighting." Though Jennings noted that "only 37 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Mr. Kerry," he discounted Bush's 52 percent favorable rating as "certainly not huge." Unmentioned by Jennings: How Kerry's unfavorable rating is greater than his favorable rating, that Bush has a 22 point advantage in supporter enthusiasm and Kerry has no advantage among women while Bush enjoys an 11 point lead with men.

Jennings held the poll numbers to a short item on the September 27 World News Tonight: "Presidential politics. We have the results, tonight, of the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll. President Bush has maintained the lead he established coming out of the Republican convention: 51 percent of people who call themselves likely voters say they support Mr. Bush, 45 percent say they support Senator Kerry. One percent for Ralph Nader."
Jennings continued, over video of soldiers in Iraq: "The President is vulnerable in some areas: 60 percent of voters now say the U.S. is bogged down in Iraq and 51 percent now say the war was not worth fighting. That is six points higher in each case, since we last asked the question three weeks ago.
"Mr. Bush still does enjoy a 13-point advantage when voters are asked who they trust to handle the current situation in Iraq. [On screen: Bush: 53 percent, Kerry: 40 percent]
"And once again, Senator Kerry's so-called favorability ratings show what his challenge is. With five weeks left in the campaign, our poll finds that only 37 percent of registered voters have a favorable opinion of Mr. Kerry. 52 percent, which is certainly not huge, have a favorable impression of the President."

On screen over Jennings' last point: Favorable opinion of the candidate:
Bush: 52 percent
Kerry: 37 percent

In ABCNews.com's online summary of the poll, "Leading the Way: High Stakes as Debates Loom, With the Advantage Still to Bush," Gary Langer explained:
"Kerry's favorability rating, the most basic measure of a public figure's popularity, underscores his challenge: Just 37 percent of registered voters view him favorably, 42 percent unfavorably -- more unfavorable than favorable, and essentially unmoved since earlier his month. Bush's rating, by contrast, is 52 percent to 38 percent favorable.
"Enthusiasm tells a similar tale: Sixty-one percent of Bush's supporters are 'very enthusiastic' about his candidacy -- potentially an important factor in turnout -- while just 39 percent of Kerry's supporters are very enthusiastic about his. These views, too, are essentially unchanged in the last three weeks of campaigning.
"Kerry's problems include weakness among women, traditionally a stronger Democratic support group. In 2000 Al Gore won women by 11 points; now Bush and Kerry are about even among women, 49 percent to 48 percent. (Bush leads by 11 points among men, precisely the same as his margin among men in 2000.)"

For the entirety of Langer's analysis: abcnews.go.com

Tuesday's Washington Post put the poll results at the top of the front page: "Poll Shows Bush With Solid Lead." The subhead: "Despite Worries, Voters Cite Lack of Clarity from Kerry." For the news story by Dan Balz and Vanessa Williams: www.washingtonpost.com

Top Producer on Forged Memo Story Worked
for Liberal Democrats

The top producer for the CBS show which used forged documents to advance a liberal Democratic cause, once toiled for left-wing Democrats -- elected ones, that is. Josh Howard, the Executive Producer of the Wednesday edition of 60 Minutes, served on the staff of current Senator Charles Schumer when Schumer was in the state legislature, moved on to the staff of former New York Congressman Stephen Solarz and later, while on the CBS News payroll, made large contributions to the Solarz campaign, Bob Novak revealed in his weekend compilation column.

Dan Rather objected to CBS hiring Diane Sawyer, who had worked for Richard Nixon, so did Rather fight Howard's hiring? And it isn't as if CBS is forgiving of long-past political activity. Just in May the CBS Evening News tried to discredit John O'Neill of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth by bringing up how in 1971 he was "handpicked by the Nixon administration to discredit Kerry."

The MRC's Tim Graham alerted me to the first item in Novak's weekend column which regularly features three or four short items, a column not carried by the Washington Post, but which is run on Sundays by many papers around the country.

