Most of the recent political reporting on the Hill has noted that Dems are, for the most part, unified on their war policy. The party stuck together to vote for adding a timeline for withdrawal a few weeks ago, and Dems haven’t backed down since. Congressional reporters have noticed and the news has reflected this reality.
Apparently, however, the White House sees a different reality — and has been leaning on journalists to make a change.
Last week, Bush administration officials invited senior congressional reporters to the White House and pressured them to increase their coverage of how Iraq war critics are “divided” over legislative strategy, multiple sources have confirmed with ThinkProgress.
The sources say White House officials pointed to examples of national political reporters who have highlighted such “division” and pressed the congressional reporters to follow suit. Specifically, the White House pointed to a recent AP piece on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), which reported that Obama believes that “[i]f President Bush vetoes an Iraq war spending bill as promised, Congress quickly will provide the money without the withdrawal timeline the White House objects to.” In a speech this week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) also drew attention to the AP’s characterization:
“When the president vetoes, as he should, the bill that refuses to support General Petraeus’ new plan, I hope Democrats in Congress will heed the advice of one of their leading candidates for president, Senator Obama, and immediately pass a new bill to provide support to our troops in Iraq without substituting their partisan interests for those of our troops and our country.”
First, one wonders why the White House would try to play assignment editor for reporters on Capitol Hill. Is the Bush gang under the impression that they’re credible? That reporters have an incentive for writing stories the way the WH Communications Office wants to see them?
Second, the White House pitch is, as usual, completely wrong.
The AP report never directly quoted Obama saying that Congress would give up its fight for a withdrawal timeline, and Obama has said the AP’s characterization is false. Indeed, Obama has been quoted saying the direct opposite — that Congress will continue to force votes on a timeline — both before and after the AP report.
In fact, congressional opponents of the war are remarkably united on efforts to set a timeline for redeployment, bolstered by consistent public opinion polls showing broad public support for withdrawal. Meanwhile, conservatives are splintering. This week, a “diverse collection of House Republicans has formed an ad hoc group” to encourage the White House “to compromise on negotiations with Syria and Iran and on setting a date for withdrawal from Iraq.”
Exactly. Dems aren’t divided; Republicans are. Just over the last 48 hours, Dem leaders started giving the caucus pep talks, emphasizing how they’re sticking together behind the right policy, while Republicans are splintering, hoping to get the White House to negotiate and move in the Dems’ direction. The White House has the story backwards.
As Nico put it, “The White House is in a losing fight and wants the media to help them carry water.” Reporters need to know better.