Bush's "Façade" vs. "Relaxed, Playful" Kerry -- November 1, 2004 -- TimesWatch.org

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Times Watch for November 1, 2004

Bush's "Façade" vs. "Relaxed, Playful" Kerry

Dueling profiles on candidates Bush and Kerry dominate Monday's front page as the campaign nears the end. While Kerry's profile is dominated by optimism, there's tension in the Bush camp -- according to the Times, anyway.

The difference is evident in the headlines and cut-out lines of the respective stories. Here's the Times' headline on Bush's campaign style: "Putting Tension Aside, Bush Resolutely Enjoys Himself." But the cut-out line suggests it's all an act: "Any crack in the façade could be fatal at the polls. So there isn't one."

The text of Richard Stevenson's actual story drives the "façade" point home: "Calculated or genuine, Mr. Bush's playful optimism has become part of his campaign's playbook as he hurtles toward Election Day in a nail-biting position that no incumbent seeking a second term has faced at least since 1948: facing polls that provide no clear evidence of whether, when he wakes up in the White House on Wednesday morning, he will have been rehired, fired or placed in recount limbo. Whatever strain he may be feeling, he betrays none of it in public, no doubt aware, his aides say, that the slightest crack in the facade could dampen turnout among his supporters and the enthusiasm of the hundreds of thousands of volunteers he is calling on to herd them to the polls."

On the same page, reporter Jodi Wilgoren finds a considerably more relaxed Kerry camp. "A Looser, More Jovial Kerry Prepares for Voters' Choice," reads the headline, and the story's cut-out line is almost affectionate: "Relaxed, playful and workmanlike, and hopelessly superstitious."

Wilgoren notes Kerry's stumbles on the stump, but concludes the story: "Mr. Kerry smiled at the spectacle of the flight attendants decked out in orange feather boas and fluffy cat's ears for Halloween. Asked what he was dressed as, Mr. Kerry, his tie loose and his trademark mustard-colored barn jacket over a suit coat, said, 'My costume is future president.'"

For the rest of Wilgoren on the Kerry trail, click here.

For the rest of Stevenson on Bush, click here.

"Conservatives" vs. Democrats in the Senate

Sunday's edition features a large graphic entitled "The Battle for Congress," in which it summarizes the state of nine Senate races and manages to use the term "conservative" six times. A short summary of the crucial South Dakota showdown pitting Senate Minority Leader Democrat Tom Daschle vs. challenger John Thune features the label twice: "The race pits Washington clout against conservative values….Mr. Thune, a Christian conservative, depicts Mr. Daschle as out of touch." The only label put on a Democrat is for Florida Democratic candidate Betty Castor, who is called "politically moderate."

There's a link to the graphic here.

• Campaign 2004 | Sen. Tom Daschle | Labeling Bias | Senate

Cheney "Stale" on the Stump

Monday's coverage of the vice presidential hopefuls tilts in Sen. John Edwards' direction. In Joel Brinkley's "Cheney's Core Speech Seems Stale to Some in Local News," he argues that Cheney's message is too predictable: "It may not be breaking through in the press as much Republicans would like because local reporters in swing states say they are so inundated by candidates and events that they do not always consider his remarks newsworthy, especially when he sticks to the same stump speech….The problem is that by and large, Mr. Cheney's remarks seldom vary. With small changes, he has been making more or less the same speech for weeks, though the verbiage dedicated to attacking Mr. Kerry has increased in recent days….Throughout the campaign, Mr. Cheney has offering a picture of a bleak future dominated by terrorist threats. He has offered barely a nod toward domestic policy concerns, unless asked. His approach has changed hardly at all for weeks." The story's cut-out line: "Sticking to the stump may be hurting the vice president's coverage."

Meanwhile, reporter Randal Archibold doesn't see any problems for John Edwards in Monday's "Seeking Votes, Edwards Goes From Door to Door." The story's cut-out line is substantially more positive than the one accompanying the Times' story on Cheney: "Honing the message and marshaling support in four important states."

