The Subtlety of Press Politics
Influences Presidential Primaries

By Michael Bradley

We wonder what the press would have done for it’s next dramatic moment if Howard Dean hadn’t been so exuberant in overcoming what must have been a tremendous disappointment in the Iowa caucus results?

Here we have the reporters, pundits and pollsters, who months ago anointed former governor Dean as the Democratic Party ‘front-runner,’ while simultaneously critically scrutinizing him in minute detail, suddenly finding a new opportunity to ‘move the story,’ as it is known in the trade. In other words, instead of having to soberly try to reconstruct the sudden turn of fortune and explain it in the light of their earlier reportage, the press, et al, found an easy way out: Dean is out of control! The Iowan’s must have somehow perceived this before anyone else, how fortunate!

This dovetailed nicely with all the earlier critiques of his supposed anger, as though somehow this is just another election year and there is really no need for emotional concern over the policies of the current administration.

There was however a saving grace for Mr. Dean in that when the film clip of his boisterous rallying cry to his supporters was shown in its entirety, it was simply a little silly and a bit embarrassing for him, and surely the average person wasn’t offended. It certainly wasn’t threatening. It certainly didn’t look like he was maniacal. It just looked like he was too exuberant, overcoming personal exhaustion and disappointment to throw the last bit of energy into rallying the troops. And at the very end of his coach-like harangue, he offered a self-deprecating laugh. Clearly it was all intended to be in fun.

But the members of the press now had a new story to move, and move it they did, deflecting attention from their own role in building expectations. Often, in the clips that followed, Mr. Dean’s ending chuckle wasn’t shown.

Suddenly and collectively, the accepted wisdom of the pack journalists was that Dean imploded, illustrating a temperament that is supposedly unsuitable for the White House. It was "un-presidential," some said, as though vigorously cheerleading a gathering of disappointed followers is somehow unacceptable in a leader, a potential President.

In terms of decorum in a chief executive, Howard Dean's display of sports-like enthusiasm and strength in the face of crushed expectations is supposed to be worse than the inarticulate malapropisms of George Bush as he represents the country globally, or the famous clip that David Letterman enjoys so much showing Mr. Bush expectorating as he walks across the White House lawn.

The press says it is, so it must be so; one can’t argue against the press, because it always has the last word. And increasingly, it has the first word too. Instead of doing the hard legwork and going out and actually talking to a lot of people, like what used to be done, the press now relies on polls, which are easily distorted in their creation and by the anonymous format that allows individuals to say things without having to look anyone in the eye. So polls stand-in for what used to be direct contact between reporters and the public, which is an all-important interaction when the story involves election campaigns in a democracy, especially one inundated by media.

Yet the underlying truth is that the established media likes established politicians, and in contrast to John Kerry, Mr. Dean is a newcomer from the backwoods of Vermont.

Further, it must be remembered that the established press is closely attuned to the power bases of the major political parties, and it is reasonable to assume that Chairman Terry McAuliffe and the Democratic National Committee, (DNC), are more comfortable with Mr. Kerry than they are with Mr. Dean, who keeps talking about ousting the Washington insiders who, he observes, in one way or another all participated in the current situation where one party dominates all politics with a right-wing agenda.

Now the news stories are very upbeat about Mr. Kerry and downbeat about Mr. Dean, and it doesn’t appear that Mr. Kerry will suffer the same level of negative scrutiny that belabored Dean. A small but illustrative example of this appeared in one of the nation’s best newspapers, The Washington Post, on Friday, January 23^rd.

Jonathan Finer, a reporter covering the New Hampshire primary, reported that in response to "a citizen’s question" regarding Alan Greenspan and his role in the increasing federal deficits, Howard Dean said: "I think Alan Greenspan has become too political. If he lacks the political courage to question the deficits, if he was foolish enough – and he’s not a foolish man – to support the outrageous tax cuts that Pres. Bush put through, then we need a new chairman of the Federal Reserve."

The subsequent story that appeared in the Post, with a dual byline of Mr. Finer and William Branigin, was headlined: "Dean Lashes Out At Greenspan." And this time the headline writer can’t be blamed; the first graph of Mr. Finer and Mr. Branigin’s story reads: "Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean lashed out today at Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, charging that the steward of the nation’s monetary policy has become ‘too political’ and suggesting he be replaced."

Buried at the bottom of the third paragraph is Mr. Dean’s full quote, which is simply a candid response to a direct question, not a ‘lashing out.’ But after Mr. Dean was dramatically shown in a negative light in the first graph, Sen. Kerry was referred to benignly in the second graph, with the observation that Mr. Kerry, "who has emerged as the new front-runner in the race in recent days, struck familiar themes today as he promoted his health care program on the campaign trail in Derry, N.H."

And on Wednesday, January 28^th, after Mr. Dean came in second behind Mr. Kerry in New Hampshire, a headline in The Post declared, "Dean’s Rebound Falls Short." Well, Mr. Kerry won 38% of the vote and Mr. Dean won 26%, while Wesley Clark and John Edwards essentially tied at 12%, Joe Lieberman came in at 9%, and Dennis Kucinich accrued 1%. Clearly Mr. Kerry and Mr. Dean outdistanced all the others. But in the world of the press, it’s all relative to the desired effect; the headline could just as easily have read: Dean Bounces Back In N.H., or, Dean Gains Second Place.

It appears obvious that the press finally has the establishment candidate it wants.