Novak reported: "The executive producer of CBS's 60 Minutes midweek broadcast, who partially blamed the Bush White House for bogus documents used by Dan Rather, is a former staffer for New York Democrats who was still making political contributions while on the network's payroll.
"Josh Howard served on the staff of Rep. Stephen Solarz and worked for Sen. Charles Schumer when Schumer was a state assemblyman, a background confirmed by CBS. Federal election reporting records show that Howard, identifying himself as a CBS employee, contributed $1,000 in each of Solarz's last two campaigns for Congress in 1990 and 1992.
"When CBS first conceded possible defects in the documents about George W. Bush's military service, Howard said: 'If the White House had just raised an eyebrow -- they didn't have to say they were forgeries -- but if there was any hint that there was a question, that would have sent us back.'"

For the rest of that Novak column, check the TownHall.com posting of it: www.townhall.com

The 1990/1992 donations to Solarz came when Howard was working as Mike Wallace's producer, according to the career timeline outlined on Howard's posted bio which noted that Howard joined CBS in 1981, at WCBS-TV in New York City, thus placing his Schumer/Solarz work in the late 1970s. Howard has spent the last decade and a half with 60 Minutes, but he also put in a stint in the late 1980s as a producer for the CBS Evening News.

With the merger of 60 Minutes and 60 Minutes II in June, Howard became Executive Producer of the Wednesday edition just in time to oversee the hit job on Bush using the forged memos.

For his bio on CBSNews.com, with a picture of him: www.cbsnews.com

So, did Dan Rather object to Howard becoming a CBS Evening News producer? After all, as Diane Sawyer confided on Larry King's CNN show last Wednesday, when CBS hired her Rather told her: "'I didn't think you should be hired. I fought your being hired and I wanted you to hear it from me before you heard it from anybody else,' because I had worked in the Nixon administration." See: www.mediaresearch.org

And impugning someone's present day motives based on a political tie in the 1970s is certainly not out of bounds at CBS News. Back on the May 4 CBS Evening News, in trying to discredit the claims made at a Swift Boat Veterans for Truth press conference, CBS reporter Byron Pitts asserted: "But if you think this is just a concerned group of veterans, think again." Pitts pointed out that John O'Neill "debated Kerry about Vietnam on the Dick Cavett Show in 1971. Back then he was handpicked by the Nixon administration to discredit Kerry." See: www.mediaresearch.org

Just as Josh Howard was handpicked by Stephen Solarz to discredit House Republicans a few years later.

To use the reasoning forwarded by Pitts, "if you think CBS News is just a concerned group of impartial journalists, think again."

GMA Avoids Swifties But Promotes Pro-Kerry
Author/Filmmaker

While ABC's Good Morning America has avoided interviewing anyone from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, including a snub of John O'Neill, author of the bestseller, Unfit for Command, or any other anti-Kerry veterans spokesmen, Monday's show featured an interview with pro-Kerry filmmaker and friend George Butler, a session geared around promoting Butler's hagiographical book, John Kerry: A Portrait. GMA built a special set for the interview so Butler and Charlie Gibson could sit in front of five and six-foot high black and white photos of Kerry taken by Butler in the 1960s and 1970s. Though Butler sat behind Kerry when Kerry testified about alleged war crimes committed by U.S. soldiers in Vietnam, Gibson didn't ask about that as he preferred to toss softballs at Butler and admire Butler's "prescience" in seeing in 1964 Kerry's presidential capabilities. Gibson concluded the session: "You have a pretty good eye, both as a photographer and in terms of spotting talent to come."

[The MRC's Tim Graham submitted this item for CyberAlert]

Not only has GMA snubbed John O'Neill and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, the ABC News morning show has so far skipped over Carlton Sherwood and the other people behind the new anti-Kerry documentary, "Stolen Honor." (For more on that film, see: www.stolenhonor.com )

But in the 8:30am half hour on Monday, September 27, Gibson, the MRC's Jessica Anderson noticed, weirdly suggested that "most of us don't know much about John Kerry. Now, filmmaker and photographer George Butler has known John Kerry for 40 years. He's taken thousands of pictures of him, many of which appear in a new book which is called John Kerry: A Portrait, and George Butler has also made a film, Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry. It's a film that opens Friday, and George Butler shared his insights into the man who may be our next President. Kerry gave you, I understand, has given you some footage of when he was in Vietnam. Let's take a look."

