The Power of Publishing

"It's like the NRA funding a report about Sarah Brady," the gun-control advocate, says McConnell spokesman Don Stewart. "You've got to be somewhat leery about the objectivity."

McClatchy Vice President Howard Weaver says his company, which inherited the situation after buying the Herald-Leader, does not believe in such grants. "As a matter of practice, if we want some journalism done in our newsrooms, we pay for it," Weaver says. "But I've heard enough politicians explain why they gave back a campaign contribution to know it's not a perfect remedy."

Dan Noyes, acting director of the reporting center, says he paid for the series because the money went to the reporter, not the newspaper. Noyes sees no conflict because his group has an "arm's length relationship" with Deer Creek, and he says its $300,000 grant will fund campaign finance probes of both Democrats and Republicans.

One Really Long Article

Esquire is taking the strange step of making endorsements -- in all 504 congressional and gubernatorial races.

For the just-released issue, the magazine says it weighed such factors as effectiveness and hypocrisy, not Iraq or taxes, in an idiosyncratic process that wound up backing a majority of Democrats for the House and Senate.

"We didn't come at it from any ideological standpoint," says Executive Editor Mark Warren. "We endorsed Ted Kennedy and Trent Lott, because of a combination of how they serve their state and how they function in the Senate."

Conflicting reports

Howzat?

"NATO Chief Denies Quotes in Woodward Book"--U.S. News & World Report, Oct. 4

"U.S. European Commander Confirms Quotes In Book"--Washington Post, Oct. 5

Why did Mark Warner really quit the 2008 race? Slate's John Dickerson says the public explanation might actually be true:

"When politicians say they're putting aside their ambition to be with their family, they're usually backing out the door. It's an excuse, something you say just before the police announce they've found your freezer full of cash or they have your IMs. So, it was hard for a lot of people to take Mark Warner at face value Thursday as he took himself out of the 2008 presidential race, saying, "This is the right time for me . . . to have a life for a little while." No one had a remotely solid alternative story or a reason to be skeptical, but dropping out is just not what politicians do. Politicians run. They run when everyone tells them not to, because they've chosen to believe the one person in the room who says they're Oval Office material . . .

"I would have had the immediate Washington reaction, too, but the first thing I remembered was a moment last July, riding across Iowa in a minivan with the former Virginia governor. I was getting ready to interview him for a story, but he wanted to take care of a few personal things first. He called some people and checked in at home. He'd been racing all morning from one small group of voters to another, testing out lines, looking for clues about caucus voters, and ending most appearances with a wince-making imitation of the Terminator: 'I'll be back.' When the governor called home, one of his teenage daughters picked up the phone. Their exchange started out as one of the tug-of-wars parents have with teenage kids--the father wanted a few pieces of information, and the daughter wouldn't let go of any. The conversation was going on a bit. I was fiddling with my tape recorder, trying not to listen in. The daughter he was talking to has diabetes, and she wasn't feeling well, which can become a big problem fast, so there was a little more urgency in his voice as he tried to figure out if she was just being a grumpy teenager or if it was something more serious.