Now, the text of the December 9 Media Reality Check:
In breathless sentences this morning, network anchors proclaimed
the "bombshell" announcement that 2000 loser Al Gore was endorsing
Howard Dean for President. As the news leaked out last night, the
networks rushed to underline Gore's clout. ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN,
and NBC all seized the opportunity to remind viewers that Gore won
the popular vote in 2000.
But the endorsement also opened the door for an analysis of the
ideological positions of Gore and Dean. While four years ago, TV
reporters castigated George Bush's courting of the "far right,"
many suggested Gore's nod moves Dean toward the center, even as
they danced around the word "liberal." To review:
ABC. Last night, Peter Jennings eluded the L word: "This is very
big news for the Dean campaign because he has run well outside the
Democratic establishment."
CBS. Last night, reporter Wyatt Andrews predicted the Gore news
"will reverberate with the voters Dean now needs the most:
centrist and Southern Democrats." This morning, reporter Jim
Axelrod only called Dean "hard-charging" and noted the endorsement
"would be the first from a leading member of the Democratic Party
establishment and a huge step for a candidate running as an
outsider....It will likely give Dean a boost among centrists and
southern Democrats, voters he needs to win the presidency."
In an interview with former Gore aide Tony Coelho, co-host Rene
Syler touched on Dick Gephardt's claim that Dean was on the "wrong
side" on Clinton tax hikes, assault weapons bans, racial quotas,
and Medicare "cuts."
> NBC. This morning, reporter Carl Quintanilla touted the pick:
"Winner of the popular vote in 2000, Al Gore brings Dean the
support of key primary voters still mad about the Florida recount,
and he helps erase Dean's image as too scrappy, too liberal to
rally moderates." In an interview with jilted Joe Lieberman, Matt
Lauer avoided the L word: "In your opinion, has Al Gore changed?
This was Bill Clinton's Vice President, he was the New Democrat,
the centrist, and now he's endorsing Howard Dean, someone who's
seen by most people as an outsider."
Avoiding the liberal label also happened in print. USA Today's
Jill Lawrence used no labels, only noting Gore shared Dean's
"strong record" on "gay rights." Dan Balz of The Washington Post
had no mention of ideology except union leader Gerald McEntee
boasting the Gore nod would dispel the image of Dean as "another
George McGovern."
The New York Times twice labeled Dean an "insurgent" instead of a
liberal. Todd Purdum wrote: "Gore embraced an insurgent candidate
who has spent months railing against the brand of centrist-at-
home, hawkish-abroad Democratic politics that Mr. Gore worked 20
years to help build."
Some found Gore moving left instead of Dean moving right. Katie
Couric asked Tim Russert: "Because Al Gore is considered a more
centrist Democrat....Does that help him with that kind of moniker
in terms of being too liberal to be electable?" Russert saw a tiny
tilt: "He has been addressing the Moveon.org crowd, people that I
believe have a little bit left to, of center, where Al Gore had
been....it appears that Al Gore is trying to shed that and move a
little bit further to the left, embracing Howard Dean."
ABC's George Stephanopoulos also noted: "In this campaign, Joe
Lieberman has been the centrist candidate -- for the war, for free
trade. Al Gore had become more liberal and populist over the last
year." But Lieberman earned a lifetime American Conservative Union
rating of 20. If such a liberal record makes him a "centrist,"
reporters may never identify the "far left" of the Democratic
Party where Dean resides. |
