People seem to forget that McCain is a bigger hawk on Iraq than Bush!
The Running Story of John McCain
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, April 12, 2004; Page C01
Is there a snowball's chance, a fleeting prayer, a remotely plausible possibility that John Kerry will pick John McCain as his running mate?
"It's not going to happen -- end of story, period, exclamation mark," says McCain spokesman Marshall Wittmann.
All that punctuation hasn't stopped the press from speculating about what would surely be a journalistic dream: a Democratic senator shattering tradition by picking a Republican colleague (and the man who mesmerized the media during his 2000 White House campaign) for vice president.
The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson quoted unnamed Kerry aides last week as saying an alliance with McCain could "energize the election, create a weeks-long buzz in the media, and, perhaps most importantly, attract the support" of swing voters.
Johnson says he wasn't "planning to write a McCain story," but that was what emerged from his reporting on the VP search. While he included McCain's demurrals, Johnson says, "denials about vice-presidential interest at this stage of the game should be taken with a grain of salt."
McCain did crack the door ajar last month by telling Charlie Gibson on ABC's "Good Morning America" that "John Kerry is a very close friend of mine. . . . Obviously, I would entertain it. But I see no scenario, no scenario, no scenario where that would happen."
The Arizona senator has since told the Detroit Free Press: "I will not leave the Republican Party, and I don't want to be vice president of the United States."
And he told MSNBC's "Hardball": "Number one, I want President Bush reelected. . . . Number two is I want to remain in the Republican Party. . . . Number three is there are a number of issues" where he is "in disagreement with the Democratic Party."
He was practically Shermanesque on NBC's "Today": "I am not and I will not be a candidate for vice president of the United States." And yesterday on "Meet the Press," his answer was: "No, no and no."
Other than that, it's a great story.
Adam Nagourney of the New York Times broke some ground by reporting that Kerry's veep screener, James Johnson, has spoken to at least four possible Democratic contenders: Sen. John Edwards (N.C.), Rep. Richard Gephardt (Mo.), New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. Just about everything else is a miasma of speculation.
Writes USA Today columnist Walter Shapiro: "Any name advanced at this early stage of the search is little more than a wild guess or a premature trial balloon lofted by a senior staffer to Kerry."
The political digest Hotline lists more than 50 people who have been mentioned, in some press account, as possible Kerry running mates. They range from Dianne Feinstein to Mario Cuomo, from Russ Feingold to Ann Richards, from Bob Kerrey to Tom Brokaw (who has denied any interest). Not to mention Hillary Rodham Clinton.
"I don't think journalists know anything," says Hotline Editor Chuck Todd. Some of the coverage, he says, is driven by "Florida reporters covering Bob Graham, Iowa reporters covering Tom Vilsack, New Mexico reporters covering Bill Richardson. It's got that local, gee-whiz flavor to it."
Veteran political analyst Charlie Cook offers this confession: "I have never, ever accurately predicted a running mate. I do not know anyone who has. I don't know a soul who thought Al Gore was going to pick Joe Lieberman, and I know Joe Lieberman. I don't know anyone who thought George W. Bush would pick the head of his running-mate search committee, Dick Cheney.
"When you see people on television pontificating about this, it should say across the screen: 'This is for entertainment value only.' "
On the other hand, says Cook, he just got an e-mail from his mother-in-law saying: "I hear it's definitely going to be McCain."
Inebriated Journalism
Jane Stebbins, a reporter for Colorado's Summit Daily News, says she was "absolutely astounded" when her picture -- with a black bar across her eyes -- appeared in the rival paper last week.
"Vigilante Gets Hers," said the headline in the Summit County Independent Daily. The story -- which was totally false -- said she had been arrested for driving under the influence, citing a flood of calls to the newsroom. "Some of the callers felt justice had finally been served," the story declared.
The two-year-old Daily apologized the next day for the bogus report. Ethan Harris, an advertising representative and one of the co-owners, made the decision to run the story -- and is now leaving the paper. Publisher Kristie Hannon blames "an internal screw-up" and "a failure of judgment" and says the false report was not confirmed with police. Hannon believes there was an organized "hoax."
Stebbins, who says she had two beers on the night in question "and never saw a cop," is convinced the callers were local residents angered by her reporting about a drug case and other matters. "People are talking about it everywhere," she says of the story. "I can't go anywhere without running into the conversation. It's been pretty harrowing. I'm physically drained."
Breslin, Round 2
Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin took some heat last week for attributing to the Rev. Lou Sheldon some inflammatory comments about gays, 12 years after Breslin says they were made. Sheldon, who heads the Traditional Values Coalition, insists he never uttered the remarks about how gays are "dangerous" and "proselytize your kids."
Breslin at first insisted he had written a column with Sheldon's comments after an initial 1992 piece that quoted some milder remarks by the minister. Then he called back to say "there was no second column" because, "with great shame," he decided it would be too controversial and "retreated like a coward."
Then he called again to say that he had written about the alleged Sheldon comments in a 1995 column. "You people are all the same -- you're lazy [expletives] in this business," Breslin declared, pointedly including this reporter.
The reason no one, including Newsday, could find the 1995 column -- which did contain the offending quotes -- is that Breslin didn't name Sheldon, referring only to "a short little minister from Anaheim, California."
Recycling Center
The Houston Chronicle has suspended sportswriter Mickey Herskowitz for a column that was virtually identical to one published in the now-defunct Houston Post in 1990. The author of that earlier column was . . . Mickey Herskowitz.
"While this is not plagiarism, it is bad form," the Chronicle says of the column on basketball coach John Wooden. The Chronicle also found the columnist recycling other bits and pieces from his Post days. Herskowitz, who will return later this month, has apologized, telling the paper: "I can't tell you how idiotic and stupid I feel."
Sweet Deal
Is mail-order giant Orvis Co. trying to buy favorable coverage? The firm has not only invited reporters for a three-day, expenses-paid "media familiarization" trip to a lavish Vermont hotel and spa to mark a new store opening, it's offering a 40 percent discount on anything they buy. Spokeswoman Abby Ward says any journalist can get the discount at any time "so we can get you our stuff and you'll use it and like it. It's not like bribery or anything."
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