June 28, 2004
Clinton's "Life" Pushes Kerry Out of Media Spotlight, Making Room for Nader
New York, June 28, 2004 - John Kerry’s presidential campaign was overshadowed by the release of Bill Clinton’s autobiography, “My Life,” according to the latest report from Media Tenor, an independent media analysis institute. With the launch of Clinton’s book tour, his media coverage increased from less than 1% to 5% on the network evening news. Meanwhile coverage of John Kerry’s electoral campaign decreased to just 1.5% of the evening news broadcasts.
With Kerry practically absent from the evening news, independent candidate Nader returned to TV news, especially on ABC and NBC. Nader's presence on ABC increased from zero to 4.3% during the past week, while Kerry received no coverage on that network. During that same period, NBC dedicated an equal amount of coverage to Kerry and Nader, with both receiving coverage for 4.8% of its evening news broadcast.
Download complete report with graphics at: http://www.mediatenor.com/US-Election_040625.htm
Posted by Isadora Badi at June 28, 2004 03:20 PMThat’s also a good void for Badnarik to fill. ;)
I’d imagine this is a big concern for Kerry’s campaign managers - that having Clinton at any campaign appearances will overshadow the actual candidate.
Whether you liked him or not, it’s not possible to deny the personality cult surrounding Clinton. Kerry’s almost exactly the opposite - dull, unanimated, boring, uninteresting to listen to…
Posted by: ceejayoz at June 28, 2004 04:34 PMA personality cult leader is often needed for good international relations. Even if Clinton were to do something to tick off France and Germany, Clinton could just go over there, glint his eyes at them, shake their hand, and by the time he leaves they’d be on-board for anything.
Kerry and Bush are a draw for how much they lack that though—while Bush can be slightly more Clintonian in diplomatic damage control, Kerry would be smart enough not to do so many things that require the damage control to begin with.
Posted by: Ciggy at June 28, 2004 09:37 PMBill Clinton is a remarkable personality who has the ability to connect viscerally with people. John Kerry does not have that ability, nor did Al Gore, which in large part cost him an election that he almost had to work to lose.
I wonder about Clinton’s timing though. He has recently said that he supports the U.S. invasion of Iraq, though he differed on the timing.
“That’s why I supported the Iraq thing. There was a lot of stuff unaccounted for,” Clinton said in reference to Iraq and the fact that U.N. weapons inspectors left the country in 1998.”I have repeatedly defended President Bush against the left on Iraq, even though I think he should have waited until the U.N. inspections were over,”
He is now taking many headlines from Kerry via his book tour. It could be that he is helping the Democratic party get more notice, or it could be a subtle way of chopping Kerry down. It will be interesting to see his actions in the next few months to see if we can tell what his agenda is. I suspect he may “owe” his allegiance to Hillary, who may be planning a bid for the presidency next election.
In that case, we will likely see more instances where Clinton insinuates himself into the election news. In either case, it is fascinating to watch the man work. He is an ultimate politician (not meant as a compliment) and a good strategist. While not being regarded as much of an author by many, he is still able to produce a frenzy of attention with his writing.
Posted by: joebagodonuts at June 29, 2004 07:13 AMIn the end, Bill Clinton is all about Bill Clinton. That’s the drawback to having a slick charmer, is that the first person he managed to charm in his life was himself.
Hillary feeds into the cult of Bill, and to perpetuate Hillary’s feeding of his cult, Bill will support Hillary’s agenda. Hillary’s agenda is to *eventually* make it into the WH as POTUS. It doesn’t have to be 2008, but that’s obviously better than when she’ll be 4 years less photogenic for the campaign trail.
Now, with that being understood, four more years of Bush will make Americans so absolutely desperate for anything the Democrats have to offer, Hillary could just win the nominations of both parties right off the bat, and start her administration in early 2007. Joking here, but only slightly.
Anyway, a President Hillary will allow Bill the chance to give that Oval Office another couple of workouts… while the Boss is away, of course…
Slowly, there are fewer and fewer of those on the Right, still clinging to and propagating this non-story. However, when you happen to bring up Dick Cheney, they will insist that historically the VP matters little to the voter.
This is a result of looking at American politics thru the lens of network and cable news, but first wired thru a Beltway cable box!
So, why hasn’t the Kerry campaign not freaked out, and rushed the candidate on air? Isn’t this a more pressing matter than out fundraising Bush in the month of June? Certainly, more important than a back roads jaunt thru rural America?
Ok, you’re a news producer. A Bill Clinton book signing or a Kerry VP announcement?
Posted by: Bert M. Caradine at July 3, 2004 03:05 AMI think it came in succession: first the book-signing, and then (just this morning), the announcement.
John Edwards being on the ticket almost lures me away from a Badnarik vote.
Almost.