Archibold emphasizes: "Mr. Edwards showed a populist touch, in speech and manner. He spoke from the bed of a pickup truck -- painted red, white and blue and with a grinning Kerry face on the sides -- in a schoolyard before his house visits in Columbus. And in these last few days of the race, Mr. Edwards, a former trial lawyer, has been boiling down his message to what sounds like last-minute instructions to the jury, in this case the voters."

For the rest of Achibold on Edwards, click here.

For the rest of Brinkley on Cheney, click here.

• Randal Archibold | Joel Brinkley | Campaign 2004 | Dick Cheney | Sen. John Edwards

Pushing Bush's Alleged Lack of Legitimacy

"In Final Days Before Vote, Divided Electorate Expresses Anxiety and Concern" is the headline to Times last poll story before Election Day. Adam Nagourney and Janet Elder argue: "The nation is girding for tomorrow's presidential election, worried about the integrity of the voting system, divided over the legitimacy of President Bush's election four years ago and anxious about the future no matter who wins the contest, according to the final New York Times/CBS News Poll of the 2004 campaign. The poll shows that Mr. Bush and his opponent, Senator John Kerry, remain locked in a statistical tie as they head into the final 48 hours of the race. But the poll registered an increase in Mr. Bush's job approval rating, as well as an increase in the number of Americans who said the nation was heading in the right direction. Republicans described this as evidence that Mr. Bush was picking up speed in these closing days of the campaign, but Democrats dismissed the numbers, saying that both figures remain dangerously low for an incumbent."

(Bush is actually ahead 49% - 46% among likely voters, which is within the margin of error.)

The paper emphasizes doubts raised before the election: "A majority of voters -- and an overwhelming number of African-Americans -- said they were concerned that their own votes would not be counted properly, and one-third said they expected to encounter problems when they went to vote, the poll found. Nearly 80 percent of black respondents said they expected that some states would make a deliberate effort to prevent them from voting tomorrow. The anxiety appears to be a legacy of the disputed election of 2000: half of respondents in this latest poll said they did not think Mr. Bush legitimately won the presidency in 2000, compared with 45 percent who considered the outcome legitimate."

In the sixth graph, the Times briefly mentions the poll's finding of a slight edge for Bush among likely voters: "Fittingly enough, this final pre-election Times/CBS News poll shows that the race is not much different at the end than it was in March, when Mr. Kerry emerged as his party's presumptive nominee. The president has 49 percent, compared with 46 percent for Mr. Kerry."

Deeper in, they get to some positives for Bush: "At a time when pollsters watch for evidence of late campaign shifts and movement, Mr. Bush's job approval rating has risen to 49 percent from 44 percent two weeks ago. Incumbent presidents with job approval ratings under 50 percent are almost invariably defeated….The poll suggests some marginal improvement for Mr. Bush, although -- as in almost all polls released this weekend -- the two men are effectively tied. Newsweek's survey had Mr. Bush ahead by 6 points among likely voters."

For the full analysis of the Times' last pre-election poll, click here.

The Times Finally Checks Out Its Own Scoop

The Times finally begins to question the premises of its suspiciously timed "scoop" from last Monday on the missing Iraq explosives, a story that Sen. John Kerry lost no time exploiting, even though parts of it have either deflated or been discredited.

As blogger Tom Maguire notes, the Times places the story on the back pages of the Saturday paper, typically the least-read edition of the week.

Nevertheless, the Times does belatedly question some of the assumptions of its "bombshell" story in William Broad and David Sanger's filing, "Facts and Questions About Lost Munitions."

"The report that hundreds of tons of high explosives are missing from the Qaqaa munitions facility in Iraq has loomed over the last week of the presidential campaign, and led to a blur of charges and countercharges about what actually happened, and why the news came out so close to Election Day. Senator John Kerry has seized on the news, first reported by The New York Times and CBS' '60 Minutes,' to reinforce his argument that the Bush administration bungled the postwar occupation of Iraq. President Bush has rejected Mr. Kerry's statements as 'wild charges,' and the White House has argued that the explosives may have been removed by Saddam Hussein's forces before the war or that some may have been blown up shortly after the end of the war by an ordnance unit. What follows are some questions and answers about the explosives, what is known and unknown about their whereabouts, and how the story came to light."