John Kerry, speaking over video: "After all of the shooting and killing and the supposed carrying out of orders that were for the benefit of these people, there was this dead Vietnamese on his own ground, lying there alone with no honors, no ceremony, nothing in a sense to justify his death except what he died with and what he died for."
Gibson: "Not an interview done with the presidential campaign going on, an interview done in 1970."
George Butler: "It's quite remarkable in its poignancy, and it tells a little chapter in the war in Vietnam."
Butler explained how he met Kerry in 1964, and immediately thought he might be President some day. In most pictures and film of Kerry's 1971 testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, young George Butler can be seen over his shoulder. But Gibson asked no questions about that wildly controversial testimony in which Kerry hurled his accusations about the random daily atrocities allegedly committed by American soldiers in Vietnam. Gibson simply asked: "Talk me through some of these pictures that you like, here that we have in the background and the ones the book."
Butler, referring to the large blow-ups in the background as viewers saw full screen shots of the pictures he described: "Absolutely. My favorite photo of John is a photograph of him with John Lennon, which I took at a peace rally in New York in 1971. It was an extraordinary moment. The picture right behind me is interesting. It's Teddy Kennedy campaigning for Kerry when he ran for Congress in 1972, but just over John's shoulder on the right, there is John Kerry's father looking very proud of his son."
Gibson: "The expression on his dad's face is wonderful, and it is a real expression of pride and it's a father's face."
Butler: "It is a real father's face. Absolutely."
Gibson: "Right. Now, so when you drop back into John's life, as you have done periodically since you met him, does he always say 'oh, here's George with the camera again'?"
Butler: "Kerry gave me a great opportunity to do this and I truly wouldn't have done it unless I felt that one day it would be valuable, because the entire time I was taking these pictures, there were no market for the photographs."
Gibson wrapped up with praise for Butler's supposed foresight: "You have a pretty good eye, both as a photographer and in terms of spotting talent to come. George Butler, good to have you with us. Thanks very much. Nice to see you."
Butler: "Thank you, pleasure."
Gibson: "1964, thinking maybe someday this fellow will run for President -- quite prescient."

If there were any doubt that Going Upriver" is a glowing pro-Kerry document, consider this September 27 review headlined, "It's Popcorn Propaganda," in the San Francisco Examiner by Patrick Mattimore:
"Going Upriver is a two-hour long, one-note drumbeat on the theme of John Kerry's leadership. It effectively answers the flip-flop charge, and Kerry's Vietnam change of heart stands out as the triumph of moral principles forged from a battleground hell. Unlike Moore's movie, which sounds an 'anybody but Bush' refrain, Going Upriver strikes a 'no one but Kerry' high note.'"

For the whole review, see: www.sfexaminer.com

For Amazon's page for Butler's fawning book, John Kerry: A Portrait: www.amazon.com

NPR Challenges Bush Operative on Policy,
Coddles Kerry Operative

NPR's Morning Edition aired complementary interviews with Mary Beth Cahill, John Kerry's campaign manager, and Ken Mehlman, Cahill's counterpart in the Bush campaign, but the Republican came in for considerably rougher treatment from Morning Edition co-host Steve Inskeep, who conducted both interviews. In the Mehlman segment, broadcast Friday, most of Inskeep's questions could be characterized as confrontational, whereas his Monday queries to Cahill ranged from moderately challenging to downright fluffy.

[Tom Johnson, who monitors NPR for the MRC, took down all the questions posed in the two interviews]

Inskeep pressed Mehlman to defend against the charge that "the President's campaign has regularly mis-characterized Senator Kerry's positions on a number of issues," but he failed to challenge Cahill on the same subject. When Mehlman mentioned "stay the course," Inskeep fired back: "Does that mean that President Bush, if re-elected, will stay with the same strategy in Iraq, no matter how things go on the ground, no matter how much time it takes, no matter what the cost, no matter how much violence?" And Inskeep forwarded to Mehlman a Kerry campaign spin point as he argued that Bush is the real flip-flopper: "Saying that the war will cost 50 billion [dollars] and then spending $200 billion? Saying that it will take a limited number of troops and then committing to more than 100,000 for a long period of time?"

But with Cahill, Inskeep stuck mainly to prompting talking points and posing strategy questions about how to win Ohio and: "Your campaign has begun describing Iraq as a quagmire. Is that a fair term to use, and why begin using it now?" Plus: "Why do you think economic issues like the ones you just raised have not received more attention or gotten more traction in the campaign?" Inskeep empathized: "The women's vote is not where the Kerry campaign would like it to be. Part of the reason might be because of women's concerns about security, and you're talking about 9/11 widows, and mothers of children in Iraq. That's not an accident."

