Bush "Divisive," But Dean a Uniter Who "Brings People Together" (Media Bias Alert!)

Media Research Center via e-Mail | December 29, 2003 | Brent Baker

[PJ-Comix]

George W. Bush campaigned in 2000 as a "uniter, not a divider." But in what may be a preview of the prism through which the networks will see the 2004 presidential campaign, ABC's Terry Moran on Sunday described Bush as a divider, labeling him a "divisive President" and a "divisive figure." CBS's Bob Schieffer similarly portrayed Bush as a divider, calling him "a polarizing politician," who though as Governor did bring people together, now "seems to have become someone that you either love or you hate." But Schieffer hailed Democratic candidate Howard Dean as a uniter.

Hosting Face the Nation, Schieffer trumpeted how Dean "is a hit at this point" because "he seems to be the first Democrat who's found a way to bring new people into the process here. He's found a new kind of participatory politics....Dean has gone into the Internet and begun to bring people together."

Moran filled in on Sunday for George Stephanopoulos as host of ABC's This Week. As if it's solely President Bush's fault that some people don't like his policies, in formulating questions, during a segment with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Leon Panetta, Clinton's former Chief-of-Staff, Moran twice tagged Bush as "divisive.'

Moran observed: "For many Americans, this is a divisive President. Is he vulnerable in the manner in which he seems to polarize people's opinions?" (Panetta chimed in: "I think that is the case.")

Moran soon repeated his theme: "This President on the world stage. When he was elected, I think few would have expected him to be, within three years, the dominant figure in the world, a leader that everyone else has to reckon with essentially. And there as well, it's hard to argue with the notion that he is a divisive figure."

Over on the December 28 Face the Nation on CBS, regular host Bob Schieffer, during a roundtable with Time magazine's Karen Tumulty, Washington Post reporter Dan Balz and New York Times columnist David Brooks, admired how Dean is bringing people together, citing a left-wing New York Times columnist as the source of his insight:

"I tell you, this is not, what I'm going to say is not an essay on why I like Howard Dean, but it's, I would say this is why I think that Howard Dean is a hit at this point, and that is he seems to be the first Democrat who's found a way to bring new people into the process here. He's found a new kind of participatory politics. In this television age, where we kind of took the campaigns out of the community and put them on television and made television kind of a passive event, Howard Dean has gone into the Internet and begun to bring people together.

"I think the story we have missed. I think Frank Rich of The New York Times may be the first person who caught on to this. It's not that he has raised money on the Internet that's been important to Howard Dean, but the fact is, he's brought these people together. They now feel like they're part of his campaign. They're talking to each other. They're driving places, to campaigns, where he's not even there. They feel like a part of it. It's almost like the old ward heeler politics back in Chicago, where people felt they were a part of something. And he's the first person in a while who's done that, and I think whether you like Howard Dean or hate Howard Dean, you have to admire him for doing that. And in the long run, I think that's very good for politics."

Minutes later, however, Schieffer expressed concern about how Bush is a polarizer: "Let me ask you, Karen, because I know your magazine did, kind of did an issue on this, and that is George Bush as a polarizing politician. George Bush ran -- and George Bush as Governor was the kind of politician who did seem to bring people together -- but yet he seems to have become someone that you either love or you hate."

Maybe that's at least partly attributable to how the news media portray his policies and hold him, not those who dislike him, responsible for how some dislike him.

[DustyMoment]

This is not going to be a popular thing to say on this thread, but consider the fact that Bush appears to be a RINO. He has not only bent over backward to accommodate the leftists and try to work with them, he has allowed them to set his agenda.

Consider the following:
1) TSA
2) Dept. of Homeland Security
3) Steel Tariffs
4) Agriculture Funding Bill
5) Education Bill
6) Campaign Finance Reform (McCain-Feingold)
7) Unfunded Medicare prescription entitlement
8) Soft (VERY soft) on illegal immigration
9) Has FAILED to lift a finger to support any of his judicial nominees or end the stupid filibusters
10) Retreated on his campaign promise to privatize a portion of Social Security

These issues are NOT hallmarks of a conservative. When you consider all of these issues as a whole, weighed against his tax cuts and the War on Terror, the scales are heavily tilted toward the policies and agenda of the left.

GWB divisive? Possibly. I am deciding whether or not I want to cast my vote for him again next year. I won't support any Dem, but I may either leave the President box blank or vote for a Libertarian or Constitutional Party candidate - someone who isn't a RINO like Bush.

[OldFriend]

The left is simply expanding on the DNC talking point about how the President promised a new tone but didn't deliver.

Kind of hilarious when you think about it....all the hate rhetoric coming from the left is 'compassionate' and the President is evil,nazi, hateful, liar!

[SquirrelKing]

Yawn. This is the same pile that has been shoveled up since 2000 and beyond.

[OldFriend]

I am not a big fan of Will. Watching him pant over the new Governor of Michigan, Granholm and suggesting we have a constitutional ammendment so she could become President was more than a bit unsettling.

Kind of like Jimmy Carer lusting in his heart! UGH!

