Did I mention that Hugh Hewitt is all over it? :>)
WHAT WILL GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS ASK?
Even the folks at The New Republic are beginning to notice that Kerry won't talk to reporters. Kerry's been in the cocoon ever since his Christmas-Eve-in-Cambodia story collapsed, and the press pool doesn't like it:
"GRUMBLING FROM THE KERRY PRESS CORPS: This is from a Kerry pool report about the candidate's departure from Springfield, Oregon that was just e-mailed to reporters. It about sums up how the national press traveling with Kerry feels these days.
kerry walked through the crowd, tickling babies and talking to folks. But traveling pool was not allowed nearer than a telephoto lens, so we don't really know what was said. Local press however seemed to be allowed to wander freely. So, why are we paying all this $$$ again?
In many ways, Kerry's press aides are extremely attentive to the needs of the media horde traveling with them. But there is a creeping feeling among reporters that despite all the Democratic criticism of the Bush White House for making the president so inaccessible, that Kerry and his staff are not yet proving that things would be much better in a Kerry administration."
Ryan Lizza might usefully ask why Kerry is ducking the media. After all, the campaign has already retracted Kerry's "defining moment" of his life, so how hard could other walk-backs be? If they have been reading CaptainsQuarters, where the research on one of Kerry's crewmates isn't lining up with his stories. I suppose it is just a matter of time until CaptainsQuarters is accused of smearing the good name of a brave vet, and this man does indeed seem to have beeen quite brave and is a minister, but the press has never before simply refused to ask obvious questions about the key plares in the central drama of Kerry's life, the four months on which he has staked his claim to be president. The candidate had to retract a key portion of that account this week, and instead of swarming over all the other details, the elite media is silent, embarassed for him perhaps, but laso hopeful that it will blow over and they can return to carrying Terry McAuliffe's water on the Bush AWOL story.
Kerry's handlers might be keeping him away from reporters to wait and see what other holes might develop in the "band of brothers" story, but they also can't take him out of circulation completely, which means an appointment with the safest interview for Kerry in America. Kerry will appear with George StephanopoUlos tomorrow as there isn't any danger whatsoever that George will ask an unfomfortable question about the magic hat or the dates on which he went cross-border with the SEALs and the CIA.
The story of Kerry's backtrack made the RockyMountainNews (hat tip to Instapundit), and columnist Dave Kopel was kind enought to include a mention of my efforts to stay on top of the story. AmericanThinker believes the press indifference to such a major stumble may undermine what's left of press credibility. In the unlikely event that anyone from ABC looks up and wonders what all the scribbling is about, here's a readable scan of Kerry's 1979 movie review in which he asserts he took his patrol boat into Cambodia on "more than one occasion," including Christmas Eve 1968, and here's the blow-up of his Congressional Record testimony. But I am guessing that George offers a softball on the motives of the Swifties and avoids the obvious questions: "When were you in Cambodia and who was with you? Who sent you? How many men did you take? And tell us about the magic hat, please?" Watch that space tomorrow. Not only is Kerry on the spot, so is George. Can you imagine having an interview with Kerry and not asking the hard questions only to then see the story go to high alert on Monday? Every paper in America would be full of accounts of how George S. had let the big on go away.
A very interesting Sunday morning ahead.
And least favorite headline of the day within the Kerry campaign: "FRENCH TOWN QUIETLY CHEERS ON A SON: KERRY."
hughhewitt.com |
