Don't forget, she'll have Dan and the boys campaigning for her every night:
***Media Research Center CyberAlert Extra***
1:15pm ET, Wednesday May 26, 1999 (Vol. Four; No. 92)
CyberAlert EXTRA: Police Brutality Before Spying; Rather/Hillary
> 2) If Dan Rather sticks to what he did in 1993, don't expect
any tough questions in Rather's interview of Hillary Rodman
Clinton set to air tonight, Wednesday May 26, on 60 Minutes II.
Tonight's show airs an hour earlier than usual at 8pm ET/PT, 7pm
CT/MT to make room for the Miss Universe Pageant. Rather taped the
interview last week.
Tim Graham, the MRC's Director of News Analysis, recalled a
1993 tribute Rather offered the Clintons and reviewed Rather's
1993 interview of Hillary. He wrote up what he discovered:
Despite the ads promoting tonight's interview in which Rather
asks the First Lady, "Why do you stay with this guy?," it would go
against history if Dan Rather was very tough with Hillary Clinton
in his 60 Minutes II interview. Remember, this is the anchorman
who told Clinton at a CBS affiliates meeting on May 27, 1993, just
three months into the Clinton presidency:
"If we could be one-hundredth as great as you and Hillary
Rodham Clinton have been in the White House, we'd take it right
now and walk away winners...Thank you very much and tell Mrs.
Clinton we respect her and we're pulling for her."
By "we" he was referring to himself and Connie Chung who had
just been teamed up on the CBS Evening News. It didn't last long.
If you watch Rather's chat with Hillary tonight, keep in mind
the last time they met on camera: a 48 Hours special on the
Clinton health plan aired on September 22, 1993, the night the
Clinton plan was released. A sample of the "questions" Rather
posed that night:
-- "When you walked in, it was pretty clear you were excited,
but also a little nervous. Am I right about that?"
-- "Next week begins the hard, really hard chore of trying to
sell this to Congress and you'll be the lead-off witness. Are you
nervous about that?"
-- "You've been working hard already to introduce this plan to
people, sell the plan to people. Are you having any fun with this
or it is all just hard work? It looks to be very hard work."
Instead of asking tough questions about the vague outline of
the Clinton plan that was released, Rather reiterated their
talking points as questions: "I want to talk about some of the
details. But first, let me run down a check-list. And if you will,
this will be very short, just give me a yes or no answer. Will
every legal resident of the United States be covered under this,
including the 37 million now who have no coverage?"
-- "Will this entail any major increase in taxes?"
-- "Will this help reduce the deficit, perhaps by as much as
$91 billion, a figure often mentioned?"
-- "Will all of this be accomplished without reducing the
quality of health care to America?"
-- "The reason I wanted to tick those off, and you said, 'yes
it will cover the 37 million not covered, yes every legal resident
in the country will be covered, yes it will help reduce the
deficit, no it will not decrease quality.' It sounds too good to
be true."
Rather noted: "The Republicans have proposed an alternative,
which as I understand it, places the greatest burden on
individuals. Why is President Clinton's plan better than those of
the Republicans?" He then asked: "What is non-negotiable?...And
true or untrue, that there's going to be built to achieve that
another huge government bureaucracy, with all that entails?"
(Hillary said not true).
Then Rather shifted back into flattery: "I hear you talking,
and as I have before on this subject, I don't know of anybody,
friend or foe, who isn't impressed by your grasp of the details of
this plan. I'm not surprised because you have been working on it
so long, and have traveled so hard, and listened to so many
people. Is it possible, and I'm asking for your candid opinion,
that when this gets through, whether it passes or not, that we
will have reached a point when a First Lady, any First Lady, can
be judged on the quality of her work?"
Rather talked about mixing business with pleasure: "All of
that having been said, did you or didn't you find a time when you
found yourself sort of thinking 'I wonder how I can keep Bill from
talking about health care?' Or was there a time when he just said,
'Hillary, I love health care, I'm into it, but can we please talk
about something else?'"
He ended on a light, CBS-plugging note: "Well speaking of
having fun, I'm told repeatedly that you're prepared to go to hell
and back, if necessary, to sell this program to the American
people. But the question: are you prepared to do as Vice President
Gore did to sell one of his favorite projects, are you prepared to
pay the ultimate price and go on David Letterman?"
A week later, Rather seemed to forget his flattery in a speech
to the Radio and Television News Directors Association convention
in Miami, where he complained about the new rules of TV news,
including:
"Do powder puff, not probing interviews. Stay away from
controversial subjects. Kiss ass, move with the mass and for
heaven and ratings' sake don't make anybody mad -- certainly not
anybody you're covering, and especially not the Mayor, the
Governor, the Senator, the President or the Vice-President or
anybody in a position of power. Make nice, not news."
In tonight's interview I bet Rather makes nice, but that will
make news since all anyone in the media seem to care about is her
Senate bid. -- Brent Baker
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