[TedsGarage]

I think Bush and Dean are both divisive, because both are products of a polarized nominating procedure that attracts only the most hard-core members of each party. Instead of getting one candidate everyone can agree on, we get two candidates who each satisfy half the country, while angering the other half. I thought John McCain would have been the most unifying president to emerge from 2000. Independents and Democrats held him in high regard, but he wasn't far enough to the right for the GOP base. By the same token, Bill Bradley could have erased memories of the Clinton Wars, but he didn't have the support of the Democratic establishment.

[cynicom]

I have been around since early times of FDR, never have I seen such a motley crew come forth wanting to lead the democrat party.

[PJ-Comix]

I am not a big fan of Will. Watching him pant over the new Governor of Michigan, Granholm and suggesting we have a constitutional ammendment so she could become President was more than a bit unsettling.

Maybe he just has the hots for her. If Petra Verkaik were the Democrat governor of a state, I too would be publicly promoting her if it meant a chance to spend the night in the governor's mansion.

[PJ-Comix]

I thought John McCain would have been the most unifying president to emerge from 2000.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Great comedy material! Can you tell me which comedy club you are appearing at so I can catch your act?

[lasereye]

I thought John McCain would have been the most unifying president to emerge from 2000.

What's an example of issues on which McCain is more unifying?

[PJ-Comix]

I have been around since early times of FDR...

So did you support the Cox-Roosevelt ticket or did you vote for Harding?

[cynicom]

Hey!!!!!!!!!! I am not that old. Anyway, in case anyone ever wanted to know, in 1932, FDR ran on an "anti big government" platform and won going away. Turned out he fooled most of the people.

[Armed Civilian]

GWB is a polarizer, THANK GOD!!! He has stated if you are not for us you are against us, I believe that has been stated elswhere. That is the kind of polarization that led gadhaffi (How ever you spell it) to open up and say uncle. Those who live in the grey world do not light like the light, it really shows that they are in darkness. Howard dean wants to unite everyone, right, even bring on a not-guilty OBL. Maybe Dean can get him on the ticket, no one else seems to want to be his VP.

[Armed Civilian]

Any vote not for Bush is for Dean or whoever the Dem is.

[OldFriend]

Hard to take Will seriously after he suggests we change our constitution so Granholm could become President. She's FAR left!

[JustPlainJoe]

don't you BLASPHEME!!! Don't you BLASPHEME da name of FDR!!!
Don't you know that FDR was a GOD who should have been just made EMPEROR, even after he kicked the bucket?!?!?

[PJ-Comix]

Hard to take Will seriously after he suggests we change our constitution so Granholm could become President. She's FAR left!

But...but does she look like Petra Verkaik? I don't care if she's a Bolshevik. All is forgiven if she looks like Petra Verkaik.

[nfldgirl]

Not only was it blatant, which is an understatement to say the least, but it was such a FLAGRANT offense as well! I was so glued to TV and the internet that day/night...in fact for about 48 hours straight! The media manipulated everything to try to give AG an advantage where/whenever possible...to call Florida soooooo early--even IF they had waited until after 7 p.m. in the Panhandle part of the state--was unconscionable, if not downright fraudulent. And while they were prematurely calling FL, as well as other close-call states for Gore, they seemed to have NO PROBLEM withholding calls for Bush in other eastern, mid-America states that were so definitely in his column, ESPECIALLY when in FL Bush was always on top in the vote count, every single step of the way that night.

There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that they were attempting to "drive" the perception across America all the way to the "left" coast that Bush was not only losing, but losing big-time, therefore, "don't bother voting." They started this early, and they kept it going for as long as they could. I will never forget watching all of this play out on television, keeping abreast of news/updates/tallies, etc. on the internet all throughout the night. It was quite something, to say the least, and I could have never believed it possible, had I not been watching it myself. And thank God GWBush finally came out on top.

[cynicom]

During his frequent fireside chats, my Father would call FDR a lying SOB. One I remember most was when FDR said he would never ask American boys to fight in a foreign war. (He lied and it cost my brother his life)

[John Robertson]

You're right, it won't be popular.

People have to realize that Bush IS a Republican, but not a conservative per se. He's conservative on some issues, centrist on others, and alas, even liberal on some. When steadfast conservatives (and I'm one) don't like something about a Republican, they often call them "Rino's," but that's an oxymoron. What you're saying is, He doesn't fit perfectly the template of my idealized view of what a perfect Republican would be in MY perfect world, therefore he's not a "real" Republican. But he is. It's not the DustyMoment party, it's the Republican party, and it's going to have people in it you disagree with. Welcome to politics. The only thing Bill Clinton ever said that made sense to me was, "Politics is the art of the possible." Now, true, he was dissembling when he said it, and it was probably coined by one of his hacks, but it describes the cultural/religious/political waters that must be navigated these days. It's not possible to have everything you want in a president. NOT possible. If a candidate hewed to every stance you hold dear...he'd be a third-party wacko at best, drawing 6% of the vote. And that would hand the election to the Dems. I don't want to hand my country over to Dean or Hillary.

Here's hoping you live in a state where your vote won't matter. In this election, I mean. There, I qualified it, so you don't have to write an essay on making a statement by voting libertarian, constitution or for the guy who runs the car wash.

[Armed Civilian]

Can I quote you? Well put.