Dan Rather: The Bush "Fix" Is In; Voting Victims; Judge Speedy or Slow?; Fineman Conceded Pro-Gore Bias; Harris Hailed on MNF -- Extra Edition 1) Peter Jennings and Dan Rather opened their shows Tuesday night by stressing worries about how time is running out on Al Gore. Rather: "A race against the clock as time grows shorter." 2) Diabolical GOP plot. CBS hit Jeb Bush with the Democratic attack line about how he's "pulling strings behind the scenes." Dan Rather told a State Senator how "some say" the "fix" is in because of the Republican Governor, state legislature and Secretary... continue reading
Gore's Claims Given Credibility; Another "Conservative" Judge; Morning Hosts Whined About Disenfranchised in Palm Beach 1) After Al Gore's Monday night address, ABC's Peter Jennings repeated his pronouncements about "wanting to respect the will of the voters," but the night before, after Bush spoke, Jennings stressed that though he may "technically" be President-elect, "this is certainly not over." 2) Al Gore claimed that Miami-Dade "election officials brought the count to a premature end in the face of organized intimidation." NBC Nightly News relayed the charge while ABC actually noted that "the election supervisor denied he felt threatened." 3) "Gore's lawyers... continue reading
Pro-Gore Court Decision Hailed; Standing O for Harris Distorted; Katherine "Cruella de Vil" Harris; Peggy Noonan for President? 1) ABC's Terry Moran promised being made up of Democrats had nothing to do with the Florida Supreme Court ruling. A Boston Globe reporter rejoiced at how the court promoted "the simple revolutionary thought that created the country two centuries ago," that "the merest individual voice matters." 2) On MSNBC, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter celebrated the ruling for hand counts as he denounced Republicans for how "they thought they could snow us" with machines counts, but "it didn't work." 3) Media Reality Check... continue reading
NBC Countered Hand Count Concerns; Rejection of Military Ballots Just Like Voting Twice; CBS Broadcast Anti-Gumbel Sign 1) All the broadcast networks described how the justices were full of questions for both sides, but only the CBS Evening News pointed out how they seemed to favor Gore. NBC's David Bloom referred to Katherine Harris as "Florida's Republican Secretary of State," but the NBC Nightly News uniquely reported how two justices "were active contributors to the Democratic Party." 2) NBC's Jim Avila undermined GOP complaints about the hand counts, dismissing them as exaggerations. "The strangest accusation: Eaten chads. The judge says... continue reading
ABC on Court: "Conservative"; Nets Countered Bush Claims of Hand Count Problems; CBS Gave Uncritical Airing to Re-Vote Demands 1) Peter Jennings on the Florida Supreme Court: "Only one of the judges is considered to be a liberal, the rest are regarded as moderate to conservative." 2) NBC and CBS ruled the Bush team fouled in claiming any mischief in the Palm Beach County recount. NBC's Jim Avila contended: "Individual counters, interviewed before the GOP made those high-profile charges, told NBC News the system...is working." Avila's expert witnesses: A Democrat and a Green Party member. 3) Time's Jack White compared... continue reading
Cheneys Fought Back; Tauzin's Bias Charge Picked Up; NBC Boosted Boies as a "Legend in His Own Time"; ABCNews.com Spiked by ABC-TV -- Weekend Edition 1) Lynne and Dick Cheney fought back against ABC reporter Jack Ford in prime time Thursday night, countering his assumption about how the public wants "fairness" over finality and using the air time to denounce how the networks on election night had "distorted the process" through their missed and early state calls. 2) CBS and NBC denied it but both ran stories on Congressman Billy Tauzin's contention, as outlined by CBS's Bob Schieffer, that "the... continue reading
Only Bush Judges Should Be Recused?; Gumbel to Lieberman: "Disappointed" with Bush?; Bob Dole Took Up Media Bias -- Back to today's CyberAlert 1) Bush and Gore are equally guilty of using "partisans and lawyers to find the advantage that wins them Florida," reporter Wyatt Andrews concluded on Thursday's CBS Evening News. 2) The federal appeals court in Atlanta contains Bush and Clinton-nominated judges, but CNN's Judy Woodruff only wondered if the ones named by Bush would recuse themselves. 3) The morning shows on Thursday sympathized with Joe Lieberman while they hammered GOP guests to defend the decision of Katherine... continue reading
ABC Didn't Note Gore Violation; How Many Democrats on Florida's Supreme Court?; Geraldo Rejoiced that Gore Headed to Victory 1) After Bush's 10:15pm ET address, ABC's George Stephanopoulos quoted the Gore team's Mark Fabiani: "Mrs. Harris's attempt to steal this election for George Bush will not stand." Not the tone promised earlier by Al Gore who said he told his campaign "to refrain from using inflammatory language." 2) Reuters: Harris is "a cultured citrus heiress with a staunch Republican pedigree." CBS: "She was a child of privilege, born to one of the wealthiest families in Florida." NBC's David Bloom assigned... continue reading
Harris Deadlines Denounced; Democrats Just Want "To Get it Right"; Will Harris "Tarnish" Results?; Bush's Fox Mole -- Back to today's CyberAlert 1) This morning Gore lawyer David Boies was prompted to criticize Katherine Harris while Bush lawyer Ted Olsen was pressed to justify her deadlines. ABC's Charles Gibson: "But what the other side seems to be saying is it's more important to get it right than to meet a deadline." Bryant Gumbel worried she has "too much leeway" and has become "a King-maker." 2) "Is there some concern in the Bush camp," Katie Couric asked about the involvement of... continue reading
Harris Handing Election to Bush; Boies Boosted; Baker's "Fear Stick"; Holocaust Invoked; Rivera's Back; ABC Pressuring Electors? -- Extra Edition 1) The networks Tuesday night, especially ABC and NBC, refused to call a judge a Democrat as they continued to serve as conduits for the Democratic effort to discredit Katherine Harris as a partisan hack. Linda Douglass: "Two Democratic legislators who praised her yesterday, told ABC News they now think she is trying to hand the election to George Bush." 2) The networks boosted David Boies. CBS: "The Gore campaign today rolled out master litigator David Boies." ABC: "...biggest legal... continue reading