Kerry Should Stop Stiff-Arming the Press

September 13, 2004) -- Democratic candidate for president John Kerry decided last month to stop unscheduled conversations with reporters on his campaign plane. The decision, which gained wide attention only last week, followed a precipitous drop in the polls that some political analysts blame on just such an informal chat.

Er, um, ahem...three words of advice from an aging professor who once covered half a dozen campaigns for the White House: Don't do it.

In early August, Kerry was in Grand Canyon National Park on a sunny day talking about domestic policy. President Bush had been challenging Kerry , who voted in the Senate to authorize the war in Iraq, to explain whether he would have displayed the same support had he known that U.S and allied forces would not find weapons of mass destruction.

As recounted by Jim VandeHei of the Washington Post, "Kerry strolled up to reporters, took what two of his own aides privately called obvious political bait and declared without equivocation that , 'yes, I would have voted for the authority' for Bush to wage the conflict."

With that, added VandeHei, the Massachusetts senator "provided the Bush campaign the political ammunition it sought" to blur differences between the two over the explosive Iraq war issue. Kerry has sagged badly in the polls since, particularly those that ask who could do a better job handling that controversial conflict.

Kerry apparently attributes some of this to engaging in the conversational scrums for which campaign reporters so lust. These journalistic elbowing contests:

* Often result in true news or at least an alternative lead to the day's coverage.

* Give the reporters a candid and unstructured look at the person who could be the next president.

* Sometimes catch the candidate in a relaxed mood in which questions may actually get answered.

Bill Clinton was probably the best at this, in my experience, strolling to the back of the plane at apparent whim and engaging reporters in conversation ranging from favorite reading material to sports, which he didn't seem to know much about. Pretty soon, he'd be making news with observations on opponents or national issues. Or he'd invite reporters up front to play hearts, his card game of choice.

Sometimes, after filing their stories, reporters would find him waiting at the steps of the campaign plane to make small talk and a couple of comments before re-boarding.

Clinton obviously had lots of opportunity to get cheesed off about unfavorable press coverage, justified or not, but he rarely succumbed to the temptation, even in his rookie year, when his wife got hit.

One morning in the important 1992 Illinois primary, Hillary Clinton, shaking hands in Chicago's Busy Bee Coffee Shop, answered a question about reconciling a career and a family life. She remarked sharply, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession."

Bill Clinton, in his recent autobiography recalls, "The press picked up the 'tea and cookies' remark and played it as a slam on stay-at-home mothers. The Republican culture warriors had a field day, portraying Hillary as a militant feminist lawyer."

Right after episode, back in '92, he was pretty grumpy about it, but he kept right on talking to reporters with spontaneity, and won the Illinois contest with 52 percent of the vote, thumping Jerry Brown and the late Paul Tsongas.

Ronald Reagan didn't much care for the crush of reporters in informal mixers, but he'd let longtime political adviser and press secretary Lyn Nofziger schedule one-on-one personal interviews on the plane as long as a general topic idea was discussed beforehand. Sometimes he'd turn down a request for more than one question, but he'd let the reporter hang around to watch him converse with aides and read documents. (He usually pointed out the fresh rose Nancy Reagan always had on his desk each morning, even on the campaign plane.)

The problem with shutting off reportorial access to so-called "spontaneous" moments of give and take is that it indicates to veteran journalists a loss of confidence on the part of the candidate, be he incumbent or challenger. It portends a possible smell of death in the campaign, a bow to the political grim reaper. At least reporters often interpret it that way.

When President Jimmy Carter, trailing Reagan badly, impetuously scheduled one last frenetic and futile flight to the Northwest the day before the 1980 election, he stuck to scheduled events, creating no late buzz. Reporters lost attention, concentrating instead on buying fresh salmon and stuffing it in the overhead luggage racks in brown wrapping paper. The return flight to Washington is not a pleasant aromatic memory.

In 1992, Bush the Elder, in the closing days of the campaign, inexplicably to some, conducted a pleasant but meandering train ride through Georgia and the Carolinas while bigger vital swing states went unattended. When he stayed up front and sent the ancient Strom Thurmond back to engage the press about his own 1948 presidential candidacy on a states' rights ticket, some reporters wrote that the incumbent Bush was a "flatliner" (after a popular movie of the day indicating no heartbeat in the main character).

