Slander: Liberal Lies About the American Right (46 page)

132. David E. Sanger and Don Van Natta Jr., “In Four Days, a National Crisis Changes Bush’s Presidency,”
New York Times,
September 16, 2001.

133. R. W. Apple Jr., “After the Attacks: Assessment; President Seems to Gain Legitimacy,”
New York Times,
September 16,2001.

134. Ibid.

135. Richard Cohen, “Taking Command,”
Washington Post,
September 22, 2001. Cohen also reminded readers that Bush had been “a middling student,” “incurious and intellectually inert,” and had “back-slapped his way into the presidency.” Only among graduates of the Columbia School of Journalism is the Columbia Graduate School considered more impressive than Harvard Business School.

136. R. W. Apple Jr., “A Nation Challenged: A Clear Message: ‘I Will Not Relent’,”
New York Times,
September 21,2001.

137. R. W. Apple Jr., “After The Attacks: Assessment; President Seems to Gain Legitimacy.”

138. Ibid.

139. Ibid.

140. Bob Herbert, “In America; Leading America Beyond Fear.”

141. Maureen Dowd, “Liberties: Rip Van Rummy Awakes,”
New York Times,
August 22, 2001.

eight. clever is as clever does: the liberal dilemma

1. Ross G. Brown, “Voting: Beating Up Smarty Pants,”
Los Angeles Times,
October 28, 2000.

2. Michael Beschloss, “How Weil-Read Should a President Be?”
New York Times,
June 11,2000. In the entire LexisNexis archives, this fact has been repeated by only one other person: columnist George Will.

3. Roger Simon, “Is It Wrong to Call Him George Dumbya Bush?”
U.S. News & World Report,
JulyT9,1999, p. 26.

4. Eric Pooley, “New York State of Mine; Hillary Clinton Opens Her Undeclared Candidacy for the U.S. Senate by Making a Show of Listening—and Sidling Away from Bill,”
Time,
July 19,1999, p. 26.

5. Ibid.

6. See generally Jean O. Pasco, “Kitty Dukakis Tells Students of Her Diet-Pill Addiction,”
Orange County Register,
October 5,1988, p. B6.

7. Bob Drogin, “But Inner Resolve Serves Him Well; Dukakis’ Determination: Both Strength, Weakness,”
Los Angeles Times,
July 20,1988, pt. 1, p. 1, home edition.

notes,
pp. 152-155
233

8. “ ‘Off Night’ or Advancing Years, Reagan’s Age Is Emerging Issue,”
San Diego Union-Tribune,
from News Services, October 12,1984. (“Democrats are saying President Reagan’s performance in the presidential debate may be a sign of advancing age, but Republicans are shrugging it off as an ‘off night.’ “)

9. See, e.g., “The Banzai Bunny,”
Newsweek,
September 10, 1979 (“As Jimmy Carter tells it, he had escaped for a spot of solitary fishing on a Georgia pond last April when suddenly he found himself eye to eye with a vicious rabbit swimming, like a torpedo, toward the Commander in Chief’s canoe.”); Editorial, “Standard Summer,”
New York Times,
August 28, 1980 (“Is it that there’s something about politics that brings out the animal in people: Jimmy Carter flogging away at that killer rabbit. . .”).

10. See, e.g., Robert A. Jordan, “They’re Boring Toward 2000 but Steering Clear of Trouble,”
Boston Globe,
April 18,1999.

11. Editorial, “Gore Gets a Little Competition,”
San Francisco Chronicle,
December 8, 1998.

12. Jo Mannies, “Bradley Touts New Book, Ideologies; Public Trust Tops Priorities in New Appeal,”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
February 9,1996, p. 1C.

13. Brian C. Mooney, “Gore ‘Policy Speech’ Says Volumes About His Ailing Campaign,”
Boston Globe,
July 14,1999.

14. “Al Gore Gets Labor Day Endorsement in Iowa; Bush Enjoys Star Status in South Carolina; Lesser-Known Republicans Continue Fight for Attention,” CNN’s
Inside Politics,
September 6,1999.

15. Michael Winerip, “A Moderate’s Moment,”
New York Times,
July 20,1997, p. 18.

16. “McCain, Bush Vie for Spotlight in South Carolina; Bill Bradley Discusses His Uphill Battle; Al Gore Makes Play for Latino Support,” CNN’s
Inside Politics,
June 21, 1999.

17. Marc Lacey and Mark Z. Barabak, “National Perspective; Politics; In Upstart Campaign, Bradley Flexes His Fund-Raising Muscles,”
Los Angeles Times,
July 20, 1999.

