MediaWatch: February 1995
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: February 1995
- The Newt-Centric Media Universe
- NewsBites: Partisans and Pansies
- Revolving Door: NBC Goes Left with Moyers
- ABC News Argues Voters Don't Really Want Contract with America
- The Tyrannical Pope
- Regulation: A Burden?
- CNN's on the Bill Schneider Contract
- Janet Cooke Award: PBS: Clinton Fails the Liberal Litmus Test
CNN's on the Bill Schneider Contract
Call Him Mr. Flip-Flop
To CNN political analyst William Schneider, the impact of the GOP "Contract with America" seems to be whatever fits the conventional wisdom of the day.
Two weeks after 350 Republicans signed the Contract, Schneider suggested on the October 10 Inside Politics: "Newt Gingrich may be doing the President a little bit of a favor....Instead of a national referendum on Clinton, the Democrats want this to be a national referendum on going back to Reaganomics. And I think the Contract with America may play into their hands."
He seconded that emotion on the October 14 Inside Politics: "Republicans did Mr. Clinton a favor....Democrats don't see a lot to vote for in this election, but the Republicans have given the next best thing to the Democrats which is something to vote against."
But after the historic GOP gains in the November 8 elections, Schneider awarded the Contract and its mastermind Newt Gingrich with the political "Play of the Year." On the December 22 "Year in Review" special on politics, he gushed: "It had all the qualities we look for in a brilliant political maneuver. It was bold, it was risky, the stakes were high, and, it worked. It was the House Republicans' Contract with America...It was a great play and it had a great payoff. The Contract not only brought the Republicans to victory, it also gave them something President Clinton can no longer claim: a mandate."
Yet by the time Judy Woodruff asked him on the January 3 Inside Politics, "So what happened to that famous Republican mandate we were hearing about in November?" he reversed his position yet again: "Well Judy, consider this. Just a little more than one-third of the public has ever even heard of the Republican Contract with America. Over 60 percent say they don't know anything about it. The Contract was not a big factor in the election last November."
Finally, prior to President Clinton's January 24 State of the Union address, Schneider flip-flopped once more: "There are a lot of people who've noticed that the spotlight has shifted to Newt Gingrich, as if he were the President. Newt Gingrich does have an agenda, and he did get a mandate along with the House Republicans because of the Contract with America out of the 1994 elections." We await his next flip.
