Ganged Up
Conspiracy at 18th and Swann, NW
By Mark Halperin, Lisa Todorovich, Marc Ambinder, David Chalian, Brooke Brower, Mary Hood, Karen Travers, Annie Chiappetta, Jan Simmonds, and Alexandra Avnet with Faryl Ury and Jonathan Greenberger
W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 9, 2004—
Ken Mehlman was not invited to Sunday's meeting of the Journalists Division of the Gang of 500.
Had the President's campaign manager been in attendance, however, he would not have been surprised at what was discussed.
The meeting — held, per usual, on the top floor of Lauriol Plaza — did have a speaker phone set up, so those in Martha's Vineyard, the Hamptons, Jackson Hole, Nantucket, Kennebunkport, and aboard the Kerry train could participate.
In fact, somehow Mary Beth Cahill got the dial-in number, and she was able to listen in (while she leafed through the clips and some expense reports … ).
Cahill, too, wasn't the least bit surprised about what went on.
First, the group concluded that Friday's job numbers pretty much give them license through election day to frame all stories about the economy to convey a 43-reliving-41 job creation failure.
Along with the deficit, the rising numbers of the uninsured, and the "lack of courage" to raise taxes on the wealthy, the Journalist Division settled upon the storyline — voters have judged the president a bungler at guiding the economy.
Second, with the chaos in Iraq back on the front pages and on TV, the Division decided to remember that much of the president's weak job approval number and "wrong track" persistence, is based on the mess in Iraq. Everyone agreed to return that point to center stage leading up to the end of August as a good way to frame the Republican convention narrative.
Third, with only three dissenting votes, the Division agreed that until weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq (thus restoring Mr. Bush's credibility) John Kerry's best attempts to come off as a Gore-like grasping, exaggerating, pandering, slashing equivocator would not be Noticed — or at least, not be allowed to define coverage of the Democratic nominee.
So Kerry's inexplicable attack on the President for staying in the classroom on 9/11? Ignore it. (Ignore what Mrs. Heinz Kerry said earlier in defending the president's actions.)
And Kerry's equally inexplicable blurting out to NPR that he would significantly reduce the number of troops in Iraq in his first year in office? Ignore that too.
Even ignore the wacky explanation given by one of his aides to the Washington Post, courageously on background: Kerry's "pledge to reduce troops came in response to a question and did not mark a new policy, rather a hope for improved conditions in Iraq."
On this point, the Division did raise an orange juice toast of agreement with the absent Mr. Mehlman, endorsing his view that, until and unless the press starts holding the non-incumbent accountable for such statements, the president probably can't win.
Ah, but what the Division members — mostly not regular churchgoers, mostly not gun owners, and mostly unaware of what it is like to get dirty while they work (literally, if not figuratively) — did not focus on was the micro, targeted way that Mehlman and Karl Rove plan to win the election anyway.
Thus, four must-reads in the papers today that explain how re-election can be eked out:
1. people of faith: the New York Times ' David Kirkpatrick front pages a fantastic look at how church leaders are team leaders for BC04. LINK and more on this story below. See also: LINK
2. gun owners: Jeff Birnbaum of the Washington Post examines the electoral muscle of the NRA. LINKand more on this story below
3. the coal community: the New York Times Christopher Drew and Rich Oppel explore the ways in which the Bush Administration and Bush campaign continue to appeal to those who make their living off of King Coal in those battleground states. LINK, and more on this story below.
4. military voters in North Florida: LINK and Arkansas and (even Oregon!!) and elsewhere.
Still undecided by the Division is how much attention to give to the specific "charges" in "Unfit For Command"; whether same-sex marriage will really cut for Bush in the end (the Division believes not but isn't entirely sure); who the "It" demographic will be in late October; where Kerry's debate expectations stand; whether John Edwards' stump prowess has been overrated; and several other matters to be detailed in the days ahead.
SHEEEESH...MUD