Networks Dissatisfied, Complain Bush
"Refuses to Condemn the Ad"
Media Research Center
Aligning themselves with the Kerry campaign spin line, ABC and NBC were dissatisfied Monday night with how President Bush condemned all 527 groups and not specifically the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. "President Bush today condemned the ads," ABC anchor Charles Gibson noted before he fretted, "but he only condemned the way such ads are financed, paid for by independent groups. He avoids condemning the specific content of the ads, and that infuriates Democrats." NBC's Tom Brokaw complained: "The President praises Kerry's Vietnam service, but refuses to condemn the ad."
Unheard Monday night: Any concern for having high government officials, prodded by the news media, intimidate citizens from exercising their First Amendment right to express their views.
Back from a month-long vacation, Dan Rather, surprisingly, did not follow the Kerry script: "President Bush denounces those anti-Kerry swift boat ads and says they should be pulled." CBS, however, aired a second story which recounted previous negative campaign TV ads, and Bill Plante, naturally, highlighted the 1988 Willie Horton ad which "played the race card." Plante soon charged the accuracy of the ads from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth doesn't matter since they are playing to the "fears" of people: "Some of the claims made by veterans in the Swift Boat ad have been contradicted by service records and by the recollections of other Vietnam vets, which confirm Kerry's account. But that may not diminish their effectiveness, since advertising tends to work by appealing to peoples' beliefs and fears."
ABC's World News Tonight, unlike the CBS or NBC newscasts, pointed out the disparity in outside spending as Jonathan Karl reported: "$145 million has been raised by independent groups tied to Democrats, compared to just $9 million by those tied to Republicans."
Will the ads hurt or help Bush? CBS's Byron Pitts warned: "David Gergen has served as an image advisor for both Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton. He says this episode could also hurt President Bush." But over on NBC, David Gregory maintained: "Political analysts say the Bush team is in no hurry to soften the blow from these ads, which only help the Bush campaign redefine Kerry."
(ABC's World News Tonight and CNN's NewsNight, which both discovered the swift boat story only after John Kerry denounced President Bus over the ads, on Monday night both dedicated stories to the smaller number of Kerry defenders in the swift boat corps who are coming forward to defend him. "Three more veterans who served with Kerry have come forward to contradict what the group has been saying," ABC's Gibson relayed in setting up a piece from Jake Tapper. CNN's Aaron Brown asserted that the "facts raise a lot of questions about the accuracy of the attacks." See item #2 below for more.)
President Bush's remarks, made as he stood outside his ranch house in Texas, were prompted by a reporter off-camera whom he identified as "Deb," who accused Bush of having supporters who are "re-fighting the Vietnam war" when it was Kerry who made it the centerpiece of his convention acceptance speech. She also suggested the criticism of Kerry may be "un-American" as she asked: "Some of your supporters are re-fighting the Vietnam War with their comments about Kerry's war record. Do you think that these attacks of this nature are unpatriotic, un-American, seeing as we're sending young people to war at this time?"
Bush replied: "Yeah, I think we ought to be debating who best to be leading this country in the war against terror, and that's what I continue to try to convince the American people of, is that I'm the right person to continue to lead the country in the war on terror. I think we ought to be looking forward, not backward, and that's the kind of campaign I'll continue to run."
The reporter was unsatisfied: "But why won't you denounce the charges that your supporters are making against Kerry?"
Bush: "I'm denouncing all the stuff being on TV, all the 527s. That's what I've said. I said this kind of unregulated soft money is wrong for the process. And I asked Senator Kerry to join me in getting rid of all that kind of soft money, not only on TV, but to used for other purposes as well. I, frankly, thought we'd gotten rid of that when I signed the McCain-Feingold bill. I thought we were going to once and for all get rid of a system where people could just pour tons of money in and not be held to account for the advertising. And so, I'm disappointed with all those kinds of ads."
A male reporter then asked: "This doesn't have anything to do with other 527 ads. You've been accused of mounting a smear campaign. Do you think Senator Kerry lied about his war record?"
Bush: "I think Senator Kerry served admirably and he ought to be proud of his record. But the question is who best to lead the country in the war on terror? Who can handle the responsibilities of the commander in chief? Who's got a clear vision of the risks that the country faces?"
(This morning, Tuesday, CBS's Early Show became the first broadcast network morning show to air an interview segment with anyone affiliated with Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Harry Smith spent 5 minutes and 30 seconds of the 7:30am half hour with John O'Neill, author of Unfit for Command, and Paul Alexander, a filmmaker who has just finished a pro-Kerry documentary, Brothers in Arms. For the MRC's August 23 Media Reality Check, "TV Focuses on Kerry's Spin, Not Kerry's History: ABC, CBS & NBC Morning Shows Have Failed to Interview a Member of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth," see: www.mediaresearch.org ) |
