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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JohnM who wrote (10815)	10/4/2003 8:12:50 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793883

Great "on the bus" piece from Weintraub's Blog. This guy is good. I know a lot of the media have started reading him. If he want's the Eastern "Big Time" he can get it now. Although I think he would do better writing for "Atlantic." ____________________________________________ California Insider A Weblog by Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub October 04, 2003 Wasting Times On the bulletin board in my office I keep a large white political button with black writing that reads: “I don’t believe the Los Angeles Times.” I bought it several years ago when I worked for that paper and saw the pin at a Republican Party convention. That sentiment, long descriptive of the Republican view of the media, has now become the mantra of the Arnold Schwarzenegger for Governor campaign. With The Times having published two articles since Wednesday quoting nine women claiming that Schwarzenegger groped them or otherwise made unwanted physical advances, the campaign is trying to turn the newspaper stories to the candidate’s advantage by capitalizing on Republican voters’ distrust of the media. There’s no other way to explain why Rob Stutzman, spokesmen for the campaign, spent 15 minutes this morning aboard the campaign bus (nicknamed Predator One) railing against the Times. The women’s stories in the latest article, he said, were untrue. He added that the paper gave the campaign only minutes to respond to the specific charges Friday night, and thus didn’t carry any reaction from the candidate in the first edition. “It was irresponsible journalism. If you’re truly interested in the truth it’s unconscionable that you would not provide ample opportunity for response,” Stutzman said. The campaign has suggested that The Times’ stories were planted by Democratic operatives if not the governor’s campaign itself. And while The Times has denied that the Davis operation was involved, the paper’s editor, John Carroll, was quoted Saturday saying his reporters would welcome tips about Schwarzenegger from anyone – including the governor. Stutzman’s diatribe continued unabated as the media bus tooled from Fresno to Schwarzenegger’s morning rally at nearby P-R Farms. He ranted as the bus passed acres of half-built suburban homes, rolled by fields of plum trees and pulled up to the rally site. He went on so long on this theme that one television reporter on the bus interrupted him to ask: “Is this a declaration of war on the Los Angeles Times?” Replied the spokesman: “What we have seen in the Los Angeles Times is unprecedented in attack journalism. Another reporter asked: “The gloves are off, it sounds like?” Stutzman: “We’re not going to sit back and let the Los Angeles Times practice gutter journalism.” The extraordinarily bitter counterattack, while evidence that the campaign believes it can score points against the media, also suggests that the stories might be hurting Schwarzenegger. More evidence of that: Schwarzenegger’s wife, Maria Shriver, changed her schedule at the last minute to join Schwarzenegger on the rally stage Saturday. “He is the only person who can bring us all together to make this state great again,” Shriver said. “He’s an extraordinary father, a remarkable husband and terrific human being…The man I love, the man I believe in.” Schwarzenegger returned the gesture, calling Shriver “the greatest wife in the world, the most spectacular mother in the world. She has been an incredible partner.” Then Schwarzenegger turned to the crowd. “Love this city. Love Fresno,” he said, forgetting for a moment that he was not in Fresno anymore but in nearby Clovis. “Love the people.” Schwarzenegger did not address the groping charges directly, but he noted that he was warned that personal attacks would come if he ran for governor. “They have started,” he said. “Davis,” he said, “knows how to run a dirty campaign. He doesn’t know how to run a state. That’s the problem we have.” The crowd ate it up. Later, back on his bus headed for Modesto, Schwarzenegger told reporters that he “was shocked” by the latest Times’ story quoting three women by name alleging that he had touched them improperly. Although he has admitted “behaving badly” on “rowdy movie sets” in the past, he said the latest charges were “absolutely wrong. They’re false.” The Schwarzenegger camp insists that its internal polls show their candidate gaining strength since the groping charges first appeared. But en route to Modesto, reporters following the campaign started hearing by phone that Democrats were claiming overnight polls showed support for Schwarzenegger plummeting and the recall election's fate within the margin of error. Then, upon arrival, the campaign distributed a piece published just minutes before on the website of the LA Weekly by reporter Bill Bradley. The article noted that peace activist Jodie Evans, who helped organize a press conference with one of Schwarzenegger’s accusers, has known and worked with Davis since their days in the Jerry Brown administration. But The Times, Bradley wrote, failed to point that out in its coverage today. Bradley wrote his short piece on a Blackberry portable computer from aboard the bus and told campaign officials that it was coming. They quickly arranged to print it out at a Modesto copy shop and make copies for the entire press corps. As they were handing them out, the emcee revving up the crowd for Schwarzenegger asked the audience to welcome the media to town. With one exception: “Who’s the guy with the LA Times?” the host asked. “Find him and beat him up, will you?” sacbee.com