Roundup: Media's Take

November 5, 2004

9-11 Ended the Sixties ... 11-2 Interred the Ashes

Hugh Hewitt, in the Weekly Standard (Nov. 5, 2004):[Hugh Hewitt is the host of a nationally syndicated radio show, and author most recently of

November 5, 2004

Rocco Buttiglione: Where Europe and the U.S. Diverge (Hint: Religion, Religion, Religion)

Rocco Buttiglione, in the WSJ (Nov. 5, 2004): [Mr. Buttiglione, Italy's minister of European affairs, last Saturday withdrew his candidacy to become European Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner.]George W. Bush concluded his election victory speech with "God bless America." It's likely that in the European Parliament, the U.S. president would be considered unfit for his job on a

November 5, 2004

The Role Of Dick Cheney

Bryan Bender, The Boston Globe, 03 Nov. 2004 Four years ago, candidate Dick Cheney was a reassuring presence as George W. Bush's running mate. A former secretary of defense and White House chief of staff, he provided balance to Bush's relative inexperience. Even his Democratic challenger for the vice presidency, Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, remarked in their 2000 debate that"I don't have anything negative to say about him." This year, however, according

November 5, 2004

More Interest This Year In Canada's Military Past Among Populace

Roberto Rocha, The Gazette (Montreal), 02 Nov. 2004 The poppies are flying out of the hands of Canada's veterans this Remembrance season, and that's mostly because of a revived interest in Canada's military, members of the Royal Canadian Legion say. It's a surprising shift from years past, the Legion says, as their collection cans overflow with donations. And unlike last year, almost no stores are turning away veterans and their poppies."

November 5, 2004

Evolving Identity Of Southwest States Affects Election

[Editor's Note: This is a longer than normal posting.] Timothy Egan, The New York Times, 30 Oct. 2004 DATELINE: ACOMA, N.M., Oct. 29 As the sun sets over the land on Election Day, the American West could become the landscape of victory for the man who will be president in the next four years. For all the attention that the parties are paying to Sioux City, Iowa, or Dayton, Ohio, the election may well be decided in places like Lake Havasu City, Ariz.,

November 5, 2004

What Are The Problems With Post-War Iraq?

Bartle Bull, Financial Times (London, England), 30 Oct. 2004 In April 2003, the toppling of Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad's Ferdowsi Square led news broadcasts around the world. Iraqis thronged their capital's main square as the bronze monster was yanked from its feet. After 30 years of brutality and neglect, and three weeks of war, they could finally imagine a life of political freedom, personal liberty and the basic material necessities. And the Americans

November 5, 2004

American Elections And Litigation

E.J. Dionne Jr., The Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2004 On the eve of an election in a great nation trying to sell the idea of democracy to the rest of the world, it is a scandal that so many Americans are wondering whether judges and lawyers -- not voters -- will decide the outcome. It is a scandal that one side suspects the other of trying to depress turnout in the name of fighting fraud. It is a scandal that all this talk of a disputed election may discourage some voters from g

November 5, 2004

Electoral College Reform

Delia M. Rios, Times-Picayune (New Orleans), 31 Oct. 2004 While much of America fixates on the possibility that Tuesday could rival the confusion of Election Night 2000, Harvard historian Alexander Keyssar is casting a look backward -- to the 1968 contest pitting Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey not only against each other , but against third-party candidate George Wallace. Wallace walked away with 46 Electoral College votes, threatening to emerge a kingmaker if

November 5, 2004

Candidates Look To Make Pop-Culture Connection

Ed Siegel, The Boston Globe, 31 Oct. 2004 No presidential candidate has ridden a bigger pop-culture wave than John Kerry. He has garnered a substantial amount of support from performers such as Bruce Springsteen, Howard Stern, Don Imus, and Jon Stewart people who could, by dint of their diehard fan bases, actually sway undecided voters. Given the primacy that pop culture has played in recent elections from Bill Clinton playing the sax on"The Arsenio Hall Show"

November 5, 2004

Assessing Bush's Record

Howard Manly, The Boston Herald, 31 Oct. 2004 Given the closeness of the upcoming presidential election, there's a good chance that President Bush, like his father before him, will serve only one term. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as history goes, because only 12 of the nation's 44 presidents have served eight years or more in the Oval Office. But it's not a good thing either. If W loses, he would join the ranks of George H.W. Bush, William Taft, Herbert H