One question the Times poses to itself: "Why didn't the international energy agency blow this material up in the 1990's?"

A: "At the White House and even inside the agency, which is based in Vienna, many people think this was a huge mistake. But the agency decided to allow Mr. Hussein to keep it because he argued he would use it in civilian construction projects."

The reporters pose another question, one on the minds of Republicans: "Why is this coming out in the week before the election?"

A: "The answer depends on whom you ask. The memorandum from the Iraqi interim government to the energy agency was dated Oct. 10. It was sent in response to a request from the agency for an accounting of missing materials. The Bush administration says it smells a political motive: the head of the agency, Mr. El Baradei, was told a few months ago that the United States would not support him for another term. They suspect an effort at retribution. Mr. Bush's political strategist, Karl Rove, said this week that he believed The Times deliberately published the story the week before the election in an effort to harm Mr. Bush's candidacy. Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times, said that the paper first obtained a copy of the Iraqi letter early in the week of Oct. 18, and that its reporters and CBS began asking questions about the explosives in Baghdad, Vienna and Washington during that week. The article was published on Oct. 25. The White House said President Bush was told of the Iraqi warning to the energy agency around Oct. 16."

Good questions -- a shame the Times didn't address them in its story last Monday.

The Times also touches on the explosives story in a Business Day piece Monday from Jacques Steinberg and David Carr, "Media Timing and the October Surprise."

They note complaints of partisanship from Republicans: "Last week, after The Times and CBS reported on the missing munitions, the Republican National Committee research department sent an e-mail message to supporters and journalists attacking the report as flawed and charging a partisan bias. 'New York Times and Kerry campaign aren't ones to let facts get in way of good story,' read one headline. And Karl Rove, Mr. Bush's chief political strategist, said he thought the paper deliberately timed the report in an effort to hurt Mr. Bush's chances in the week before the election. Jim Dyke, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said he did not think that standards at this point in the campaign should be any different than the rest of the year."

The paper's executive editor denies charges of favoritism: "Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said the paper learned from CBS of a memorandum about the high explosives, sent from the Iraqi interim government to the International Atomic Energy Agency, early in the week of Oct. 18, and that its reporters reported through the week. 'The timing is really not much of an issue,' Mr. Keller said. 'The story was ready to go and was published more than a week before Election Day. There was plenty of time for the candidates on both sides and their partisans to react, for additional information to come out.' Had the article not been ready until a day or two before the election, Mr. Keller said, the decision to publish would have been more difficult. 'I can't say categorically you should not publish an article damaging to a candidate in the last days before an election,' he said."

For more of Steinberg and Carr's analysis of the Times conveniently timed bombshell on Iraqi explosives, click here.

For the full report on Iraqi explosives from Broad and Sanger, click here.

"Nail Biting" Angst at Bush Rallies

Dean Murphy uncovers more tension in the Bush camp Sunday in "In Exulting Bush Throngs, Just a Little Bit of Anxiety." The story's baleful cut-out line: "The president's fans say he should be far ahead of Kerry."

He begins: "There is a good deal of nail biting going on at the mostly picture-perfect campaign rallies held for President Bush."

Later there's this slightly condescending description of Bush supporters: "In turning out by the thousands at airports, in stadiums, on farms and along roadsides -- some waiting four or five hours for a chance to spend 40 minutes listening to the president -- many Republican loyalists are seeking the strength and comfort that large numbers often bring."

As if Democratic loyalists don't feel the same.

Murphy argues the bin Laden tape released Friday afternoon may hurt Bush: "The videotaped message by Osama bin Laden on Friday served to heighten the uneasiness. Linda Bentley, a real estate agent who attended a Bush rally on Saturday in Grand Rapids, Mich., said she was infuriated by Mr. bin Laden's interjection into the campaign. She was also a bit worried about it."

