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Elisabeth Bumiller

• November 23 -- Bush Should Squeeze Congress, Says Suddenly Supportive Times
Suddenly, the Times favors Bush pressuring Congress: "A number of Congressional Republicans and members of the Sept. 11 commission….said that Mr. Bush, who has vowed to revive the bill, also needed to put pressure on a handful of House members aligned with the Pentagon who defied the president over the weekend and blocked a final vote on the legislation."

• November 17 -- Condoleezza Rice, "Hard-Line Hawk"
The Times emphasizes Condoleezza Rice's "hard-line" and "hawkish" views.

• November 10 -- Ashcroft’s “Excesses” vs. Arafat’s “Aura”
One sign the New York Times is a liberal newspaper is when Attorney General John Ashcroft gets rougher press than a terrorist. On the Times front page, Ashcroft is assailed by critics for sacrificing civil liberties, while the dying Palestinian leader Arafat was a cult hero, touted as a “guerrilla fighter and Nobel Prize winner.”

• November 8 -- "A More Imperial President"
Elisabeth Bumiller: "It is too early to tell if victory will lift what critics call the chip on [Bush's] shoulder and make him more magnanimous -- or whether it will simply create a more imperial president."

• November 4 -- Bush's "Code Words" to Christians
Bush's successful reelection strategy was based partially on transmitting "code words" to evangelicals, says Elisabeth Bumiller.

• November 2 -- "Deceptively Cherub-Faced" Rove
A home-stretch profile of "bombastic" Karl Rove, the "man Democrats love to hate."

• November 2 -- Emotional Kerry Wowed by Crowds, While Bush Aides Are "On Edge"
An emotive Kerry ("John Kerry was halfway through his stump speech under a driving rain in Milwaukee on Monday when he stopped and surveyed his drenched but dauntless crowd") is pitted against nervous Bushies ("Bush's aides, after asserting for weeks that they were confident and calm, finally admitted in the last marathon stretch that they were on edge").

• November 1 -- Bush "Bulge" Rumor Takes Hold in "Dark Corners" -- Like the NYT?
Matt Bai laments in the Sunday Magazine: "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 New York Times.

• October 29 -- "Louder, Longer" Cheers for Kerry; "Nervousness" from Bush Camp
David Halbfinger and Elisabeth Bumiller show enthusiasm for Kerry's campaign: "With Bruce Springsteen singing Mr. Kerry's praises and his campaign theme song, 'No Surrender,' the Democratic candidate told huge crowds, who may have traveled to see the rocker but cheered longer and louder for the candidate, that he was impatient to relieve Mr. Bush of his 'hard work.'" The article's tone became more negative when turning to Bush: "The assault on Mr. Kerry reflected the nervousness in the Bush campaign five days from what is widely expected to be an exceptionally close election."

• October 28 -- How's Our Anti-Bush Scoop Playing Out?
The lead story from Elisabeth Bumiller and Jodi Wilgoren on the Al Qaqaa controversy skips fact-finding in favor of a meta-analysis over how the Times' suspiciously timed story is playing between the two campaigns.

• October 25 -- Conservative Bush vs. Not-That-Liberal Kerry
The Times evaluates the possible election-loss aftermath for John Kerry ("more liberal than Mr. Clinton, but, Mr. Bush's attacks on him notwithstanding, not by much") and George W. Bush ("a clear conservative candidate").

• October 18 -- Elisabeth Bumiller, Left-Wing Conspiracy-Monger
White House reporter Elisabeth Bumiller again treats a left-wing Internet-driven conspiracy theory as news: "The bulge -- the strange rectangular box visible between the president's shoulder blades in the first debate -- has set off so much frenzied speculation on the Internet that it has become what literary critics call an objective correlative, or an object that evokes large emotions and ideas…In the last two weeks, the bulge has taken on a life of its own to become a symbol to Mr. Bush's critics of all that is wrong with his presidency."

• October 15 -- The Pro-Kerry Truth Squad Rides Again
The Times again defends Kerry from a Bush criticism. After Bush accused Kerry of having a "global test he would administer before acting to defend America," Elisabeth Bumiller and David Halbfinger riposte: "Mr. Kerry's actual words in the debate in Tempe were these…."

• October 11 -- More Fact-Checking of Bush on the Trail
Elisabeth Bumiller helps Kerry out by fact-checking Bush on the stump: "In truth, Mr. Kerry essentially voted for one large tax increase, the Clinton tax bill of 1993, which mostly imposed additional income taxes on the wealthy but did include an increase in taxes on Social Security benefits for middle-income retirees. Mr. Kerry also supports middle-class tax breaks, but voted against them in 2001 as part of an overall tax bill that he opposed."

