Media Decide Kerry Gets the Momentum

Media Decide Kerry
Gets the Momentum

All of the networks awarded victory in Thursday nights debate to John Kerry over George W. Bush, and some journalists seemed excited by the idea that the strong performance could boost the Democrats overall campaign. But an ABC poll found that even though a plurality of voters thought Kerry was the better debater, Bush lost none of his lead. Highlights from the networks post-debate spin:

■ CBS Crowns Kerry. Instead of polling a cross-section of the country, CBS News polled a paltry 200 uncommitted voters, most of whom went into the debate feeling the country was on the wrong track. But CBS touted the results 44 percent saying Kerry won, 26 percent saying Bush won as a huge boon to Kerry. John Kerry was scoring better than George Bush, and he was scoring even better among women, reporter Anthony Mason cheered.

■ Same Old George. Former Democratic spinner George Stephanopoulos was the most celebratory on ABC, declaring that by appearing calm and confident, for the most part, during this debate, he [Kerry] answered the flip-flopper charge with his demeanor even more than with his words. Later, Stephanopoulos touted the rival CBS poll as great news for Kerry: He will be able to come out of here saying he has momentum and changing the dynamic of the campaign....I think Senator Kerry has momentum coming out of here.

■ Beware the Angry Monarch. ABC News Political Director Mark Halperin panned Bushs reaction to Kerrys attacks: The President was remarkably angry-seeming a lot of the time...Its usually not a very becoming posture for a candidate. Over on MSNBC, Newsweeks Jon Meacham, who had earlier compared Kerry to Abraham Lincoln, said Bush seemed like a king who is a little worried and a little tired....there was almost an element of self-pity there. NBCs Andrea Mitchell, also on MSNBC, agreed that the reaction shots were very damaging....Bush was impatient, he smirked a little bit.

■ Whos Biased? On PBS after the debate, Newsweek Senior Editor Jonathan Alter scoffed that there are not going to be a lot of people on Fox saying John Kerry won this debate, so they [Republicans] have one cable network which is gonna be spinning hard in their direction. But Alter was in error; FNCs Morton Kondracke, Fred Barnes, and Bill Kristol all said Kerry did well.

■ Balanced Brokaw. On NBC, Tom Brokaw posed tough questions not just to Republican Rudy Giuliani, but also Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards. Im compelled to point out that both you and Senator Kerry gave the President authority to wage that war, Brokaw told Edwards before listing the problems with Kerrys plan to enlist more international support. Its easy for a challenger to make that promise, its much more difficult to deliver on it.

■ Kerrys Minor Thing. CNNs David Ensor thought it was fine that the candidates fact-checked each other, as when John Kerry left off Poland as one of the allies thats in Iraq a minor thing like that, but Bush caught him right away. Maybe its not so minor to the Poles. But Ensor did point out two other Kerry goofs that eluded the broadcast networks: his claim that Osama bin Laden is in Afghanistan (the CIA believes hes in Pakistan), and Kerrys argument that North Korea got the Bomb while Bush was pre-occupied with the Iraq war.

Brent Baker and Rich Noyes

For more see the October 1, 2004 CyberAlert Morning Edition.