One can learn all kinds of interesting things watching “Meet the Press.” For example, yesterday, Tom Brokaw claimed that Rudy Giuliani’s television ads airing in Florida “don’t mention terrorism.”
“You know what it reminds me of now, Tim, is that in rural America, they have these quarter-mile dirt tracks, and they have wreck-’em derbies. And they put all the cars on the track at the same time, and they run into each other until there’s just one car standing. I think we’ve got a wreck-’em derby going on in the Republican Party right now.
“I’ve just gotten back from Florida. Rudy Giuliani’s ads on the air don’t mention terrorism. He’s the man who reduced the corporate taxes in the city of New York, created new jobs, reduced crime, and also took a lot of people off the welfare rolls.
“So this election on the Republican side now is changing both in tone and in content.”
Listening to the context, Brokaw apparently didn’t do any real research at all. He traveled to Florida, watched a little television, saw some Giuliani advertising that didn’t reference terrorism, and felt he was then in a position to tell a national audience that “Giuliani’s ads on the air don’t mention terrorism.”
Except, that’s not even close to true. Indeed, just last week, Giuliani began airing ads in Florida that used footage and photographs of 9/11, and, in a truly nauseating display, told viewers, “[W]hen the world wavered, and history hesitated, [Giuliani] never did.”
And that ad, of course, comes just two weeks after Giuliani’s Tancredo-esque ad, which also ran in Florida, and which sought to exploit the Bhutto assassination in Pakistan. It featured a voice-over saying, “An enemy without borders. Hate without boundaries. A people perverted. A religion betrayed. A nuclear power in chaos. Madmen bent on creating it. Leaders assassinated. Democracy attacked. And Osama bin Laden still making threats. In a world where the next crisis is a moment away… America needs a leader who’s ready.”
Giuliani’s “ads on the air don’t mention terrorism”? Seriously?
On a related note, “Meet the Press’s” Tim Russert chatted with Chris Matthews about the GOP candidates’ bases of support.
MATTHEWS: Who is McCain’s base? I mean, if he does begin to look like the leader of this party, what’s his base?
RUSSERT: Veterans. Certainly he’s proving that in South Carolina throughout this campaign, in terms of getting them out. A hard line on foreign policy. His position in favor of the surge has won him support with that particular community. But you go to Florida in a four-way race, Chris, evangelicals go to Huckabee. Rudy, I guess, ex-New Yorkers and people who still have memories of September 11th.
I don’t want to sound picky, but doesn’t everyone have memories of September 11?
I understand the media’s pro-McCain sycophancy. I don’t like it, it’s unjustified, and it’s awful for the process, but I understand it.
Why media personalities continue to boost Giuliani, however, remains a bit of a mystery.