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Times Watch for
September 29, 2004
Kerry "Holds Back on Purpose"?
Todd Purdum's front-page story Wednesday is the latest in the Times' autobiographical series on Kerry, "A Fast Finisher's Reputation Now Faces the Ultimate Test."
It could also serve (and perhaps is intended to serve) as a morale booster for dispirited Kerry supporters as the first presidential debate looms, arguing that Kerry's apparent lack of focus is just part of his grand strategy: "As Mr. Kerry approaches this campaign's home stretch, with the first debate tomorrow night, there is much in his past to suggest that he believes elections are won in the endgame, that he holds back on purpose and begins concentrating intently on the race only when he believes the voters are, too. It remains to be seen whether an approach that has worked in Mr. Kerry's liberal home state or with Democratic primary voters eager to anoint a consensus candidate will be effective in a national election, but Mr. Kerry has little choice but to perform at his peak now."
Later Purdum notes: "Many of Mr. Kerry's oldest friends express exasperation at his willingness to drift at times in his campaigns. His tendency to focus best in the crunch is a longtime habit, dating at least to his days as a champion debater at Yale, and one that cannot be explained as a result of mere procrastination or inattention….In 32 years, Mr. Kerry has lost only one campaign -- that first race for Congress -- and has seldom lost a debate. He hates to lose."
On the op-ed page, the Times provides some anti-Bush debating tips courtesy of failed candidate Al Gore, who takes some more cracks at the president in "How to Debate George Bush."
For the full Purdum bio of Kerry, click here.
• Campaign 2004 | Debates | Al Gore | Sen. John Kerry | Todd Purdum
Putting Blair in a Box Over Iraq
Covering British Prime Minister Tony Blair's appearance at his Labour Party's annual convention, a Times headline writer and reporter Patrick Tyler characterize the Iraq war as something for Blair to apologize for.
Over a leading headline reading, "Blair Offers an Apology, of Sorts, Over Iraq," Tyler notes: "Prime Minister Tony Blair offered his governing Labor Party a qualified apology on Tuesday that the evidence on which he had taken Britain to war in Iraq had proved wrong….'The problem is, I can apologize for the information that turned out to be wrong, but I can't, sincerely at least, apologize for removing Saddam,' Mr. Blair said, adding, 'The world is a better place with Saddam in prison, not in power.'….While a number of Labor delegates said they considered Mr. Blair's remarks an apology and helpful to galvanizing the party for the election fight ahead, others were more measured."
Tyler has kept pressure on Blair over Iraq; in June he wrote that Blair had become "the diminished prime minister" because of the Iraq "millstone."
For the rest of Tyler on Blair, click here.
• Tony Blair | England | Iraq War | Patrick Tyler
Still No Liberals for Gay Marriage
Sarah Kershaw and James Dao track the prospects of gay marriage bans in Tuesday's "Voters in 10 of 11 States Are Seen as Likely to Pass Bans of Same-Sex Marriages." The paper's usual
labeling disparity applies; while conservatives abound, the Times avoids using the word "liberal."
The paper even uses the unimpeachable term "civil rights groups" to characterize unidentified supporters of the liberal, pro-gay marriage side, while those opposed are pasted with the "conservative" warning label: "From deeply conservative Southern states like Georgia and Mississippi to Midwest battlegrounds like Ohio and Michigan, the proposed bans appear on the ballot in 11 states….National and local gay and civil rights groups say Oregon is crucial to their cause….Oregon has one of the nation's highest concentrations of gay couples, but many live in the Portland area, in the county where nearly 3,000 gay couples were married; voters elsewhere in the state tend to be far more conservative."
For the rest from Kershaw and Dao, click here.
• Campaign 2004 | James Dao | Gay Issues | Labeling Bias | Sarah Kershaw
E-mail TimesWatch Director, Clay Waters, with TimesWatch feedback at cwaters@mediaresearch.org