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Erskine Bowles a "Conservative" to CBS's Bob Schieffer 3. CBS Resurrects Bush's "Conduct as a Businessman" 4. ABC: Wellstone Rally Boosted Mondale, No We Mean Coleman 5. Alter Hopes Wellstone Death Inspires Liberals 6.
Giuliani Notes Media Double Standard on Anti-Gay Bigotry 7.
"Gruff-Talking Conservative" vs. "Cheerful Bear of a Man" 8.
Jennings Highlights Desecration of Statue of Liberty 9.
Maher: U.S. Not Good, We Kill for Cheap Gas
Suggesting appointed Senator Jean Carnahan, who had never won election to anything before she was appointed to replace her husband, is "not up to the job," is a "smear" Republicans "use against women," Time's Margaret Carlson charged on CNN's Capital Gang. Carlson also expressed how she is "afraid" that Republicans will maintain control of the House after Tuesday's elections. On the November 2 Capital Gang Carlson, in a discussion about the Missouri Senate race, Carlson alleged: "I think the sympathy factor actually has passed by and now she [Jean Carnhan] is running on her own merits. I think she's been a good candidate. But Talent and the Republicans keep saying she's 'not up to the job' -- a smear they use against women. I think it's been somewhat effective and I think Talent is going to win." On the overall composition of the House, Carlson's hopes were raised, but now she's "afraid" Republicans will stay in control: "The shift in the consumer confidence, that drop, made me think that, you know, people would be sour going into the booth and it might work for Democrats but I'm afraid that the Republicans maintain a five seat lead."
Would you describe a Senate candidate as liberal, moderate or conservative whose Web site declares his support for Ted Kennedy's version of a prescription drug welfare entitlement and opposition to school vouchers and in a soundbite, on Friday's CBS Evening News, who proclaimed: "Think about family and medical leave and being able to take time off from work. Think about who's going to raise the minimum wage." If you're like most people you'd say liberal. But if you were CBS News reporter Bob Schieffer you'd describe that candidate, who wants to impose the family leave burden on business and raise the amount they must pay their staffs, as "pro-business," a "conservative kind of Democrat" and just plain "fairly conservative." Friday morning on Imus in the Morning on MSNBC, Schieffer declared of the Democratic Senate candidate in North Carolina: "Erskine Bowles would also, he would be, he would be the kind of Democrat that would be a great asset to Democrats across the South in that he is pro-business, he is, he is fairly conservative." The MRC's Rich Noyes noticed Schieffer's strange definition of a conservative and MRC analyst Patrick Gregory took down his words from the November 1 show. Schieffer contended about the North Carolina Senate race: For a rundown of how Bowles is to the left of the very un-conservative Dole, see a Web site his campaign set up: http://bowlesvsdole.com [1]
Just four days before the election the CBS Evening News decided to pick up on newspaper stories resurrecting "the President's conduct as a businessman" as Bill Plante raised vague charges of wrongdoing in how President Bush sold Harken stock in 1990. As Dan Rather put it, "there are new questions about Mr. Bush's sale of stock before he became President." The subject arose in a November 1 story about SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt as CBS contrasted his troubles and Bush's personal behavior with how Bush, on the campaign trail, "slammed corporate greed." Dan Rather set up the story, as taken down by MRC analyst Brad Wilmouth: "President Bush now finds himself dealing with two potentially damaging problems in what he says is his fight to clean up the corporate corruption mess. There are the multiplying difficulties for the man he appointed to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, Harvey Pitt, and there are new questions about Mr. Bush's sale of stock before he became President. White House correspondent Bill Plante reports." Plante began: "With new details emerging about the President's personal financial history and his chief financial enforcer under mounting scrutiny, Mr. Bush today slammed corporate greed with renewed zeal."