Below is a list of Inskeep's questions, followed by synopses of the replies, in the order in which they aired.

Inskeep to Mehlman, on the Friday, September 24 Morning Edition:

-- "Would you still say that Ohio is a state, as the campaigns have said in the past, that is critical for either side to win?"
(Mehlman: Yes, and it'll probably be competitive, but Bush is doing better and better there.)

-- "Another state that's close to Ohio, but where the polling results have been very different, is Michigan, where Senator Kerry has consistently had a fairly narrow lead. Why is that state different?"
(They're demographically different -- Michigan will be competitive -- Kerry wanted to raise fuel-efficiency standards -- that would have caused unemployment in Michigan auto industry.)
"You're talking about a vote that Senator Kerry made years ago in the Senate, correct?"
(He's spoken out on this issue repeatedly. He also supported the Senate version of the Kyoto treaty.)
"Actually, Sen. Kerry has said that he would not favor continuing with that treaty."
(He voted in favor of legislation that would have much the same effect. That would cost jobs in Michigan and Ohio.)

-- "What would you say to those who think that the President's campaign, and perhaps the same charge could be made against Senator Kerry's campaign, would say that the President's campaign has regularly mis-characterized Senator Kerry's positions on a number of issues?"
(Disagree -- the election is about issues and facts)
"I'm thinking of something that was on Morning Edition earlier this week. Senator Kerry said, 'Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell, but that was not in and of itself a reason to go to war.' By the time that statement by Senator Kerry was turned around and recycled by the President's campaign, what President Bush said was, 'My opponent said the world was better off with Saddam in power.' Isn't that a distortion?"
(Not at all -- Kerry said we traded a dictator for uncertainty and chaos -- Kerry told Howard Dean that anyone who thinks the world isn't safer with Saddam out of power doesn't have the judgment to be President.)
"Seems like a couple of different issues here. There's a question of whether Saddam Hussein is in power, and the question of what has happened afterward. Do you really believe that Senator Kerry was a supporter of Saddam Hussein, thinks that he was good for U.S. security?"
(We didn't say he supported Saddam -- what we've said was that Kerry's not fit to be president based on what he told Dean -- Kerry's position keeps changing, and often seems defeatist.)

-- "Dan Senor, a former spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad, was on this program a few days ago, and he made a very similar point in support of President Bush, saying you know where the President stands when it comes to something like Iraq, and I suppose you could summarize the President's public position as 'stay the course.' I do have one question about that, though. When you say 'stay the course,' does that mean that President Bush, if re-elected, will stay with the same strategy in Iraq, no matter how things go on the ground, no matter how much time it takes, no matter what the cost, no matter how much violence?"
(Bush's goals are to spread freedom and defeat the terrorists -- Bush is resolute -- Kerry's goal changes.)

-- "John Kerry has looked at what you describe as strong and resolute leadership and said the President is stubborn. That's a word he's used again and again. Is that a fair characterization of the President?"
(Bush is stubborn in his defense of freedom, but flexible in terms of tactics.)
"When you say 'flexible' and 'adaptable,' isn't that something that in the hands of an opponent could be described as 'flip-flopping'? Saying that the war will cost 50 billion [dollars] and then spending $200 billion? Saying that it will take a limited number of troops and then committing to more than 100,000 for a long period of time?"
(He's responding to the situation on the ground -- a leader must focus on his goal.)

Inskeep to Cahill, on the September 27 Morning Edition:

-- "We're talking about tactics here, but I wonder if there's a substantive point here as well in that the Bush campaign plainly feels that if this election is decided on issues of national security, the President may have an advantage. Does your campaign feel differently, John Kerry's campaign?"
(We want this campaign to be about the real issues -- Iraq, also the economy, health care, education -- President Bush and his campaign haven't addressed the real issues in Iraq.)

-- "Your campaign has begun describing Iraq as a quagmire. Is that a fair term to use, and why begin using it now?"
(We've committed $200 billion -- President Bush doesn't seem to have an exit plan -- the Bush administration hasn't trained Iraqi security well enough.)