18. Geoff Kabaservice, “Bill Bradley’s SAT Scores,”
Slate Magazine,
January 26, 2000.

19. See, e.g., Carol Innerst, “SAT Scores Edge Up, Thanks to Math Rise; Verbal Average Same as Last Year,”
Washington Times,
August 27,1997. (“The scores released yesterday reflect the first year in which all student scores were based upon a ‘recentered’ scale that was phased in starting in 1995.”); Geoff Kabaservice, “Bill Bradley’s SAT Scores.” (“The SAT has been ‘recentered’ in recent years, boosting overall scores by up to a hundred points.”)

20. Joseph Berger, “You Can’t Judge a Leader by His Scores in the SATs,”
New York Times,
March 22, 2000; Roger Simon, “Who’s the Dimmest Dim Bulb?”
U.S. News & World Report,
April 3,2000; Gene Weingarten, “The Lowest Scoring in Bill Bradley’s Career,”
Washington Post,
January 31, 2000.

21. James Dao, “McCain Joins Bradley in War on Soft Money,”
New York Times,
December 17,1999.

22. “Transcript of Foreign Policy Speech by Vice President Gore in Milwaukee Jan. 6, White House Office of the Press Secretary,” U.S. Newswire, January 6,1994.

23. Mike Allen, “Bush’s Gaffes Are Back as Debates Near,”
Washington Post,
October 1, 2000, p. A8.

24. Bill Nichols, “The Heir Apparent Has Solid Record and Stolid Image,”
USA Today,
August 29,1996.

25. Richard L. Berke and Janet Elder, “The 2000 Campaign: The Poll; In Final Days, Voters Still Wrestle with Doubts on Bush and Gore,”
New York Times,
October 23,2000, p. Al.

26. Roger Simon, “Is It Wrong to Call Him George Dumbya Bush?” (Quoting Jim High-tower, a radio commentator and former Democratic official from Texas.)

27. Editorial, “Show Time for Al Gore,”
New York Times,
August 13, 2000. (“Voters understand that Mr. Gore is smart.”)

28. Richard Benedetto, “Poll: Bush More Honest, Likable Gore Losing Ground After First Debate,”
USA Today,
October 10,2000. (“... likely voters rated Gore smarter...”)

29. James Q. Wilson, “Campaign 2000; Photo Finish; Why the Economy’s Success Hasn’t Been a Decisive Factor,”
Los Angeles Times,
November 5, 2000. (“Voters have told pollsters they think Gore is smart.”)

NOTES,
pp. 155-161
234

30. Charlie Cook, “Buyer’s Remorse, Fate, and Close Calls,”
National Journal,
October 28, 2000. (“[Swing voters] like Gore’s smarts, knowledge of the issues.”) See also Dan Robrish and Ann Mcfeatters, “Give Him 60 Seconds and He’ll Tell Your Life Story; Gore’s Long March,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
October 3,1999. (“Gore is smart.”)

31. Maureen Dowd “Liberties: Gore’s Gawky Phase,
“New York Times,
October 10,1999.

32. Paul Reid (quoting David Gergen), Cox News Service, “Campaign 2000: Albert Gore Jr.; A Passion for the Nation’s Top Position,”
Atlanta Journal and Constitution,
May 2,1999.

33. Bill Turque, “What Mr. Smooth Is Teaching Mr. Stiff,”
Newsweek,
September 2,1996.

34. Jonathan Capehart, “Next Gore-Bush Debate Might Turn Nasty Again,” Bloomberg News, October 9, 2000.

35. See, e.g., among many, many others: Jonathan Capehart, “Next Gore-Bush Debate Might Turn Nasty Again.” (“He is the most intelligent kid in the class.”); Ross G. Brown, “Voting: Beating Up Smarty Pants,”
Los Angeles Times,
October 28,2000. (Gore is “the smartest kid in [his] class.”); Susan Page, “The Male Vote Stands as Gore’s Achilles’ Heel,”
USA Today,
April 26,2000. (“Gore reminds some people of the smartest kid in the class,” quoting Andrew Kohut, director of the independent Pew Research Center.)

36. Richard L. Berke, “The 2000 Campaign: News Analysis—The Context; Debates Put in Focus Images and Reality,”
New York Times,
October 19, 2000. (Quoting Don Hewitt, the creator of
60 Minutes.)

37. David Maraniss and Ellen Nakashima, “Gore’s Grades Belie Image of Studiousness; His School Transcripts Are a Lot Like Bush’s,”
‘Washington Post,
March 19,2000, p. Al.

38. Ibid.

39. “Today’s Gore Campaign News,”
Bulletin’s Frontrunner,
June 15,2000 (citing Gore’s comments on Fox News’s
Special Report,
June 14, 2000).

40. Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, “Second Presidential Debate a More Subdued Face-Off; Al Gore and George W. Bush Discuss How They Feel They Did on the Second Presidential Debate; Debate Analyzed,”
Good Morning America,
October 12, 2000. (Burrelle’s Information Services)

41. Ibid.

42. Based on various LexisNexis searches including: “good morning america and gore and (invent! w/s internet).

43. Juju Chang, “New Republican Ad Attacking Al Gore; Pentagon Monitoring Growing Iraqi Threats Against Kurds; Former Los Alamos Scientist Wen Ho Lee Could Be Out of Prison Today,”
Good Morning America,
September 1,2000.