November 5, 2004

Public Disclosure Of The Health Of Supreme Court Justices

Charles Lane, The Washington Post, 01 Nov. 2004 Among the many issues raised by the Supreme Court's recent disclosure that Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist has cancer is how much information the court owes the public about the chief justice's health. The only facts revealed -- that Rehnquist has one of several forms of thyroid cancer and that he received a tracheotomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital before being discharged Friday -- were enough to fuel speculation by medica

November 5, 2004

Television And Election Coverage

Alex Strachan, Ottawa Citizen, 01 Nov. 2004 Television has rarely seemed less relevant in terms of a U.S. election. In no presidential campaign since the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates supposedly changed the face of politics has television seemingly wielded less influence. And yet, rarely has television reflected the twists and turns of the campaign trail with such spontaneity and instant replay. Political pundits say the U.S. electorate is polarized as never before. Attack ad

November 5, 2004

October Election Surprises

Jacques Steinberg and David Carr, The New York Times, 01 Nov. 2004 Every election season, a debate over a journalistic October surprise takes place. Four years ago, a television station in Portland, Me., reported five days before the presidential election that George W. Bush had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol back in 1976. In the California gubernatorial election last year, The Los Angeles Times published the accounts of 16 women who said that they h

November 5, 2004

Unifying Spirit Of Jefferson Must Prevail

unsigned, Financial Times (London, England), 01 Nov. 2004 As of this writing, the race between George W. Bush and John F. Kerry is tied. Not a virtual tie, but a tie. My daily tracking polls are eerily reminiscent of the 2000 polls. But unlike what happened in 2000, American voters will pass judgment on an incumbent president in an atmosphere that is more polarised than at any time in recent history. I have been calling this the "Armageddon election" for several

November 5, 2004

Virtue And Voting

Lee Hamilton, Christian Science Monitor (Boston, MA), 01 Nov. 2004 When Americans step into the voting booth to choose the people they want representing them in Washington, high on the list of qualities they'll be looking for in the candidates is personal integrity. To be sure, they will weigh other considerations as well - party label, ideology, stands on issues of importance, likability. But for most of us, it's very important to know that the people to whom we entrust our

November 5, 2004

Albert Hunt: Bush Should Follow Reagan's 2nd Term Example and Govern from the Middle

Albert Hunt, in the WSJ (Nov. 4, 2004) George W. Bush loses few opportunities to claim Ronald Reagan as his model of presidential leadership; if he means it, he'll be a much less divisive leader in the second term.Mr. Bush is appropriately exultant after winning an intense victory Tuesday; he's entitled to gloat over those of us who doubted he'd win or deserved to win.But, unlike us

November 5, 2004

Michael Barone: Bush's Impressive Victory

Michael Barone, in the WSJ (nov. 4, 2004):We have just come through an historic election. In 1864, a year of hundreds of thousands of Union casualties, voters in 25 of the 36 states that voted that year re-elected Abraham Lincoln by a popular vote margin of 55% to 45%. In 1944, another year of hundreds of thousands of American casualties, voters in 48 states re-elected Franklin D.

November 1, 2004

How New York Decided the Election of 1800

John Ferling, in the NYT (Oct. 31, 2004):With the presidential election hanging on the outcome of the vote in eight or so swing states, we're approaching America's quadrennial obsession with the Electoral College. New Yorkers often complain that the Electoral College disenfranchises them because nobody bothers to campaign hard in our reliably blue state. Once, however, New York wa

November 1, 2004

London's Guardian Interviews Jimmy Carter

Unsigned, The Guardian (London), 25 Oct. 2004 There can be few jobs in the United States Secret Service as cushy as being one of Jimmy Carter's bodyguards. You get to wear the cool earpiece, and ride in the blacked-out SUV, but, seriously, who's going to want to attack the most decent man to have occupied the White House in living memory? Wherever they go, George Bush, John Kerry and Bill Clinton are surrounded by burly, paranoid-looking men, ready to wrestle you to the ground if you

November 1, 2004

Experts Assert 2004 Presidential Campaign Especially Dirty

Vincent P. Bzdek, The Washington Post, 24 Oct. 2004 Political signs are stolen or vandalized every election cycle, but many campaign officials and political historians say this year is different. "I think this [presidential] campaign ranks at, or near the top of, dirty campaigns post-World War II," said Allan J. Lichtman, a presidential scholar at American University. Sign snatchings have been reported in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well as the h