Did Democrats turning the Wellstone memorial service into a crass political rally help the election prospects for Democratic Senate candidate Walter Mondale or Republican candidate Norm Coleman? Depends which day you watch ABC News. -- John Donvan, as caught by MRC analyst Jessica Anderson, on Thursday's Nightline: "In Minnesota an emotional and political upheaval when Paul Wellstone, the incumbent Democrat, died Friday in a plane crash. His memorial service this week turned into a political rally, giving a likely boost to Walter Mondale, the retired Senator and former Vice President who today began his campaign for Senate in Wellstone's place." -- John Cochran on Sunday's World News Tonight: "Both campaigns believe Coleman got a huge boost when a televised memorial service for Wellstone Tuesday night turned into a Democratic political rally."
On Thursday's Imus in the Morning on MSNBC, Woodruff rationalized the booing and exhortations to vote Republicans out of office: "This was an exuberant and, and Wellstone was a rowdy guy, he was proudly a Democrat and, you know, why should anybody expect what, a balanced, Jim Lehrer NewsHour kind of event? I mean, we're talking -- Paul Wellstone was somebody who was passionate." The MRC's Rich Noyes observed that in an MSNBC.com piece posted the day before, October 30, Alter defended the tone of the event and enthused about the "passion" the service had instilled in liberals. Alter maintained: "The Wellstone memorial service was in perfect keeping with the man: a warm celebration of his life -- and the lives of those, including his wife and daughter, who died with him -- that was also a political rally." In addition to instilling passion, Alter hoped "there's another reason Wellstone's death could help his party nationally. It hobbles what for more than 20 years -- election after election -- has been the Republicans' best strategy for winning campaigns: to use the dreaded L word to destroy Democrats." An excerpt from Alter's October 30 "Between the Lines" piece headlined, "The Wellstone Effect: If only a marginal number of Democrats work harder because of the death of the senator, it will have an effect in the trenches where elections are won and lost." Before long, Democrats may view Paul Wellstone's death in a plane crash as the beginning of their resurrection. From the shattering news last Friday up to last night's boisterous memorial rally in Minneapolis, there was a deep, despairing sense among the party faithful that something more than the senator and the seven others on board his plane may have been lost. Liberals around the country called one another up and, after exchanging appreciation of Wellstone's passion and principles, asked: What has happened to us? Have we all become careful trimmers? Have we forgotten how to dream and fight?... Passion is a key ingredient in any political contest, especially a close one. Say you're a liberal Democratic voter living in close-fought New Hampshire or Colorado. You were intending to vote for Jeanne Shaheen or Tom Strickland, the Democratic candidates for the Senate, but not work for them over the weekend or next Tuesday. But now an emotional fuse has been lit. If only a marginal number of Democrats work harder because of Wellstone, it will have an effect in the trenches, where elections are won and lost. But there's another reason Wellstone's death could help his party nationally. It hobbles what for more than 20 years -- election after election -- has been the Republicans' best strategy for winning campaigns: to use the dreaded L word to destroy Democrats. The strategy was first employed in the 1970s by GOP consultant Arthur Finkelstein, who cut ads where the word "liberal" was spit out with contempt.... By 1998, Finkelstein's specific kind of frying-pan ad -- "He's Liberal, Liberal, Liberal" or "He's dangerously liberal" -- weren't playing quite as well. But the basic approach of the GOP hasn't changed. The goal this year has been to stigmatize Tom Daschle and the Senate Democrats and tie Democratic candidates to them.... This dog still hunts in Georgia, where Republican Saxby Chambliss is actually having some success making triple-amputee Vietnam vet Sen. Max Cleland look liberal on defense. But is it so crazy to think that such ads are going to be less effective in less conservative states after Wellstone's death? Over the weekend, the airwaves were filled with conservative senators all talking about how much they admired their colleague, even if they disagreed with him. It seemed sincere, and, for the first time in years, they actually used the word "liberal" without sneering. Now they will have to turn on a dime and say: keep that dangerous liberal so-and-so out of Washington. They'll do it, but it won't have the old passion behind it. The Wellstone Effect isn't likely to win the House back for the Democrats, but in a closely-divided country, it should help hold the Senate for them. Voters like a balance in Washington, a healthy debate. They liked seeing that Wellstone voted against the war resolution, even if they favored it. In recent years they have been reluctant to hand the White House, Senate and House to the same party. This year shouldn't be any different, thanks in part to Paul Wellstone. It wouldn't be the crowning legacy he'd have chosen, but he'd have been happy about it. END of Excerpt For Alter's polemic in full: http://www.msnbc.com/news/828177.asp [2]
During an appearance on the November 3 show, host George Stephanopoulos played a clip of this outburst from Sanders at a debate a couple of weeks ago in which Sanders blasted opponent Lindsey Graham for accepting support from Giuliani: Stephanopoulos wondered: "Do you think there's a double standard here? If a Republican ever brought up an issue of gay rights" One night last week the panel on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume also marveled at the national media's lack of interest in highlighting such prejudice from a Democrat when they certainly would have pounced on any such outburst from a Republican. Recall the media furor over Dick Armey insulting Barney Frank. A Shih Tzu is a puny dog.
