John Kerry appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” yesterday, and did a fine job as an Obama campaign surrogate. In fact, I’d go so far as to say he was pretty darn good — he dominated the discussion, hit all the high notes, and generally did exactly what the Obama campaign hoped he’d do. But then, there was, once again, the media’s reaction.
Fast forward to about the 7:40 mark, and you’ll hear, after an entirely substantive critique from Kerry on McCain, “Face the Nation” host asked Bob Schieffer asked Kerry incredulously, “Are you now challenging John McCain’s integrity?”
John Cole said he “threw the remote.” I can’t say I blame him, though my response was more towards burying my face in my hands, grief-stricken over the realization that McCain’s media “base” is royally screwing up coverage of yet another presidential campaign.
I mean, really. I know Schieffer’s interview with Wesley Clark generated some attention for “Face the Nation” last week, and maybe he hoped to go two-for-two, but if you watch the interview, nothing Kerry said even resembled an attack on McCain’s integrity. Why even ask a question like that?
Just as absurd was the AP’s article about Kerry’s criticism. The first two sentences read, “John Kerry says Republican John McCain doesn’t have the judgment to be president. If that’s the case, then it’s probably a good thing McCain rejected overtures from Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, to form a bipartisan ticket and run with Kerry as his candidate for vice president.”
Got that? The media still wants to attack Kerry as some kind of flip-flopper. The most important aspect of Kerry’s interview — the part that the AP put at the very top of its article — was that there were rumors four years ago about McCain joining the Democratic ticket.
And as it turns out, the AP appears to have screwed this up, too.
Not to be picky about it, but the AP article’s description is the one the McCain campaign wants to see — that Kerry sought out McCain, but McCain “rejected overtures” from Kerry.
That’s an inherently pro-McCain spin, and as regular readers know, there’s evidence to the contrary. The AP doesn’t mention it — the facts didn’t fit into the article’s partisan frame — but according to the 2004 Democratic nominee, McCain aides approached Kerry, not the other way around.
As for what Kerry actually said, he made a pretty compelling case.
“And the result is that John McCain has flip-flopped on more issues than I was even ever accused possibly of thinking about! I mean, this is extraordinary what he’s done: He’s changed on taxes; he’s now in favor of the Bush tax cut. If you like the Bush economy, if you like the Bush tax cut and what it’s done to our economy, making wealthier people wealthier and the average middle class struggle harder, then John McCain is going to give you a third term of George Bush and Karl Rove.
“If you like what has happened to oil prices, John McCain is going to continue that policy. If you like what you see about health care, John McCain has no health care plan.
“I would have at least expected the John McCain that I knew back then to realize what almost every person in the Pentagon has admitted. There are very few who walk around and say, ‘Going into Iraq was the right thing to do, and we should have done it, or do it again if I have the chance.’ John McCain does.
“I’m challenging Senator McCain’s judgment,” Kerry said, “that says, ‘There’s no violent history between Sunni and Shia.’ That’s wrong. His judgment that says, ‘This is going to increase the stability of the Middle East.’ It hasn’t, it’s made it less stable. The judgment that says, quote, ‘This will be the best thing for America and the world in a long time. It’s the worst thing that we’ve done in a long time. And he’s turned his [focus] away from Afghanistan and al Qaeda and made America less safe. That’s dangerous for our country.”
Kerry criticized McCain’s continued support of the occupation, given the effect of a continuing presence of U.S. troops on the situation in Iraq and the region at large. He pointed to remarks by leaders in the Middle East who told him during a recent visit, “You, America, have served up to Iran Iraq on a platter.”
And as for the media, be sure to take a moment to read Jamison Foser’s latest, in which he explains how “much of the media has abandoned any pretense of neutrality,” and has created a “protective barrier” to shield McCain from questions.