Posted on 09/01/2004 5:08:16 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
Wow! What an action-packed half-hour on the morning news shows! My remote is still smoking.
Let's start with Today. When it comes to Arnold, there's a strange dynamic at NBC. Their visceral hatred of Republicans is at war with the fact that Arnold is of course married to Maria Shriver, one of NBC's own, and someone who I sense is a social circle friend of Katie Couric.
So from Katie to Campbell Brown to Tim Russert, Arnold received rave reviews. Among the Today 'thumbs up': "the crowd loved Arnold," "an unforgettable national debut with a very optimistic message."
Russert in particular was glowing: "He sure did have star power and cross-over appeal. He can speak to average people, Hispanics, white guys in Flint Michigan [isn't that Moore's home town?], telling them it's OK to be Republican, the big issue is the war on terror I'm with the President, it's OK for you to be so too."
I can't recall if it was Katie or Tim, but one of them set up a potential problem for Arnold and the Republicans, only to knock it down. "Dems look at Arnold's claims of a compassionate GOP that and say that there is a conflicting message. Arnold describes a compassionate party, but on affirmative action, programs for the poor, etc. the Dems would argue the Republicans are not as generous."
To which Russert responded, "but Arnold would say, 'that's OK, you can make it on your own, I didnt speak English till I was 20 and still was able to make it in this country.' It's a very powerful message."
Katie did look for the down side when she fretted that Arnold's 'red meat' line that "you are a Republican if you believe this country and not the UN is the best hope for the world" conflicts with our country's need to engage the UN and foreign allies in rebuilidng Iraq, etc.
Katie is obviously worried about the impact Zell Miller will have tonight. She tried to devalue him as a messenger by asking: "is he really a Dem?" Russert didn't give the answer Katie was looking for: "He'll be able to say: I was a Dem governor, I'm a Dem senator. He'll have a lot of currency tonight."
Katie wondered whether Dick Cheney is going to serve up a lot of red meat tonight or if we'll hear a kinder gentler Cheney. Russert said he'd be both. "There'll be a lot of slicing and dicing of Kerry on foreign policy. That's how Cheney really feels. But he'll also be avuncular."
As mentioned in the headline, CBS finally discovered the RNC. You'll recall that yesterday they chose not to devote a single segment in the crucial half-hour to the RNC. This morning, Charles Smith interviewed Lynne Cheney and one of her daughters, Elizabeth (not the gay one, Mary).
The entire thrust of Smith's interview was to attempt to stir up division and bad feelings among Republicans.
"Is it disappointing to be involved in controversy?"
"What your father said on gay marriage was very dissapointing to conservatives in the party."
Then some false 'personal' concern: "How is Mary [the gay daughter] doing amidst all of this?"
"What do you understand that cultural Christians don't understand."
With grace and intelligence, the Cheney's strode through the mine field Smith had laid, without a misstep.
An aside: fairness dictates, since we are quick to observe this about Dem women, that it appeared to me that Lynne Cheney has had some cosmetic surgery. She did look very nice.
Perhaps the most telling moment of the morning was the coffee klatch between Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopolous at GMA.
George admitted that Kerry is "angry with his staff." Apparently the poll numbers that worry them the most are W's approval ratings which are now solidly over 50%, and the fact that Kery went from a sizeable post-DNC advantage to a sizeable deficit on who would make the better commander-in-chief.
Steph said the Dems have a three-pronged strategy: 1. Kerry's speech at the American Legion, where he'll give a tough critique on Iraq and try to exploit W's recent statement on the winnability of the war. 2. A major advertising buy on domestic issues; and 3. A rapid response team. Many new people are being brought in but no one is being fired.
Fretted Sawyer, effectively acknowledging that Kerry is in deep trouble: "Can he turn it around or is it too late?" Steph: "It's not too late, the race is still tied. The next big moment is the debates."
Another aside: GMA then moved from former Clinton advisor Steph, to son-of-Mario Chris, who gave a report on security at the convention. Gee, who says the MSM have a liberal bias?
Finally, back at Today, Katie interviewed former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey. Aside: with his faux-Caesar hair cut and suntan, Kerrey is looking more and more like a third-rate Frank Sinatra impersonator. I was waiting for him to burst into "Strangers in the Night."