-- "One other thing that Senator Kerry has said repeatedly is that he would speed up the training of Iraqi forces. That's one of the ways, he says, that he would get some American forces, and eventually all American forces, out of the country. The White House has also said that it would attempt to speed up the training of Iraqi forces, and the major criticism of the administration's plan is [that] it takes a certain amount of time to build an army from scratch. It's hard to speed up that process. What makes you think the change in the White House could change what is actually possible for military trainers to do on the ground?"
(The Irish and the French have done a lot of that kind of work -- if we could get them to help, that'd be great, but they won't help as long as Bush is President.)

-- "Should Americans think first about national security when deciding how to vote in November?"
(National security is primary -- then we'll look at jobs, health-care costs -- the Bush campaign doesn't take those two issues seriously.)

-- "Why do you think economic issues like the ones you just raised have not received more attention or gotten more traction in the campaign?"
(Iraq dominates the news -- it's very unstable -- just last month Ohio lost 11,000 jobs -- people in battleground states want candidates to talk about job losses.)

-- "People tell pollsters they are concerned about those issues, but something else has happened in recent polls, and that is that, particularly with women voters, a lot of them who would normally support Democrats are saying, 'I am concerned about economic issues, but I'm more concerned about national security, and maybe I'm leaning toward President Bush as a result of that.' Why do you think that's happening?"
(Women affected by Beslan -- women often decide their vote late -- many undecided voters are women -- they're listening to Kerry -- he's addressing the issues they care about.)

-- "When you look at what's happening in the state of Ohio right now, [a] critical swing state, what do you see?"
(A great organization -- Kerry, Edwards, and their wives are there often -- 9/11 widows who endorsed Kerry will campaign there -- mothers of soldiers serving in Iraq to visit as well.)

-- "It's really interesting that we were just talking about the fact that the women's vote is not where the Kerry campaign would like it to be. Part of the reason might be because of women's concerns about security, and you're talking about 9/11 widows, and mothers of children in Iraq. That's not an accident." (Some 9/11 widows had to pressure the Bush administration to have a 9/11 commission.)
"And one of the places they're going is Ohio...a state where Senator Kerry has been trailing in surveys. Can Sen. Kerry win the election if he loses the state of Ohio?"
(Kerry won't lose Ohio -- we have a great organization there -- don't believe every poll you read.)
"You have a confident-looking smile on your face...You want to give me a specific reason for that confidence?"
(I believe in Kerry -- he came from behind in Iowa -- he's best when he's in a fighting stance.)
"You do get to a point, though, of course, in a campaign where money is tight. You have to make decisions, you have to abandon some states, inevitably. Are you determined to stay with Ohio and spend television advertising money in Ohio all the way through the election, no matter what?"
(Absolutely -- the Kerrys and the Edwardses will be there a lot.)

Another reason for Cahill's "confident-looking smile" might be her awareness that the media are in Kerry's corner -- and in these interviews, at least, Inskeep's bias was hard to miss.

Network News as Positive for Kerry as
It Is Negative for Bush

ABC, CBS and NBC, which together reach about 25 million viewers each evening, have given Democratic candidate John Kerry the most favorable TV coverage of any presidential nominee since at least 1988, a newly publicized study by the non-partisan Center for Media and Public Affairs (CMPA) determined. The study found three-fifths (62 percent) of Kerry's TV coverage was positive, while nearly the same proportion (59 percent) of George W. Bush's coverage was negative, according to summary tables posted on the organization's Web site. See: www.cmpa.com

The MRC's Rich Noyes submitted this article for CyberAlert.

But in writing up the study for Monday's Washington Post, reporter Howard Kurtz misleadingly juxtaposed the positive coverage Kerry received from the broadcast networks with far more negative coverage the Democrat received on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume. "If you were watching Fox News Channel's 6 p.m. newscast, you would have seen about the same coverage of the President," Kurtz claimed, "but Kerry's evaluations were negative by a 5 to 1 margin."

But the FNC statistics are not comparable to the network numbers showing positive coverage of Kerry, as CMPA explained in both their statistical tables and a press release dated September 9. The CMPA study looked at ABC, CBS and NBC's election coverage, on their evening newscasts, from June 1 to September 2, and found Kerry received his best press during June and July (76 percent positive from June 1 to July 25, then a whopping 97 percent positive from July 26-29 during the Democratic National Convention). CMPA did not begin analyzing FNC until August 1, and thus only focused on time periods when Kerry's was receiving predominantly negative press coverage from all of the networks.

