Thompson Battles Media Skeptics

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 1, 2007 9:50 AM

The reviews are in: Fred Thompson's plunge into the presidential campaign "was right up there with Britney Spears at the MTV awards."

Well, that was liberal New York Times columnist Gail Collins. How about a committed conservative?

"More belly-flop than swan dive . . . the strangest product launch since that of New Coke in 1985," writes columnist George Will.

Okay, they're in the opinion business. But news accounts have described the fledgling Thompson venture as "a comedy of errors" (Politico.com); drawing "mediocre reviews" (Washington Post); and maintaining a "languid" schedule that on one swing "kept him on a jumbo air-conditioned bus far more often than he is actually campaigning" (New York Times).

So is the former Tennessee senator sinking like a rock? "If you only read what the national media is writing," says Todd Harris, Thompson's communications director, "you'd be surprised to learn that in three of the five early states we are either in the lead or tied for first."

Harris says that elite East Coast journalists are out of touch.

"Local media cover what happens and don't get wrapped up in the expectations game," he says. "National media aren't just covering what happened but what they expected to happen . . . The national press is far less interested in the specifics of what's going on on the ground than in looking for things to cherry-pick, to write stories that fit what they think the narrative of the campaign ought to be."

For several months, national news organizations portrayed the veteran actor as a potential Republican savior. But in the four weeks since he joined the race, Thompson has largely been panned.

There is little doubt that Thompson has fumbled some questions and seemed less than fully prepared. Asked during a Florida trip about the possibility of oil drilling in the Everglades, Thompson said he couldn't rule anything out, adding: "No one has told me that there's any major reserves in the Everglades, but maybe that's one of the things I need to learn while I'm down here."

When Thompson was asked about the 2005 furor over whether brain-damaged Terri Schiavo should be kept alive, he told a Tampa station: "That's going back in history. I don't remember the details of it."

Thompson's less-than-grueling schedule has also revived media carping that the man who walked away from the Senate in 2002 seems a tad lazy. He made just one appearance last week, in Wyoming, limiting himself to fundraising and a call to Sean Hannity's radio show. Even his folksy speaking style has been denigrated as rambling. "Like watching Bob Dole--without the Viagra," the Heritage Foundation's Robert Bluey wrote after one speech.

Chris Lehane, a former strategist for Al Gore and John Kerry, says Thompson "has done a number of things that have played into the negative story line, that this is someone who is not a particularly hard worker and doesn't necessarily do his homework. At the end of the day these are really caricatures, and are always exaggerations. But there tends to be some truth in the caricatures."

Harris says each of the episodes has been overblown or wrenched out of context. In the Schiavo case, he says, Thompson was saying such matters should be left to local jurisdictions but "was honest enough to say he didn't have all the details."

On the Everglades question, Harris says the candidate was "laughing" as he made the remarks, but didn't pretend to be fully briefed on the issue. "When the American people are looking for a president, I don't think they're looking for an encyclopedia, they're looking for a leader . . . If the news media think the American people choose a president based on whether he does three or five events a day, the press corps is even more detached from reality than I previously thought."

Some of Thompson's local coverage has been positive. "Thompson Brings Reagan's Style to GOP," said a Tampa Tribune piece. "Thompson Winner with Hometown Crowd," said the Huntsville, Ala., Times. "Ex-Senator Has Support from Conservatives," said the Charlotte Observer. St. Petersburg Times columnist Adam Smith wrote that the Washington pundits "need to get out of the Beltway for a few days" and are "underestimating the hunger among Republicans for an alternative to the current field."

It's possible that national reporters are failing to grasp Thompson's appeal, and by granting few interviews to major news outlets other than Fox News, he is hardly going out of his way to court them. But they remain a force to be reckoned with.

Running for president is an obstacle course, and one of the things voters watch is how you handle press scrutiny, no matter how overbearing or unfair. Thompson may like this story line far less than the "Law & Order" episodes portraying him as a crusading prosecutor, but he can't reject the script.

Diplomatic Incident

Washington Post reporter Glenn Kessler hasn't been the most popular person at the State Department since his biography of Condoleezza Rice was published last month. "The Confidante" describes Rice as "one of the weakest national security advisers in U.S. history" and says her appointment of spokesman Sean McCormack "greatly angered traditionalists at State" because others were viewed as more experienced.