The thrust of Kerrey's argument was that the Republicans are being too mean to John Kerry. W should thank Kerry for his support on Iraq rather than scorning and ridiculing him as a waffler.
To Katie's credit, she did ask: "what about not supporting the $87 billion?" Kerrey moved on quickly without really answering.
But in trying to argue that John Kerry has been been "steadfast," Bob Kerrey might have created another flip-flop controversy. Kerrey claimed that Kerry would have supported the Iraq resolution "even if he knew what we know today," [i.e., the lack of discovered WMDs]. But wait a minute! Jamie Rubin said that about Kerry a week ago, but then was forced to apologize and say it's not true. Now Kerrey seems to be resurrecting the claim. So which is it?
Katie then raised W's statement in the Lauer interview about the winnability of the war. "Is it a tempest in a teapot?" Kerrey: "Nothing to it except that the Republicans have been whacking Kerry for being a waffler and flip flopper." The problem for the Dems: everyone knows it was not a flip flop by W.
Finally, Katie raised the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth: "how do you feel about the controversy?"
Interestingly, Kerrey didn't claim it was a W campaign set-up. To the contrary, he said the Swiftees "hate" Kerry for his 1971 testimony. That suggests their ads are authentic. Still he agreed with Katie that W for some reason should condemn the ads more strongly. Katie 'forgot' to ask if Kerry should condemn the Move-on.org ads or Fahrenheit 911.
All in all, a good morning for W. The convention played to strong reviews, Kerry was depicted angry and in trouble, and CBS' attempt to trip up the Cheney's fell flat on its face.
Agreed as to order of best to worse and likely impact. Then again, I don't think we'll see the Bush girls prominently featured again by the campaign any time soon.
In a 21st century campaign, there is no evidence that Tim Russert matters.
LOL. He really does seem to have become little more than en echo chamber for conventional MSM wisdom.
The elites are just setting up the public for the great comeback for Kerry.
Their alternate universe is being written as we type!
This is great, great news. It shows that Kerry STILL hasn't figured this campaign out. ANY, I repeat, ANY sentence that puts "George Bush" and "War on Terror" together---even in an attack---merely reinforces that there is a War on Terror and that Bush is doing something about it!. I love it, but I'm amazed that there doesn't appear to be a Dem in the entire country who can tell Kerry to SHUT UP about a) the Swiftboats and b) the War on Terror. He CANNOT WIN EITHER OF THOSE ISSUES
Great report - thanks so much.
Excellent point. W's statement on winnability would only hurt him if people thought for a second that he wasn't resolute on fighting terror or that Kerry was tougher than W on terror. Since no one believes that, raising the issue, as you point out, only hurts Kerry.
If Kerry were smart, he would stop responding to the swift veterans, etc., and focus almost entirely on his plans for the economy, health care, etc. Boring, but his only chance of changing the subject to an area where the polls show he's competitive.
Well, Kerrey is one of those who knows that there were nuggets of truth in Kerry's 1971 testimony. Knows.
Thanks, Uncle Dave. My pleasure as always.
By the way, did you catch the other thread about Katie trashing Michael Moore? It was absolutely amazing:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1204675/posts?page=208
Yes, I read that. Very amusing.
Really? I never watch Steph so I have no idea what he's been saying.
Cool. The thought of Kerry's campaign going down in flames makes me happy.
Interesting. I hadn't made that connection yet.
But as a former top Clinton administration official, I think it's fair to assume that he has many good friends and contacts within the Kerry campaign and can speak quite authoritatively about what is happening chez Kerry.
True enough. I was beginning to get worried about the election but the news lately seems to be breaking our way for a change. This plus your excellent catch on Katie and Michael Moore this morning, and I swear we've entered the Twilight Zone.
LOL!
Thanks for your daily Today write-ups. This one was a real pleasure to read, since the tides have turned and the rats are on the run to find some traction.
Thank you, HW. It really is my pleasure, particularly on a day like today. Can hardly wait for tomorrow, as we see the liberal co-hosts with the rubble of the Kerry campaign in ruins around their ears.
Arnold's speech promoted more conservative Republican principles than we've heard for a long time...NOT the speech of a RHINO at all.
I agree, he probably swithed more Dems to the Pub's side than any other speaker so far. If I weren't sure of who to vote for this year, I would have been heavily swayed by Ahhnold.
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