August 24, 2004
THE LAUGHINGSTOCK:
Campaign Journalists: Has Swift Boat Story Gone on Too Long? (Joe Strupp, August 24, 2004, Editor & Publisher)
As Sen. John Kerry spoke to supporters at a campaign event in New York City's East Village Tuesday afternoon, the swift boat controversy that has enveloped his run for the White House in recent weeks was on the minds of many of the journalists present.After the speech, when approached by an E&P reporter as he worked the crowd, Kerry declined twice to answer when asked what he thought of press coverage of the swift boat issue. After a third time, the candidate finally said, "I'm talking about the economy, jobs, health care and things that matter to Americans."
Kerry had raised the issue briefly during the speech at Cooper Union, declaring "we have seen a calculated effort to evade the debate. The Bush campaign and its allies have turned to the tactics of fear and smear because they can't talk about jobs, health care, energy independence, and rebuilding our alliances."
Some of the reporters covering Kerry said that the candidate had become less accessible on the campaign plane in recent weeks, with a few speculating that it might be because he did not want to face questions about the swift boat issue. But among them, different views arose over the swift boat story, with some saying it had gone on too long and others believing it was news that had to be covered.
"What I've heard from colleagues is that people feel it probably has had too long a life," said Frank James, a Chicago Tribune reporter. "We wish someone would put a stake in this vampire."
James also said some wondered why Kerry did not take on the issue himself earlier on. "He should have knocked it down early, but the campaign clearly thought it would go away."
A candidate can survive a press corps that doesn't like him personally, but not one that doesn't respect him professionally. The press and fellow Democrats would appear to have begun questioning the Senator's competence. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 24, 2004 11:43 PM
I question his continence.
Posted by: Noel at August 25, 2004 3:31 AMHanoi John appears to be rattled. He seems to have lost the initiative, and is merely reacting to what the other side is doing.
The professional politicians are fond of pointing out that how a candidate handles a campaign is some marker of how well he would handle the office he seeks.
Posted by: Lou Gots at August 25, 2004 7:26 AMHanoi John appears to be rattled. He seems to have lost the initiative, and is merely reacting to what the other side is doing.
The professional politicians are fond of pointing out that how a candidate handles a campaign is some marker of how well he would handle the office he seeks.
Posted by: Lou Gots at August 25, 2004 7:27 AMAgree with Lou - this provides an unflattering picture of how Kerry might act as president.
As for the story - going on too long - is shades of the Clinton scandal (let's just move on). Kerry could have stopped this with a good press conference or releasing his records but didn't. And if some of the newer charges (i.e. 1st purple heart not from combat) are taken on by the MSM the story won't die at all.
Noel;
A co-worker of mine once screwed up scheduling a meeting. She sent out an apology e-mail that said "Sorry for being so incontinent". No one remembers the screw up, but everyone remembers that e-mail. And no, it wasn't deliberate - she was surprised to learn that "incontinent" was a word and even more so what it meant.
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at August 25, 2004 8:28 AMWhat the heck is the MSM?
Posted by: oj at August 25, 2004 8:34 AM"Main Stream Media". It's an acronym I don't recall seeing much, if ever, until very recently in discussions of press coverage of the Swifties, etc. But now it's everywhere.
Which is interesting in itself, because in a way it's served as an internal marker tracking the spread of ideas through the blogging world, and the shorthand "MSM" spread lightning fast along with discussions of the Swifties.
It also says alot about the entrenched view in blogs regarding their position relative to the main stream media. Because of it's poor coverage of the Swiftie & Cambodia stories, the MSM is now regarded as obviously in the tank for Kerry, and it seems that recognition of that bias has very recently hardened into the shorthand "MSM".
Posted by: twn at August 25, 2004 8:52 AMYou've got to love the "It's not a story, it's not a story, it's not a story, it's been done to death" take of the MSM.
Posted by: David Cohen at August 25, 2004 8:54 AMI don't see how the story could have "gone on too long" when John Kerry still hasn't allowed anyone to ask him questions about it. I don't think the story can be anywhere near "put to bed" until the man holds a freaking press conference.
Posted by: Timothy at August 25, 2004 12:23 PMOJ - sorry for introducing MSM here - I thought you'd be up on all that. As twn notes it appears to have become slang for the liberal biased media.
As Timothy notes - release the records or hold a press conference if you want the story over.
I'll ask the obvious, but how long did they kick the dead horse of the "Bush AWOL" "story"?
Posted by: jsmith at August 25, 2004 11:31 PM