Stiff-arming the working press might have some advantages for a presidential candidate, but certainly not for John Kerry, about whom the American voters want to know much, much more.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Hanchette (jhanchet@sbu.edu) covered politics, campaigns and other issues for Gannett News Service for more than twenty years, winning a Pulitzer Prize and other honors. He is writing a weekly column on the 2004 race for E & P Online. Hanchette currently teaches journalism at St. Bonaventure University.

I think the handwriting is on the wall.

___________________________________________________________________________________

****........It was Kerry's style that bothered people the most, suggesting that the senator may be saddled with a negative public image similar to the one that plagued Gore in 2000, when many voters saw the vice president as boring and stiff.

Those interviewed last week said Kerry came across as rich and affected, and seemed to say merely what he thought people wanted to hear.

Stopped in a parking lot in Herculaneum, Mo., a half-hour south of St. Louis, Tom Nations and his wife explained why they supported Clinton twice and would back his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, if she ever ran for president, but won't vote for Kerry.

"I don't want the nation put in the hands of Kerry," said Nations, 50, a manager for a car dent-removal company. Pressed for why, he paused before adding: "Kerry is just a speechmaking type. He just stands there and is like, 'Four score ... ,' you know? I don't think he's prepared for what the country is going through."

His wife, Karen, a hairdresser, agreed. "I just want to feel safe and protected," she said. "Kerry, it's like he's rehearsed in his speeches and guarded with what he says."

Several people said they would vote for the president as "the lesser of two evils."

"I like [Bush] less than I did then," said E. Keith Dean, 78, a Bush supporter in 2000, as he paid his lunch tab at Jim's Steak and Spaghetti House in Huntington, W.Va.

But the president's criticism of Kerry as an untrustworthy politician seems to have stuck with Dean, a retired architect: "I do think there's some validity to this, 'You can't trust what he says.' [Kerry] just changes from one time to another. I don't have any confidence in him."

In the wooded hills of Braxton County, W.Va., where small farms dot the landscape along the Elk River, many said they considered voting Democratic this time but lack faith in Kerry's ability to handle the country's problems. Gore defeated Bush by just 190 votes here..........****

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bal-te.election13sep13,1,6569662.story?coll=bal-home-headlines

Thanks for posting this interesting column. Here's the email I just sent to the author:

Dear Mr. Hanchette:

I read with interest your column "Kerry Should Stop Stiff-Arming the Press." Among other things. I enjoyed the anecdotes about the interactions of past presidents with the press.

I'd like to offer a comment on the central argument of your column, the notion that "stiff-arming the working press might have some advantages for a presidential candidate, but certainly not for John Kerry."

My belief is that Sen. Kerry is caught between a rock and a hard place. Yes, by avoiding the press, he gives the appearance of a candidate who lacks self-confidence, and limits his ability to communicate his own, more personal message.

But surely he and his advisors realize that. I believe they are embracing the lesser of two evils. My sense is that they know that if Kerry were to submit to serious questioning, he could be faced with questions that could destroy his already enfeebled campaign.

Specifically, I have to assume that among the very first questions would be whether, during his Navy service, the Senator ever was in Cambodia. The fact that none of his band of brothers has vouched for his allegations about being there suggests a damning truth. If Kerry were effectively forced to admit that this incident, which he famously claimed had been seared in his memory and was crucial to the formation of his political views, was a fabrication, that would essentially put an end to his campaign. I can imagine that there are other questions about his time in Vietnam, and his refusal to sign the so-called 180 form releasing his military records, which could be equally uncomfortable.

It seems to me that Kerry has simply decided to take the hit. Remain silent and let suspicions brew that he wasn't telling the truth, or accept an interview and remove all doubt.

Sincerely,

Governs

JOHN KERRY
CLICK HERE TO SIGN FORM 180

BUSH SIGNED FORM 180

WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?
WHAT IS YOUR SECRET?
WHAT DON'T YOU WANT
AMERICA AND THE PRESS TO KNOW?

E-Mail this story AND links to the media today.

John Kerry directly contributed to the lies of the anti war movement AND caused deaths and injuries
to US Military serving in Vietnam AND
directly caused deaths from injuries at home AND countless suicides because of his false testimony.

John Kerry is not fit to be elected dog catcher let alone President of the United States.
ANYONE who votes for Kerry AFTER knowing this data
is guilty of covering up John Kerry's war crimes!

