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Debates

• 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 18 -- Optimism for Kerry, Part I
Todd Purdum sees good tidings for Kerry after the debates.

• 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 15 -- Fact-Checking Bush's Tax Cuts from a Liberal Angle
David Rosenbaum's economic fact-check purports to hit both Kerry and Bush for misleading statements, but as usual Bush comes off worse.

• October 15 -- No Sympathy For the Cheneys
A story on John Kerry's unprompted debate mention of Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter comes off as unsympathetic to the Cheneys, and tries hard to make gay marriage a conflict between Cheney and Bush.

• October 14 -- Taking Time to Defend Kerry
Adam Nagourney and Robin Toner's post-debate rush job makes one attempt to weigh the competing claims in the debate -- in Kerry's defense.

• October 14 -- Bush's "Rock-Hard" Positions vs. Clinton's "Mushy Middle Ground"
Bill Clinton, abortion moderate?

• October 14 -- More Misleading on Bush's Tax Cuts
David Rosenbaum uses two pro-Democratic groups to allege Bush misled on taxes during the final presidential debate.

• October 14 -- Times Leads With Kerry's Loaded Lesbian Comment
Surprisingly, the Times' front-page debate coverage includes undecided Iowa voters reacting with disapproval to Kerry's invoking of Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter.

• October 14 -- Debates Were "Rough Passage" for Bush -- Kerry a "Plausible Alternative"
Todd Purdum on the debates: "They were a rough passage for Mr. Bush, who saw his September lead over Mr. Kerry slip away as the Democratic nominee established himself as a plausible presidential alternative." He again sees Bush as defensive.

• October 12 -- Still Hunting Fox News
Frank Rich's latest "arts" column features an attack on Fox News viewers: "If you limit your diet to Fox and its talk-radio and blogging satellites, you may think that the only pressing non-Laci Peterson, non-Kobe, non-hurricane stories are 'Rathergate' and the antics of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth."

• 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."

• October 11 -- "Confident" Kerry, "Defensive" Bush
In Todd Purdum's debate analysis, it was confident Kerry vs. an often-strident Bush.

• October 6 -- Dick "the Slasher" Cheney
Reporter Katharine Seelye's blogs the debate between Dick "the slasher" Cheney and the "engaging" John Edwards.

• October 6 -- Drawing Out Cheney's "Ire"
Adam Nagourney suddenly starts taking polls seriously, and picks up on the theme of Edwards throwing Cheney off his game: "Mr. Edwards frequently drew the vice president's ire -- and also drew Mr. Cheney's attention away from Mr. Kerry, his intended target."

• October 6 -- "Cheney on the Defensive"
Today's Times hammers home the idea that John Edwards more than held his own with Dick Cheney: "Mr. Edwards appeared to hold his own in the remarkably intense thrust and parry of the evening, at times putting Mr. Cheney on the defensive."

• October 4 -- Kerry Doesn’t Flip Flop, He Just "Changes His Emphasis"
Kerry's not a flip-flopper, he just emphasizes different things at different times: "Concerning Iraq, a review of Mr. Kerry's public statements found that his position had been quite consistent. But as the politics changed, Mr. Kerry repeatedly changed his emphasis."

• October 4 -- Reporters Cackled Over Bush's Debate Performance
Jim Rutenberg's front-page story on the post-debate spin game peeks into the mindset of the reporters watching: "The loudest cackles among the reporters covering the first presidential debate broke out at about 9:55 on Thursday night in a vast, mirrored filing center at the University of Miami, where important impressions of the candidates' performance were just beginning to gel. And President Bush was on the receiving end."

• October 4 -- Swing Voters "Liking What They See" In Kerry
The Times stresses optimism in the Kerry camp and worries among Bush partisans: "If Ms. Curtis and a few other previously undecided Ohioans who came to Mr. Kerry's town-hall meeting here and some new polls are any indication, swing voters are giving Mr. Kerry a second look after his strong showing in the first presidential debate. And they are liking what they see."

• October 1 -- Must-See TV: "Everybody Hates Women"?
Television today is infected with sexism and racism, says TV-beat reporter Alessandra Stanley: "Television executives have giddily reverted to the sexism and racism that brought the humor police down on the networks in the first place….It's not just that Everybody Loves Raymond. Now Everybody Hates Women."

• October 1 -- Bush "Unnerved" by Kerry's Vietnam Reference
Alessandra Stanley thinks Kerry put Bush on the defensive: "The cameras demonstrated that Mr. Bush cannot hear criticism without frowning, blinking and squirming (he even sighed once). "

• October 1 -- Still Misquoting Cheney
Adam Nagourney sticks mostly to facts in his rundown of the first presidential debate but works in yet another misleading anecdote about Dick Cheney.

• October 1 -- Kerry Defies GOP's "Worst Caricatures"
Todd Purdum argues Kerry "established himself" in the first presidential debate: "He may well have struck undecided voters as not much like the Republicans' worst caricatures. He spoke plainly, politely, but did not shrink from direct and pointed criticism of Mr. Bush's policies."

• September 30 -- Bush Still Looking for "Solid Lead" in Polls
Campaign reporter Adam Nagourney is still minimizing Bush's lead.

• September 29 -- Kerry "Holds Back on Purpose"?
Todd Purdum's front-page story could be a morale booster for Kerry supporters: "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." Also, debating tips from Al Gore.