It's beyond me why David Broder is called the "dean" of the political columnists, when the veteran reporter and author of Party of the People (2003), Jules Witcover, has been doing so much better work for many years.
Witcover this week sounded like he may share some the Daily Howler's criticism of the press corps. In Gore's Blessing (12/10/03), he mentions the reason Al Gore actually gave for endorsing Howard Dean:
[Dean's] endorsement for president by former Vice President Al Gore was a huge surprise in its timing, less than six weeks before the first votes in the 2004 Democratic nomination race are cast in Iowa. But considering Dr. Dean's outspoken opposition to President Bush's invasion of Iraq and his handling of the aftermath, it made sense because Mr. Gore has been similarly critical.
He also isn't weeping because poor Joe Lieberman didn't get that phone call. He even said Lieberman sounded a bit "petulant" about the whole thing. He suggests this is why Gore wasn't interested in endorsing Lieberman: "Mr. Lieberman's strong support for the invasion of Iraq ran counter to Mr. Gore's opposition to the war."
And in Derailing the Debate (12/12/03), Witcover blasts Ted Koppel for his pathetic performance as emcee of the Democratic debate Tuesday evening. He approvingly quotes a Wesley Clark staffer: "I think the big loser tonight was Ted Koppel. He was short on substance and short on class." And Witcover concludes:
There was a time when news folk were supposed to keep themselves out of the story.
As an embarrassed member of the news fraternity, all I can say is: Thanks again, Ted. We needed that - like a hole in the head.
No comments:
Post a Comment