He questions Bush's show of confidence and notes Republican hostility toward the media (as if that's a surprise): "Whether it is all the calculated showmanship of a skilled politician, or the genuine George W. Bush refusing to be smothered by the political process, is not up for discussion at the rallies. When questions to that effect are posed by journalists, the reaction is typically hostile. Many Republicans who attend Mr. Bush's rallies identify the news media as the main source of his problems, and they do not hesitate to challenge or heckle reporters traveling with the president. Karen Ciccone, who waved a Bush-Cheney sign at the rally in Manchester, said the blame also extended to Hollywood actors and musicians. Mr. Bush often derides them as being out of touch with American values. Ms. Ciccone said she refused to view the films or buy the compact discs of performers who campaigned for Mr. Kerry."

For the rest of Murphy from out on the trial with Bush, click here.

• George W. Bush | Campaign 2004 | Headlines | Dean Murphy

Kerry "Galvanizing Supporters"

In contrast with her colleague Dean Murphy's negative emanations from the Bush camp, Sunday's same-page story from Deborah Sontag finds positives all over for Kerry. "Rock Stars Are Highlight, But Kerry Is the Headliner" features the rah-rah cut-outline: "The candidate's ideas seem to galvanize thousands at rallies."

Sontag sounds enthralled by Kerry's enthusiastic support: "Bruce Springsteen is a hard act to follow, and Senator John Kerry was not born to perform. But the huge, high-voltage crowds who gathered this week to cheer on the Democratic presidential candidate did not care about his skill as a performer. At back-to-back rallies across the battleground states, on leaf-dusted streets and college lawns, at civic arenas and bayfront amphitheaters, Mr. Kerry's supporters packed away any concerns they once had about his charisma. They were galvanized, they said, by his ideas. Even in this final week of his presidential campaign, Mr. Kerry still seemed at times like a man without rhythm who had painstakingly mastered the dance steps but could not quite sync his gait to the music. In contrast, Mr. Springsteen, by his side at rally after rally, delivered a singularly lyrical and eloquent summation of Mr. Kerry's political message, all while strumming his guitar. Still, while Mr. Springsteen was a highlight, he was never the headliner. In defiance of the idea that this is an era of personality politics, where style trumps substance, Mr. Kerry was drawing hundreds of thousands to rallies by what they saw as the strength of his political positions. Roaring approval when Mr. Kerry raised such once-wonky topics as embryonic stem cell research, his supporters seemed to be energized most by issues -- Iraq, unemployment, health care, same-sex marriage -- that touched them personally."

She forwards on a Kerry-serving cliché: "As Election Day grew ever nearer, Mr. Kerry -- who is known as a good 'closer,' the [Boston Red Sox pitcher] Keith Foulke of political candidates -- seemed increasingly buoyed by the crowd."

For Sontag's full report from the trail, click here.

• Campaign 2004 | Headlines | Sen. John Kerry | Deborah Sontag

Bush "Bulge" Rumor Takes Hold in "Dark Corners"
-- Like the NYT?

Matt Bai laments in the Sunday Magazine: "The voting process, once presumed to be a reliable, if fallible, arbiter of the public will, is increasingly seen, even by many more sophisticated voters, as a tainted instrument of partisan conspiracy."

For example? Bai relates: "A rumor that the president somehow cheated in the televised debates -- was that a wire under his jacket? was he listening to Karl Rove on a microscopic earpiece? -- flies across the Internet and takes hold in dark corners of the public imagination."

And in the news pages of the New York Times, as well, courtesy of two full stories on the "issue" by White House reporter Elisabeth Bumiller, who was willing to treat the left-wing conspiracy theory seriously.

For Bai's full article, click here.

E-mail TimesWatch Director, Clay Waters, with TimesWatch feedback at cwaters@mediaresearch.org