44. Hedrick Smith, “No Clear Winner Apparent; Scene Is Simple and Stark,”
New York Times,
October 29,1980, p. 1.

45. Lou Cannon, “Reagan; President, GOP Standard-Bearer Crisscross Nation in Stump Finale; Reagan: Declaring U.S. the ‘Last Best Hope’; Affirmation of U.S. as Man’s ‘Last Best Hope’,”
Washington Post,
November 4,1980, p. Al.

46. Martin Schram, “Nation’s Longest Campaign Comes to an End; Long Campaign Ends, and It Often Was Anything but Presidential,”
Washington Post,
November 4,1980, p. Al.

47. Dave Anderson, “Sports of the Times; Roger Staubach’s Political Football,”
New York Times,
November 9, 1980, sec. 5, p. 7; UPI, “Staubach Out of Bounds?”
New York Times,
November 4,1980, p. B14.

48. UPI, “Staubach Out of Bounds?”
New York Times.

49. Maureen Dowd, “The 1992 Campaign: News Analysis; A No-Nonsense Sort of Talk Show,”
New York Times,
October 16, 1992, p. Al. (Bush “seemed uncomfortable and sometimes grew testy. By 9:50 P.M., he was checking his watch.”)

50. Jeffrey Schmalz, “The 1992 Campaign: The Voters; Americans Sign Up in Record Numbers to Cast a Ballot,”
New York Times,
October 19,1992, p. Al. (“ ‘Bush doesn’t care,’ Ms. Jojola, 38, agreed. She had once been registered Republican but could not remember when she last voted. She registered two weeks ago as a Democrat. ‘Bush doesn’t care about things here,’ she said. ‘He kept looking at his watch in the debate. He was bored.’ “) R. W. Apple Jr., “The 1992 Campaign: News Analysis; A Late-Round Flurry for Bush but Shape of Race Appears Unaltered,”
New York Times,
October 20,1992, p. Al. (“He changed his ways for the better. There

notes,
pp. 162-167
235

was no looking at his watch in last night’s encounter in East Lansing, Mich., as there had been last week, and no suggestion of languor. His message was clear. He did his best to make voters think about character and trust, rather than blaming him for costing them their jobs, even invoking Horace Greeley to the effect that character counts most.”) Maureen Dowd, “The 1992 Campaign: The Surrounding Scene; Bush Wins One Contest with a Sharp, Red Tie,”
New York Times,
October 20,1992, p. A19. (“The President cheered up his debate coaches immensely this morning, in a practice in the Old Executive Office Building, when, halfway through, he pointedly raised his wrist and looked at his watch. Everyone laughed at Mr. Bush’s ability to make fun of the fuss that ensued when he looked at his watch three times during the second debate in Richmond—a repetitive stress syndrome that was widely interpreted as a sign that the President was dispirited.”)

51. The
Times’s
accuracy-meter supported Bush’s claim that Gore’s spending plan was three times what Clinton had proposed. The
Times
complained, however, that the ten-second description of Bush’s tax plan was not a half-hour infomercial, and therefore described only the effect of the Bush tax plan on a family with two children.

52. Dan Rather and John Roberts, “Life and Careers of Vice President Al Gore,” CBS News Transcripts, Campaign 2000: Democratic National Convention, August 17,2000. (John Roberts: “What the public has come to know about Al Gore has been. He’s claimed to have invented the Internet, and, of course, his storied woodenness.”)

53. John Cochran and Anderson Cooper, “New Republican Ad Campaign Attacking Al Gore’s Character,”
World News Now,
September 1,2000.

54. Matt Lauer and Ann Curry,
Today,
October 31,2000; Dan Rather, “Late-Night Programs Poke Fun at Presidential Candidates,”
CBS Evening News,
November 3, 2000; Dan Rather and Eric Engberg, “Game Plan for Bush and Gore in Tonight’s Debate,”
CBS Evening News,
October 3, 2000; Dan Rather, “Late Night Television Presidential Candidate Humor,”
CBS Evening News,
September 15,2000.

55. Carole Simpson and Ron Claiborne, “Behind the Scenes of Campaign Politics,”
ABC World News Tonight,
September 17,2000.

56. Scott Shepard, “Gore More Victimized Than Guilty of Falsehoods, Press Critics Say,” Cox News Service, April 6,2000.

57. Ibid.

58. Ibid.

59. Robert Parry, “He’s No Pinocchio; Media Coverage of Al Gore Misrepresents Him,”
Washington Monthly,
April 1,2000.

60. Cokie Roberts, Sam Donaldson, and George Will, “Roundtable Talk on Presidential Campaign and WTO Talks,”
ABC News’ This Week,
December 5,1999.