• October 11 -- The NYT: Your Source for Left-Wing Conspiracy Theories
After ignoring a similar rumor on Drudge about John Kerry, the Times helps spread a left-wing rumor that Bush was "wired" for his first debate: "What was that bulge in the back of President Bush's suit jacket at the presidential debate in Miami last week? According to rumors racing across the Internet this week, the rectangular bulge visible between Mr. Bush's shoulder blades was a radio receiver, getting answers from an offstage counselor into a hidden presidential earpiece….Ms. Devenish could not say why the 'rumpling' was rectangular."

• September 15 -- Bush Opponents "Dragged From Events by Their Hair"
Elisabeth Bumiller harps on a week-old incident: "But on the campaign trail, where the invited crowds are kept friendly because opponents are sometimes arrested for wearing anti-Bush T-shirts or dragged from events by their hair, there is a different President Bush." The Times has yet to comment on an anti-Kerry heckler being attacked at a recent rally in Cincinnati.

• September 10 -- Bumiller All Wet on "Explosive" Cheney Remark
More misleading by the Times regarding a recent Dick Cheney quote on fighting the terror war--plus, a tale of two hecklers.

• September 1 -- Context for Kerry Quotes, but None for Bush's "Gaffe"
Elisabeth Bumiller again plays up a Bush "gaffe" to portray Bush on the defensive: But when Bush attacks Kerry in similar fashion, she allows the Kerry campaign to put the quote in context.

• August 31 -- Over-Excitement Over Bush's Terror Comment
Elisabeth Bumiller gets a front-page story out of a Bush comment on the terror war ("I don't think you can win it") and tries to gin up a controversy.

• August 30 -- Another "Unsubstantiated" Portrayal of the Swifties
A front-page story by Adam Nagourney and Elisabeth Bumiller paints a picture of a plugged-in Bush but continues to characterize Swift Boat Veterans claims as "unsubstantiated."

• August 30 -- Republicans "Putting 9/11 Into August"
The Times helps spread the idea of Republicans politicizing 9/11, while puffing up party controversy.

• August 27 -- Bush Bugs Times By Not Bashing Swift Boat Ads
Bush sits down for an interview with David Sanger and Elisabeth Bumiller and bugs them by refusing to specifically condemn the Swift Boat ads.

• August 26 -- More "Unsubstantiated" Swift Boat Accusations
Elisabeth Bumiller's front-page piece on the resignation of a Bush campaign lawyer argues the Swift Boat story could be bad for Bush, and nearly ignores Kerry's "Christmas in Cambodia" falsehood.

• August 24 -- More Anti-Swift Bias from a Paper "Calling Itself" Objective
Elisabeth Bumiller and Kate Zernike's front-page story on Bush denouncing outside political ads includes a dismissive description of the Swift Boat Vets. Also: What about the "web of ties" between the left-wing Moveon.org and the Kerry campaign?

• July 20 -- Another Bumiller Scoop: Bush Won't Take Long Vacation
Dog days on the White House beat? Last week, Elisabeth Bumiller made waves with a front-page rumor about Cheney leaving the ticket. Now she has another news flash: Bush won't be taking another long vacation this election year.

• July 15 -- Front-Page "Rumors" of Cheney Resignation
Elisabeth Bumiller tries to stir up some controversy in the Bush camp with a front-page "rumor" that Vice President Dick Cheney is leaving the ticket.

• June 21 -- More Misleading on Iraq-Al Qaeda Ties
Times reporter Tom Zeller challenges liberal conventional wisdom on the idea that the 9/11 report contradicts Bush and Cheney's claims about ties between Iraq and Al Qaeda. Will his colleagues ever do the same?

• May 27 -- Abu Ghraib "Abuse" Under Both U.S. and Saddam
Elisabeth Bumiller's report on Bush's call to raze the Abu Ghraib prison likens the abuse of Iraqis by U.S. soldiers to the torture and death practiced there by Saddam Hussein.

• May 25 -- More on Bush the Bubble Boy
The theme of Bush as out-of-touch bubble boy returns, courtesy of Elisabeth Bumiller: "Inside the bubble, what is Mr. Bush's level of concern about the turmoil in Iraq? Does he think that the sunny predictions of Vice President Dick Cheney and the deputy defense secretary, Paul D. Wolfowitz, were all wrong? Does he blame them, or himself?"

• May 10 -- Rumsfeld in the Balance
Elisabeth Bumiller sets up the gallows for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: "[Senator Lindsey] Graham had asked Mr. Rumsfeld a pivotal question: Could the greatly diminished prosecutor of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan still have the power to carry out his duties?" But that "greatly diminished" part didn't come from Graham.

