For N.H. Publisher, a Tailor-Made Candidate
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, December 8, 2003; Page C01
MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Four years ago, Joe McQuaid, the crusty publisher of the Manchester Union Leader, dismissed candidate George W. Bush as an "empty suit."
When Bush later visited the University of New Hampshire as president, McQuaid not only welcomed him with a front-page editorial, he told Bush "that he'd filled out the suit quite nicely." The president thanked him, and earlier this year invited McQuaid for an Oval Office chat about foreign affairs.
"I never misjudged him," McQuaid insists with a grin. "He's grown in office."
Tucked away in a nondescript industrial park here, the once-mighty Union Leader, notorious for trumpeting longtime owner William Loeb's favorite candidates and terrorizing the rest, still matters in the New Hampshire primary -- the Republican primary, that is. McQuaid isn't bothering to meet with most of the Democratic candidates, whom the staunchly conservative editorial page often kicks around. But he has scheduled sit-downs with Howard Dean and Joe Lieberman and may endorse the moderate Connecticut senator, even while saying that "I don't think he has a shot."
Dean, a denizen of what McQuaid calls the "left-wing state" of Vermont, could benefit in a perverse way. "Perhaps having the Union Leader say nasty things about you boosts your standing on the left," says Editorial Page Editor Andrew Cline.
In an age dominated by television (WMUR, the state's only network affiliate, is awash in primary ads) and the Internet (PoliticsNH.com is attracting some attention), the 62,000-circulation paper that runs front-page columns on Thanksgiving leftovers is something of a throwback.
State Democratic Chairman Kathy Sullivan greets the notion that the paper might endorse one of her party's candidates with uncontrollable laughter. "Everyone knows Joe McQuaid and the Union Leader editorial staff are over on the far-right fringes," she says.
Under the reign of Loeb and his wife, Nackey, the Union Leader backed Ronald Reagan in 1976 and promoted him for years. The paper backed Pat Buchanan in 1992 (when he hurt the first President Bush) and 1996, when he upset Bob Dole. But other endorsements fizzled, including those of John Ashcroft (who challenged Richard Nixon in 1972) and Steve Forbes (who strutted into a debate pressroom in 2000, brandishing the editorial).
For some Democrats, the paper has been a big, fat, juicy target. Ed Muskie famously denounced Loeb on a snowy day in 1972 and appeared to tear up, wounding his candidacy. McQuaid says that Jack Kennedy rallied his troops by doing the same thing in 1960.
The Union Leader had to back out of an agreement to co-sponsor, with ABC and WMUR, tomorrow's New Hampshire debate after Democratic Party officials objected. "For some reason the Democrats still don't like us, even though we've lost our fangs and the Loebs are gone," McQuaid says.
The publisher is intrigued by Dean, saying: "He hasn't followed the politically correct script in a lot of ways." But he also says Dean "seems like an arrogant guy. I don't like his position on gay unions. Someone" -- it was Dick Gephardt -- "accused him of cutting social services to balance the budget. So there's a glimmer of hope there."
McQuaid has little use for John Kerry of neighboring Massachusetts: "He's a stick -- a boring non-personality. He's been in [Ted] Kennedy's shadow for years."
The union-friendly Gephardt should be doing better, McQuaid says, since "New Hampshire has lost manufacturing jobs up the wazoo." And he says that while the congressman is on the dull side, "if you put him in a room with Kerry he'd light up the room."
John Edwards? "He's in way over his head."
Wesley Clark? "Started off with a whimper, not a bang, and been going downhill ever since."
Not that McQuaid is an unabashed fan of Bush, whom he once dubbed "Governor Smirk." "Spending this money when we don't have it is nuts," he says. "I fault Bush for that."
While the editorial page frequently draws blood, the news coverage is more balanced, a marked improvement from the days when, McQuaid admits, Loeb "pushed people he liked to ridiculous lengths in news stories."
Says John DiStaso, the paper's top political reporter: "My whole existence here has been to show that both sides get a fair shake." DiStaso has been something of a one-man show this season, relying on stringers and wire reports, though he expects reinforcements. "I'm sort of spread thin, which is not an excuse," he says.
But the paper's fame, or notoriety, stems from the fiery editorials, and stirring up trouble seems to be in McQuaid's genetic makeup. His father ran the paper, and his grandfather covered the Spanish-American War for the Manchester Union. No wonder he's relishing the chance to go behind enemy lines.
"The Democratic establishment will be appalled," McQuaid says. "How dare we meddle with their race?"
Fastballs on Fox
Two minutes into his debut as host of "Fox News Sunday" yesterday, Chris Wallace sent a clear signal.
"I'm not hearing an answer," he told Andrew Card when the White House chief of staff talked around a question about when the country would make a real dent in unemployment. Wallace displayed a sharper-edged style than his predecessor, the generally polite Tony Snow, and showed that a Fox anchor is willing to take on the Bush administration.
Wallace was even more aggressive with Howard Dean, repeatedly interrupting the Democratic candidate while asking eight questions on why he won't unseal his gubernatorial records in Vermont. "Why not just open them up, Governor?" Wallace demanded. Nor did he shy away from noting that John Kerry had used the F-word in Rolling Stone while criticizing President Bush on Iraq.
While the former ABC correspondent seemed a bit on the chilly side, he turned in a solid performance and had clearly done his homework. In leading the usually lively roundtable, though, Wallace may have gone a bit far in declaring that "the conventional wisdom is the Democrats are going off a cliff" if Dean is the nominee. Many political analysts believe that, but others do not.
Wallace defended that judgment after the show and said Dean told him during a commercial that the interview had been "tough but fair" -- and complimented him on a "good grilling" of Card.
The verdict? "It was remarkably easy for something that ranks between a root canal and oral PhD exams," Wallace said.
Schieffer Sidelined
CBS's Bob Schieffer will be sidelined for a few weeks thanks to a nasty bout with hepatitis, which he believes was caused by some powerful drugs he was taking that eradicated his bladder cancer. "I'm bored with doing nothing and don't have the energy to do anything," reports Schieffer, adding that John Roberts will be filling in on "Face the Nation."
Backing Off
Washingtonpost.com has changed the name of its redesigned Arts & Leisure section after its lawyer got what spokesman Don Marshall described as a "friendly phone call" from the New York Times, whose Sunday section has long carried that name. "We talked it over and said they do own the trademark," Marshall says. Post.com is going with Arts & Living.
Still Kicking
Weeks after mistakenly reporting that a man who had died had cut off his testicles out of sympathy with a relative, the New York Times obituary desk did it again last week, picking up an obit from London's Daily Telegraph that turned out to be, well, wrong.
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