November 02, 2006
Hotline After Dark -- All Kerry
If Dems were hoping John Kerry's apology would make the story go away, they may not want to read any further. Cable continued its 24-hour coverage of the issue:
MSNBC's Shuster, on Kerry's apology: "Democrats are hoping this will be the end to this and put the campaign back on the issues that have been cutting their way" ("Hardball," 11/1).
Newsweek's Fineman: "His failure to just flat out apologize for any misunderstanding about his ambiguous statement to military people and their families allowed the Republicans to go to town on this all day" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 11/1).
FNC's Cameron: "What is not subject to interpretation ... is that in this last week, so far, two days of the campaign's coverage and the general rhetoric has been dominated by Democrat John Kerry. And he is not on the ballot, and chances are, tomorrow will be the third day in a row because all the newspapers will cover it. ... So of the final seven days, at least two and perhaps three days of what would be Democratic message management has now been completely upended by John Kerry" ("On the Record," 11/1).
Newsweek's Wolffe: "You talk to Republican candidates over the last several months, and they've been telling reporters, voters, anyone who will listen to them, that they do not want to nationalize this election. ... This whole debate has given President Bush a chance to attack Senator Kerry. Doesn't give Republican candidates much to go on against their Democratic opponents" ("Scarborough Country," MSNBC, 11/1).
NBC's Russert: "The Republicans are going to have a TV commercial showing it, and let that run for awhile. But the Democrats are furious ... because it's now dominated three news cycles and they want it over with" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 11/1).
FNC's Baier: "Senior White House officials reacted to Senator Kerry's apology by saying it was late coming, but welcomed" ("Special Report," 11/1).
CNN's J. King: "Most Democratic strategists ... think this will soon pass, but they do say it could have an impact in a few of the top 20 targeted House races where it is right down to the wire, especially in conservative Republican districts" ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," 11/1).
Newt Gingrich: "You'll notice that Kerry couldn't even come out and read his own statement today. He just posted something, which tells you that, down deep, he hated doing it" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 11/1).
Rep. John Murtha (D-PA): "There's no question in my mind he doesn't try to denigrate the troops, but how he said it certainly looks that way. So he needs to explain what he was trying to do. But it's unfortunate and it's distracting from the real situation on the ground" ("Tucker," MSNBC, 11/1).
WH spokesperson Tony Snow: "It took a while, but he did the right thing" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 11/1).
Rep. Marty Meehan (D-MA): "Now that Senator Kerry has apologized, we can move on to the real issue, which is this administration's mismanagement of the war in Iraq and the need to go in a new direction" ("Situation Room," CNN, 11/1).
CAN THE DEMS MAKE POLITICAL GOLD OUT OF THIS?
House Maj. Leader John Boehner spoke about Iraq in the "Situation Room."
Boehner: "Let's not blame what's happening in Iraq on Rumsfeld."
CNN's Blitzer: "But he's in charge of the military."
Boehner: "But the fact is, the generals on the ground are in charge, and he works closely with them and the president. We've seen this run up in violence as we get closer to the election, as we get closer to Ramadan, same thing we've seen over the last couple of years" (11/1).
Boehner, asked if he was blaming the generals in his CNN comments: "No. ... I've been out on Kerry for two days, because I thought he was wrong. And I thought he should apologize. And I'm glad that he did. And so Harry and the other Democrats are coming after me, because I was out there with them. I applaud our generals and our soldiers on the ground for their determination and their bravery. And I have been supportive of them all through this entire campaign. So nobody can say that I'm not out there supporting our generals and our soldiers on the ground" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 11/1).
PUSHING THE ISSUE
"Countdown" had on Mike Stark, the man caught in the scuffle with George Allen volunteers.
Stark: "I didn't push anyone that I remember. ... I was trying to pace the senator so I could continue with my questions as he moved through the crowd and they were pushing me around. So, it was definitely difficult to maintain my position. I think the video speaks for itself, though. I mean, I did my absolute best to restrain myself the entire time. I mean, my attentions were completely focused on the senator."
More Stark: "Senator Allen was in complete control of that situation at all times. At any time he could have said, 'hey, wait a minute, no, this isn't the way my campaign operates. Take your hands off that man, stop this.' Instead he watched it happen and walked away when things stared getting really out of control. At any time he could have stopped that. That's a failure of leadership."
Stark: "I don't have any idea who any of these men are. I did file a police report. I am pressing charges against the people who did this. And I expect the police and the commonwealth to sort out all the names. These people are known, some of them are GOP officials in the county, others were campaign staffers. And I've heard that they've threatened to press charges against me. The senator's even got his wife out there casting dispersions against me. It's tough when a grown man has to have his wife fight his battles for him. What a cowardly bully" (MSNBC, 11/1). [EMILY GOODIN]
Posted at 07:46 AM
Comments
Of course, impotent mainstream media types fed the controversy by playing the out of context snippet and not elaborating further or presenting it in context.
This controversy was as much a product of media manipulation and hype as it was a case of Kerry stumble-bumbling through a joke.
James Landrith | 11.02.06 09:59 PM
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Why is it a good thing for the GOP that they got to spend a couple of days ragging on Kerry by reminding people about all of the soliders in Iraq? One Republican (or Republican shill) after another says that mean old John Kerry insulted our wonderful men and women in uniform who are in harm's way. Yeah? So who put them in harm's way?
The mock outrage displayed by the GOP is further evidence of their desperation.
Zeno | 11.02.06 11:41 PM
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