• April 7 -- Overheating Rice
The headline to Elisabeth Bumiller's piece on Condoleezza Rice upcoming 9-11 testimony sets the bar sky-high: "Bush's Credibility Now Rests on Her Shoulders." Bumiller's article is no less overheated.

• March 31 -- Bumiller Hits Press Part in "Spectacular Selling" of Iraq War
White House reporter Elisabeth Bumiller notes the administration's "unparalleled" political skills "helped them sell the American public on the war in Iraq...a spectacular selling job, of which I'm sorry to say the press played a part."

• March 26 -- A Condi Scoop for the Times?
Condoleezza Rice is retiring?

• March 23 -- Richard Clarke "Undercuts" Bush: "Basic Credibility in Jeopardy"
Anti-Bush accusations from Richard Clarke make the Times front page, while a "News Analysis" enthusiastically portrays Bush as "on the defensive" with his "basic credibility in jeopardy."

• March 2 -- Bigots and Bashers, Oh My!
The Times passes along "moderate" worries that Bush "might look like a gay basher."

• February 16 -- What Do They Want From Bush?
White House reporter Elisabeth Bumiller is still not satisfied: "Friday night brought a final tidal wave of paper, much of it highly repetitive and already released in previous years, that once again offered no new proof that Mr. Bush had turned up for duty in Alabama."

• February 9 -- Kerry's Iraq Omission
Analyzing Bush's "Meet the Press" performance, Elisabeth Bumiller quotes Sen. John Kerry: "President Bush repeatedly told the American people that Saddam Hussein 'has got chemical weapons.'" Bumiller could have pointed out that Kerry said the same thing in 2002.

• February 4 -- "Striking Contrasts" Between Bush and Kerry
As Sen. John Kerry piles up Democratic primary victories, "Military Service Becomes Issue in Bush-Kerry Race" frames a potential Kerry-Bush contest to Kerry's advantage.

• February 3 -- Deep Cuts in a 2.4 Trillion Budget?
Elisabeth Bumiller wonders if Bush can survive the political fallout from his new budget that "forces him to cut so deeply."

• January 21 -- Terrorism? What Terrorism?
Elisabeth Bumiller and Richard Stevenson offer this odd spin on Bush's State of the Union: "Mr. Bush offered no specific evidence to back up his more general and much less disputed statement that 'terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilized world.'"

• January 19 -- Karl Rove, Evil Genius
Elisabeth Bumiller parrots Democratic spin on Bush adviser Karl Rove, "the man who told Republicans they should use the war on terrorism for partisan advantage."

• December 15 -- Dick Cheney's "Pheasantgate"
Elisabeth Bumiller squeezes 800 overwrought words out of vice president Cheney's recent pheasant-hunting jaunt: "A lot of other people noticed the fallen birds: hunters who pursue birds in the wild, the Democratic presidential candidates and the Humane Society of the United States, which likened the shootings to the first day of the Iraq war."

• November 25 -- Giddy Over Gay Marriage
The Massachusetts ruling opening the door to gay marriage inspires the Times to two striking examples of labeling bias. To Elisabeth Bumiller, those against gay marriage are "social conservatives," those in favor are not liberals but "gays, lesbians and their supporters." Yet the supporter quoted most prominently is Marxist playwright Tony Kushner, author of the Reagan-hating "Angels in America." Tamar Lewin replicates the exact pattern of labeling bias as Bumiller: Five conservative mentions versus zero liberals.

• November 5 -- GWB = LBJ?
First it was Iraq=Vietnam. Now the Times is trying to turn Bush into LBJ.

• August 18 -- The Lights Are Out! Say Something!
The headline to Elisabeth Bumiller’s critical story: “Aides Say Bush Waited for Facts Before Commenting on Blackout.” Scandalous!

• August 4 -- No Liberals For Gay Marriage?
Elisabeth Bumiller mentions “conservatives” several times in her story on Bush and gay marriage but sees no liberals on the other side, only “core primary voters.”

• August 4 -- The Times’ New Favorite “Republican”
A self-described Republican critical of Bush’s tax cuts, Michael Retzer is so popular with Times reporter Elisabeth Bumiller she used his same quote twice in two stories that ran five days apart.

• July 8 -- More Unlabeled Liberals
Times reporters are continuing their trend of avoiding labels for liberal advocates, from Ted Kennedy, “Democrat of Massachusetts,” to the Ford Foundation, the major money-bags for the ACLU, NOW, and other left-wing advocacy groups.