When Rice was about to hold a news conference with several foreign leaders at the U.N. on Sept. 23, the assembled reporters--who rotate questions at these brief availabilities--told McCormack's assistant that it was Kessler's turn to ask a question for the American press. The assistant returned with word that CNN producer Elise Labott would be called on instead. Labott, who heads the State Department Correspondents Association, refused. The aide said McCormack didn't want Kessler to ask the question. If that was the case, Labott said, the U.S. press corps would forego its question.

At the news conference, the U.N. spokesman, working from McCormack's list, called on Labott, who announced that she was deferring to Kessler. He asked Rice about a planned Mideast conference.

McCormack says he asks the press for "suggestions" but that "I reserve the right to make my own suggestions." He says he told the U.N. spokesman to call on Labott first, and Kessler if there was time for a second question. As for "The Confidante," McCormack says: "I don't do book reviews."

Kessler says he was "surprised" by the incident, adding: "I've never been officially told by anyone at State that there was any issue with my book."

Scaife Scuffle

Richard Mellon Scaife, the conservative publisher, gained national attention in the 1990s for giving the American Spectator $1.8 million to dig up dirt on Bill Clinton.

Last week, though, the publisher of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was trying to keep information out of the press. Scaife's attorneys went to court to demand that the rival Pittsburgh Post-Gazette return documents involving his divorce.

Further dissemination of the documents "would not merely serve to embarrass the parties, but could endanger their security," Scaife's filing said. A judge rejected the request Thursday.

The Post-Gazette obtained the sealed file from a public Web site after a county official's error. The paper detailed the battle over Scaife's $1.4-billion fortune and the order that he pay his wife $725,000 a month in temporary support.

Why should even a billionaire's family fight be made public? The Post-Gazette quoted its editor, David Shribman, as saying the proceedings were "highly newsworthy" and that Scaife had asked the court to do "something unprecedented" in imposing prior restraint on a newspaper.

Musical Chairs

Must be the season: Veteran Los Angeles Times reporter Ron Brownstein has become political director of the Atlantic and National Journal. Gloria Borger has jumped from CBS News to CNN. And David Corn of the Nation is the new Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine.

Back to Politics . . .

Is Rudy again a ladies' man? The LAT reports from Palm Springs:

"Rudolph W. Giuliani is married to his third wife, his kids barely talk to him and he's comfortable with leaving intact the national policy permitting abortion. Oh -- and he's the former mayor of New York City, a modern Gomorrah to many here at the biennial conference of the National Federation of Republican Women.

"You'd think that Giuliani would get little more than a polite round of applause from the mostly conservative crowd of 2,000 women. But as the only Republican presidential candidate to travel to the desert this weekend to address the group, Giuliani scored some solid points with -- and a few standing ovations from -- a key constituency, the women activists within his own party."

After facing a 14-point gender gap in his support, "a Gallup Poll released Friday shows a radical shift in the landscape, with Giuliani enjoying slightly more support among women than men, 34% to 31%. Thompson still faced a gender gap, getting support from 25% of men but 16% of women -- something convention-goers suggested was rooted in personal reactions to Thompson's second wife, Jeri. She is more than two decades younger than Thompson and she has shocked some conservative sensibilities by wearing outfits with plunging necklines."

So his support will rise if she starts wearing turtlenecks?

Speaking of Fred, the Boston Globe examines the "Pap factor" in recounting how he married his high school girlfriend after getting her pregnant:

"Thompson's personal crisis wound up turning around his life and - in a twist that still stuns some of those who remember him as lackadaisical Freddie - put him on the path to being a contender for the Republican presidential nomination. The teenage wedding thrust Thompson, the son of a little-educated used-car dealer, into the middle of his wife's erudite family. Searching for a way forward, Thompson began to listen to his wife's grandfather, Pap.

"Pap was a small-town lawyer with a patriarchal Southern manner. He also had one of the most unusual affiliations in town: He was a Republican.

"Over the next year, Thompson started viewing himself not as the class cutup, but as someone who wanted to be like Pap, the respected problem-solver and father-figure. It was Pap and others in his wife's family who inspired Thompson to go to college and law school and eventually to work in politics."

Is McCain pandering to the Christian right? He says the Constitution established America "as a Christian nation." Really?

"GOP presidential candidate John McCain says America is better off with a Christian President and he doesn't want a Muslim in the Oval Office," New York's Daily News reports.

