Even if I were a liberal, I would love this woman

[jferry]

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Hastert didn't much press because he is intetnionally not a press hound. He's old school, backroom politics.

Well, he's no Comb Back Kid - Donald Trump - that's for sure. But doesn't that undermine your original point that the Speakership is inherently newsworthy.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Newt, on the other hand, shows you the modern example of what a Speaker can get in terms of press clippings when his/her staff is so oriented.

He was also quite newsworthy in his own right and, I think, a pretty objective political observer. Also, a lot of his press has been negative.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

As for the media bias...yawn.

Are you denying this well-settled fact or yawning because it is so well-established that it is no longer topical?

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Conservatives have created their own media and cultural exchanges, too.

Out of necessity.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

With the advent of blogs, and the 24 hour news cycle, people get their news from the source of their choice.

And to judge from the falling numbers of CNN, CNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and the rising numbers of FNN, they are voting with their eyes.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

And are we really griping that Nancy got press and Condy didn't?

I'm not. I actually like Nancy, personally. We have a lot in common, ethnic Catholics, from large urban families helmed by larger-than-life fathers, she the mother of five, I the brother of six, which is why I know that she can not possibly believe any of the Democratic agenda. Same with James Carville. He's goofing on everybody.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Bush deserves credit for the appointments. The reason Clinton would have recieved the credit publicly is that his staff would have had that story out there non-stop for at least a month. Bush's communications staff had to have made the choice not to try to push that story.

That, I think, is quite a stretch.

[jmichalski]

So you find it more plausible that the media elected NOt to cover the Bush appointments? No, I think it more likely that they didn't want to rile the base of predominently white coservative men who got him elected.

Newt's negative press was much his own doing (I was the staffer who worked on ehtics issues for a Member of Congress who sat on Newt's ethics panel). His personality and the Lee Atwater scorched earth campaigning style he used begets resentment and negativity.

That said, he was newsworthy. Denny intentionally avoided media, I believe, and is the exception to the rule.

There is also the element that Pelosi is the top ranking Dem with a Republican White House, so the drama and intrigue adds to the press angle (Much as Tip got press for opposing Reagan).

You and I share the same backgound (I only have 4 siblings), and I find it as hard to believe that you are a Republican as you do that Pelosi and Carville are Democrats. Maybe we should debate further downtown over a few pints....

[jferry]

Originally Posted by jmichalski

So you find it more plausible that the media elected NOt to cover the Bush appointments? No, I think it more likely that they didn't want to rile the base of predominently white coservative men who got him elected.

No. I wasn't saying that. That's the problem with a written medium. I was referring to your apparent belief that the Bush star-maker machinery was inferior to Clinton's. My bad.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Newt's negative press was much his own doing (I was the staffer who worked on ehtics issues for a Member of Congress who sat on Newt's ethics panel).

I don't disagree. I was merely pointing out the obvious. Serving your wife with divorce papers while she is hooked up to an IV is not the stuff of hagiography.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

His personality and the Lee Atwater scorched earth campaigning style he used begets resentment and negativity.

Lee did not invent the genre. He merely perfected it. I'll always be grateful to him for sparing the nation President Michael Dukakis.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

That said, he was newsworthy. Denny intentionally avoided media, I believe, and is the exception to the rule.

He's definitely an anomaly.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

There is also the element that Pelosi is the top ranking Dem with a Republican White House, so the drama and intrigue adds to the press angle (Much as Tip got press for opposing Reagan).

Tip and Gip were tremendous copy, an ink-stained wretch's perfect storm. That would have been true even if they were from the same party. Which they once were.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

You and I share the same backgound (I only have 4 siblings), and I find it as hard to believe that you are a Republican as you do that Pelosi and Carville are Democrats.

Point taken. But I'm no Republican. I was a life-long D but when my driver's license renewed in 2000 I took advantage of motor-voter to change my affiliation to I. I have not regretted it.

I think that the Ds have lost their way. John Kerry absolutely turns my stomach. Ditto Ted Kennedy. And I revered both of his brothers.

Originally Posted by jmichalski

Maybe we should debate further downtown over a few pints....

Indeed. As long as it's not light beer.