Nice labeling. From my "pending" file something to squeeze in before election day, evidence that before Washington Post national political reporters are liberal national political reporters they are liberal political reporters for the "Metro" section. Check out the descriptions of the two candidates in this October 29 Washington Post "Metro" story headlined, "Maryland's 2nd District Key Partisan Battleground." The subhead: "Outcome Could Affect Control of Congress." With 2nd district incumbent Republican Bob Ehrlich running for Governor, the race to replace him features the Republican he replaced versus a local Democrat. Picking up the story with the third paragraph, after referring to the race in the 8th district bordering Washington, DC, reporter Spencer Hsu wrote: "Gruff-talking conservative" against a non-ideological "cheerful bear of a man." I think it's safe to predict that Hsu should rise fast through the Washington Post newsroom.
On the November 1 Larry King Live on CNN Maher espoused the now standard left-wing view that President Bush is only pursuing Iraq in order to distract attention from the economy. Maher also said "I never understand middle class people cheering when George Bush talks about tax cuts" since "it's politicians like him who fought campaign finance reform. That's the reason why business has not been held to the highest ethical standards" and thus caused massive stock market losses. Maher appeared in order to plug his new picture book of posters he'd like to see exhorting the public to do what he wants in the aftermath of terrorism, take-offs of actual World War II posters, "When You Ride Alone, You Ride With Bin Laden: What the Government Should Be Telling Us to Help Fight the War on Terrorism." Naturally, the posters focus on things like buying a hybrid car. The three most interesting exchanges: -- Maher: "As I said to my friend Mr. Leno the other night, when he was pilfering me about it -- I said, you know, Iraq is a case of herpes that is now suddenly being treated like it was cancer. I don't think in the last 12 years it became cancer. It was a disease we were containing. And it smells awfully funny that just after an election issue is needed -- you know, the Bushes, excuse me, are very good at creating an issue when an election comes around. You remember the American flag issue, the pledge, that nonsense that George Bush won on in 1988? OK, so three months ago the issue was going to be the fact in the last two and a half years the American economy has lost $8 trillion of wealth, which is going to run into real money, Larry." -- "I never understand middle class people cheering when George Bush talks about tax cuts and how it's your money. But they're not going to really see much of their money. It's also their money that's been lost in the stock market. And the reason why that stock market money was lost was because somebody was not watching over the thieves. When George Bush says we're going to hold business to the highest ethical standards, well, it's politicians like him who fought campaign finance reform. That's the reason why business has not been held to the highest ethical standards. He's championing people like Harvey Pitt and William Webster. So he talks a good game about it, but really, as I say, they work on two tracks. Here's what we're going to do, here's what we're going to sell them." -- King: "Why do so many countries hate us? And you write about that." And a country I hope that isn't upset that ABC is no longer providing a broadcast network forum for Maher to spew his venom. -- Brent Baker [3]
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As the video zoomed in on the fake statue, Jennings explained on November 1: "In the West Bank city of Ramallah, two Palestinian artists have created their own version of the Statue of Liberty at Mr. Arafat's headquarters, which the Israelis destroyed. You can see the torch is pointed down. That, they say, is intended to symbolize how the U.S. was inverting its own values by supporting Israel."