" 'I admire the Islam. There's a lot of good principles in it,' he said. 'But I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles, personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith.' "

Speaking of faith, Romney had this reaction when a Newsweek reporter told him he had visited the Mormon church in Michigan that Mitt attended as a child:

"Full stop. Never has a man so polished looked so uncomfortable.

"Nothing is more politically vexing or personally crucial for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney than the story of his faith. Raised in a devout Mormon family by parents who were both principled and powerful, Romney has downplayed both his religion and his own family history."

Don't miss this quote in the Hill from a top Republican who expects Hillary to win the White House: " 'You can't go after a woman candidate the way you can go after a guy,' said Paul Weyrich, chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation and an influential conservative leader. 'It's very, very difficult to campaign against a woman candidate.' "

At Pajamas Media, Roger L. Simon can hardly believe what John Edwards is saying about his surprise decision to take federal matching funds:

" 'This is not about a money calculation,' Edwards told CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley on his way to an event in Durham, North Carolina. 'This is about taking a stand, a principled stand, and I believe in public financing.'

"I also believe in magic in a young girl's heart, etc. How do these people say these things? I must say I admire Edwards for being able to pronounce those words with a straight face. Must be those years of courtroom experience. 'Ladies and gentleman of the jury . . . '

"And speaking of courtrooms, since it doesn't seem likely that his campaign is going anywhere anyway, maybe John should book on with Phil Spector for the record producer's retrial. That's a job that should pay pretty well."

No applause for the Edwards move from MyDD's Jonathan Singer:

"I don't mean to be crass, I do not mean to denigrate campaign finance law, but there is simply no way I could support John Edwards based on his decision to accept public financing, thus placing a cap on the overall amount of money he can spend before the Democratic Convention in late August. And frankly I might actually go further and say that I'd have a problem with him winning the nomination at this point . . .

"I simply do not believe that the Democrats can afford to give up on one of the greatest advantages they have going into the 2008 presidential election -- fundraising. By accepting public financing Edwards is limiting the amount of money he can spend pre-Democratic convention to $45 million. That's right, just $45 million through the end of September, a period of time during which the Republican nominee may be spending quite freely."

The pundits are really losing patience with Barack Obama. Take the Atlantic's Matthew Yglesias:

"It keeps seeming to me as if Barack Obama is making arguments that, while fairly clear to me, must go over the heads of at least half of political junkies, to say nothing of normal people going about their lives . . .

"That just seems crazy to me. Readers have no doubt noticed that I like Obama and I like what I think his campaign stands for. But it's ridiculous to expect members of the press -- even sympathetic ones -- to make his arguments for him. If he wants people to vote for him rather than for Hillary Clinton, he needs to spell out some reasons why."

Ready for the McCain bounceback? The New York Sun's Ryan Sager isn't:

"What the press creates, the press destroys. And what the press destroys, the press builds back up. The cycle is turning once again for Senator McCain. But don't be fooled by the quacks pointing to fleeting signs of life: This campaign is in a persistent vegetative state.

"Once considered by some the unquestionable front-runner for the GOP nomination (despite every poll showing Mayor Giuliani out front), over the summer the Straight Talker has been having his obituary typed up like a frail pope with a robust head cold. Now, however, the press is ready to declare a McCain 'rebound.' A Washington Post columnist, David Broder, recently said Mr. McCain has found his footing; the Manchester Union-Leader penned an editorial heralding, 'A comeback begun,' and the Arizona Republic said, 'McCain is on the rise.'

"It's only a matter of time before Newsweek runs a cover declaring Mr. McCain 'The Comeback Kid' or some other such nonsense.

"Humbug -- to put it politely . . .

"With no money and virtually no organization, Mr. McCain has retrenched to an early-state-only strategy. Unfortunately, two out of the three traditional early states are essentially out of the senator's reach."

How is the NYT's image faring these days? TPM's Greg Sargent finds a "fascinating number buried in the new Fox News poll:

"I'm going to read you the names of several institutions or organizations. Please tell me whether you have a generally favorable or unfavorable opinion of each one. . . .

"The U.S. Military: Favorable 86%; Unfavorable 10%

"The Democratic Party: Favorable 50%; Unfavorable 40%

"The New York Times: Favorable 47%; Unfavorable 22%

"The Republican Party: Favorable 44%; Unfavorable 47%

"MoveOn.org: Favorable 11%; Unfavorable 22%

"So more people view the New York Times favorably than see the GOP in a positive light -- despite a weeks-long campaign by the GOP to demonize the paper as riddled with anti-military bias from top to bottom."