CMPA's tables show that from August 1 to September 2, Kerry -- like Bush -- got mostly negative press from ABC, CBS and NBC (59 percent negative), although coverage on FNC's Special Report was much more negative (83 percent negative). But even that number includes the opinions of roundtable pundits such as Fred Barnes and Charles Krauthammer, as Kurtz did mention in his Monday story. None of CMPA's tables compared the straight-news stories offered in the first forty minutes of Special Report with the stories aired on ABC, CBS and NBC.

Despite those important caveats, CMPA's spokesman Matt Felling criticized FNC's coverage for being too negative on Kerry: "If this is what passes for 'fair and balanced' journalism, it looks like someone has a finger on the scale at Fox News."

CMPA's Web site detailed the major findings of their analysis of broadcast network news, which the Center has been publishing every election year since 1988 using the same methodology. In 1988 and 2000, CMPA found the Democratic and Republican candidates got roughly similar amounts of good and bad press during the general election, but in 1992 and 1996 the Democratic candidate (in both cases, Bill Clinton) was treated to much more favorable coverage than the Republican candidate. CMPA has never documented an instance of a Republican presidential candidate getting better press over a significant period of time in any general election campaign.

CMPA appears to be moving their archives over to a newly-formatted Web site, so most of those previous studies are not available. But the tables showing the broadcast networks tilt in favor of John Kerry this summer are available in PDF format: www.cmpa.com

Now, an excerpt from Howard Kurtz's September 27 Washington Post story, which did not contain any hint that the FNC component of the study excluded periods when Kerry would be expected to receive more favorable press coverage:

If you were watching the network evening news in June, July and August, you would have seen somewhat favorable coverage of John Kerry -- six out of 10 evaluations were positive -- and somewhat unfavorable coverage of President Bush.

If you were watching Fox News Channel's 6 p.m. newscast, you would have seen about the same coverage of the president. But Kerry's evaluations were negative by a 5 to 1 margin.

That finding, by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, might suggest that some Fox folks have it in for Kerry. Or it might suggest that the broadcast networks are too easy on Kerry, who the group says has gotten the best network coverage of any presidential nominee since it began tracking in 1988. Or that we have entered an era of red media and blue media to match the country's polarization....

Brit Hume, Fox's Washington managing editor, whose "Special Report" was examined by the study, says he's surprised by the anti-Kerry findings. "Our day-in, day-out coverage by Carl Cameron has been extremely fair to Kerry, and the Kerry campaign has recognized this," he says.

"We did a lot on the Swift Boat Veterans. We thought it was a totally legitimate story and found it an appalling lapse by many of our competitive news organizations that were treating that story like it was cancerous." But even there, Hume says, "we were abundantly fair to John Kerry's side."

Matthew Felling of the media center is skeptical. "If this is what passes for 'fair and balanced' journalism, it looks like someone has a finger on the scale at Fox News," he says. For the NBC, CBS and ABC evening newscasts, Kerry drew 62 percent positive evaluations and Bush 41 percent.

Some of the anti-Kerry comments come from the show's commentators, not its reporters. On Thursday, after airing straightforward news reports on a speech by Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, and Kerry's criticism of the remarks, Hume asked his pundit panel for reaction. "Disgraceful," said Charles Krauthammer. Michael Barone called it "bad politics." Mort Kondracke accused Kerry of "pessimism."...

END of Excerpt

For the entire Kurtz article, go to: www.washingtonpost.com

Letterman's "Top Ten George W. Bush Debate
Strategies"

From the September 27 Late Show with David Letterman, the "Top Ten George W. Bush Debate Strategies." Late Show home page: www.cbs.com

10. Ask the question, "We've never had a horse-faced President so why start now?"

9. Instead of witty retorts, have secret service wrestle Senator Kerry to the ground.

8. Use Kerry's long-winded answers to take much needed bathroom breaks.

7. Hope one of them hurricanes cancels the debate.

6. Instead of water, fill Kerry's mug with Red Bull and vodka.

5. Find time to work in joke prop -- giant waffle.

4. Moving his lips to pretend microphone isn't working.

3. Handle it same way he handled National Guard duty -- don't show up.

2. If Kerry makes a good point, distract him with some chaw spit in the eye.

1. Point out Senator Kerry's mispronunciation of the word "nucular."

-- Brent Baker