John Kerry, director of the Vietnam Veterans against the War,
testified before special session the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
April 22, 1971

KERRY GAVE TESTIMONY BASED UPON FALSE INFORMATION
THAT KERRY KNEW AHEAD OF TIME TO BE FALSE!

September 6, 2004 -- **BREAKING** In Yesterday's Lies: Steve Pitkin and the Winter Soldiers, Scott Swett tells the story of a former VVAW member and participant in the Winter Soldier Investigation who states that John Kerry and others pressured him to give false testimony about American atrocities in Vietnam. After more than 33 years, Pitkin is the first Winter Soldier "witness" to file a legal affadavit regarding that event...

My name is Steve Pitkin, age 20, from Baltimore. I served with the 9th Division from May of '69 until I was airvaced in July of '69. I'll testify about the beating of civilians and enemy personnel, destruction of villages, indiscriminate use of artillery, the general racism and the attitude of the American GI toward the Vietnamese. I will also talk about some of the problems of the GIs toward one another and the hassle with officers.

-- Steve Pitkin, Winter Soldier Investigation, February 1, 1971.

E-Mail and/or fax these url's to EVERYONE ASAP! Kerry MUST be exposed NOW!
PUT PRESSURE ON THE MEDIA TO COVER THIS BEFORE NOV 2nd

Steve Pitkin Story

http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=YesterdaysLies1

Steve Pitkin Affadavit, August 31, 2004

http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=PitkinAff

Steve Pitkin DD-214

http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/graphics/PitkinDD214.jpg

Steve Pitkin WSI testimony

http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=PitkinWSI

Steve Pitkin WSI video clips -- February 1, 1971 (4:16, 1.6MB)

http://www.wintersoldier.com/video/pitkin2.wmv

John F. Kerry
Timeline of a traitor.
Click Here

http://www.archive-news.net/Kerry/JK_timeline.html

Guide to Local Media
Locate media in your zip code, gives you links to YOUR local media with phone, e-mail etc info.

Free Internet Fax Service
Free E-Mail to Fax from your computer, just fill in form on page , they do the rest.
Make sure you enter fax # like this 12025551212 (no spaces or -)

Is the number you want them to SEND FREE FAX covered?

Complete list of areas they SEND FREE FAXES to

Kerry's disrespect in 1971 to USA Symbols Video

Windows Media .......... Real Player .......... Quick Time .......... AOL

Ramsey Clark to Join Panel for Saddam’s Defense
arabnews press release 25 August 2004
NOTE :
Ramsey Clark is pictured below with Kerry and
Vietnam phony vet Al Hubbard
Who was head of the
Vietnam Veterans Against the War movement.

Al Hubbard Sgt., 22 Troop Carrier Squadron Aug. ’65-June ’66
- Al Hubbard, proven fraud who never set foot in Viet Nam.
The only Vietnamese he ever met was
when he was collaborating with the North Vietnamese in Paris
on the American Communist Party's nickel.

John Kerry's explanation:
"He (Hubbard) simply exaggarated his particular position.
But nobody knew it at the time. And those things happen."

Free online version of
Kerry's "The New Soldier"
You can read it online right now.

Kerry hopes everyone
in the USA gets this book!

NEW:
“Without question,
we were held captive longer
because of the anti-war people,
the Kerrys, the Fondas and Haydens,
the names we knew over there -
they encouraged the enemy to hang on.”
Excerpt from “Stolen Honor” website
- Leo Thorsness
Former Vietnam POW
CLICK HERE

Jane Fonda tells the student audience at the Michigan State University in 1969:

"I would think that if you understood what communism was, you would hope,
you would pray on your knees, that we would someday become communist."

Joe Moore, Can Tho Airfield 550th Signal Company

Copy and paste the links to everyone you know.

Steve Pitkin Affadavit, August 31, 2004

http://ice.he.net/~freepnet/kerry/staticpages/index.php?page=PitkinAff

John F. Kerry Timeline of a traitor

http://www.archive-news.net/Kerry/JK_timeline.html

Kerry's disrespect in 1971
to USA Symbols Video

Windows Media
http://swift3.he.net/~swift3/medals.wmv

Real Player
http://swift3.he.net/~swift3/medals.rm

Quick Time
http://swift3.he.net/~swift3/medals.mov

AOL
http://swift3.he.net/~swift3/medals.mpg

Send this url for the online "The New Soldier" version

http://ejsmithweb.com/fr/newsoldier/

Send this url for the Stolen Honor website

http://www.stolenhonor.com/

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