Russert and Couric Assume Kerry Ignored
Swift Vets Ad in August
The morning after President Bush's speech before the Republican National Convention, the three broadcast network morning shows led off with explosions and gunfire at a Russian school seized two days earlier by terrorists and a major hurricane threatening Florida. But when they finally got around to politics, NBC's Katie Couric and Tim Russert seemed more interested in John Kerry's midnight rally in Ohio, where Kerry blasted Bush and Cheney as "unfit" for office.
Russert claimed Kerry had been "silent through the month of August" regarding attacks on his military service record and 1971 congressional testimony in which he alleged war crimes on the part of the U.S. military in Vietnam. "People are scratching their heads, saying, why did it take a month?" Russert told Katie Couric Friday morning on Today.
In fact, Kerry was anything but silent. Two weeks ago he gave a speech blasting President Bush, the Republican Party and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. At the same time, his campaign launched a television ad denouncing the Swift Vets charges as "smears" and "lies" sneakily perpetrated by the Bush campaign. Kerry's August 19 attack served to jumpstart coverage of the issue, which the broadcast networks had previously all but ignored. After Kerry's diatribe, all three broadcast networks ran stories about the Swift Vets on their evening and morning newscasts.
Indeed, as documented by the August 20 CyberAlert, the NBC Nightly News included a preview of Kerry's anti-Swift Vet attack in Brian Williams lead-in from Athens:
"Decision 2004: John Kerry, stung by attacks by pro-Bush Vietnam vets, accuses the President of letting them do his 'dirty work.'"
NBC viewers then saw a soundbite Kerry thrown down a challenge: "Well, if he wants to have a debate about our service in Vietnam, here is my answer: Bring it on!"
For more on how NBC and the other networks covered Kerry's energetic response to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, see the August 20 CyberAlert: www.mrc.org
But on Friday morning, those Kerry campaign activities were forgotten as Couric and Russert touted Kerry's overnight speech. Couric told Russert: "Let's take a listen to what John Kerry said, when he staged a midnight rally last night, to respond to some of the charges heard at this convention."
John Kerry: "I will not have my commitment to defend this country questioned by those who refused to serve when they could have and who misled America into Iraq."
Couric observed: "A midnight rally. Slightly unusual. What did you make of that, and what did you make of John Kerry really, sort of, hitting back on some of these allegations, and I'm going to read a quote from him in a second."
Russert argued that Kerry's reaction was long overdue: "Sure. It is unusual for the opponent to strike back on the night of the acceptance speech of the presidential nominee. But the Democrats I talked to last night Katie, and this morning through e-mails, they said, ‘Finally.' This Swift Boat controversy, the attacks on John Kerry's military record, started one month ago. And Senator Kerry was silent through the month of August."
Couric, who was in Athens for the Olympics when Kerry first responded, maintained the notion that this was Kerry's first step at countering the charges: "What took him so long to come out and speak more aggressively about these ads? Because it appears they have been quite damaging to him."
Russert argued: "I think initially, the Senator and his staff felt the issue was an old one. It would go away, it wouldn't resonate. But what it did is, it defined him in a way with people who did not quite know him and didn't understand who he was, or where he came from. And now, he has to reintroduce himself to the American people, rejump start his campaign, which is very difficult with 60 days to go."
Couric raised Kerry's premise that military service is a prerequisite for the Presidency: "Last night, he was still talking about military service. He said quote, 'The Vice President even called me unfit for office last night. I guess I'll leave it up to the voters whether five deferments makes someone more qualified to defend this nation rather than two tours of duty.'"
Russert noted: "Which is a direct challenge to the Vice President Cheney, who he was talking about with the five deferments. Democrats have been saying, and very outspoken, more and more publically, that they want Senator Kerry to start fighting, publically, in a way that says you accused me of flip flops, Mr., President. What about your flip-flops on x,y, and z? You accused me of military service, what about that of your administration? People are scratching their heads, saying, why did it take a month?"
Later, Couric interviewed newly-named Kerry campaign aide Joe Lockhart, Bill Clinton's former White House Press Secretary, and she premised her question on the notion that Kerry had failed to respond: "Many Democrats have urged John Kerry, as you know Joe, to come out swinging, to take the gloves off. Is this the sign that we're going to see a much more aggressive campaign being waged by the Kerry-Edwards team?"
Lockhart tried to assure her: "When outrageous charges are pressed against John Kerry, he's going to respond, he's going to respond aggressively."
But, Couric wondered, "Well, why didn't he do so more aggressively and in a more expeditious way when those Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads came out. Tim Russert and I were talking earlier this morning Joe, and we noted that it took a month for Senator Kerry to really go on the offensive about these ads."
Lockhart told her: "Actually, I don't think that's true..." |
